PC: Pre-Service Training Week Four (part 2)

Thursday, Friday and Saturday were Immersion Days for the trainees. Each of us was paired up with one of the Youth Development volunteers currently serving in Chalatenango and Santa Ana (there are no Community Organization and Economic Development volunteers in El Salvador). A few went in pairs because there are fifteen of us and only eleven of them, but I was on my own way up in Santa Ana near the Guatemalan border in a caserio named Santa Inés. It is in the heart of dairy country, so pickups with milk, cream and cheese come into Metapan every day and those without cars hitch a ride with the milk into town and back again. On Thursday, though, my three-day host dad picked us up in an F-450 (I didn't even realize they made trucks so unnecessarily large) after my volunteer met me at the shuttle stop.

The family I stayed with is seriously building a compound complete with electronic gate, flat screen TVs in every room, air conditioning, mini soccer field, covered party/hammock space with sound system, a three-basin pool, and the beginnings of a garden. I thought it might be funded with remesa (remittance) money, but Maxi assured me that it comes from his businesses. He sells cars (hence the F-450 - he is trying to sell it), has a banana plantation, owns a lot of the taxis in Metapan and is setting up a workshop in the compound to make furniture. He tries his hand at pretty much anything that takes his interest, and so far has been successful in his endeavors. It is interesting that he decided to stay in the town he grew up in rather than move to somewhere more affluent. He loves his community and is building the compound as a place where everyone can come to relax and play. He also suggested a ton of projects, even things as simple as cleaning up trash and getting trash cans for the community that could make a big difference in the long run. I hope the volunteer takes advantage of his willingness and gets the kids involved in projects. For the weekend she had nothing planned other than attending the meeting to hand out grades, a youth group meeting to schedule computer and English classes, and practicing music with the church band. I went to those, hung out at the school with the kids, and chatted with my host family.

On Thursday night we got to see the banana plantation. The bananas are growing, but they still have about a month until the harvest. On Friday we played basketball with the kids after they got out of school, wandered around town, and met up with the youth group. I spent the evening with my host family with a huge plate of mangoes and guayaba watching Maximum Rush in Spanish. It's way better in English so that the actors' voices are actually their own and nothing gets lost in translation. On Saturday we met up with some of the other volunteers for lunch in Metapan, where I bought string to show the kids how to make simple bracelets. One of the kids rode in the back of the truck with us, and I taught her some English on the way. She has perfect pronunciation and remembered most of the words, which was impressive. Saturday after getting back from Metapan and hanging out for a while with the family making bracelets I met my PCV at the church to listen to the end of their band practice. That night was church, so we grabbed some pupusas for dinner then headed off to the service. After church we chatted for a while with the volunteer's host family, then headed off to bed, ready for the early morning commute back to Metapan to catch the bus back into town. It was a chill, lazy weekend with a great community but nothing going on.

I am fine with my Immersion Day experience, but I got some tinges of jealousy on the bus ride home. It was great to see everyone again and hear about their weekends and talk to the two volunteers who joined us on their way to San Salvador on medical leave (a burn and a chipped tooth). We all had different experiences, some lazy like mine and some super active. I listened to one of the volunteers talking about all of the projects she has in the works and to some of the trainees talking about the meetings and hikes and classes they did, and I wish I could have been there. Don't get me wrong, the people love their volunteer in Santa Inés and she's super nice and learning Spanish well, but I would have liked to talk to someone who is in the middle of projects. One of the sites used to be a COED site, and the women set up a business making and selling gourmet bread that is still going strong. So cool.

My volunteer said we would probably have an interview after Immersion Days asking what we want in our sites, so I gave it some thought. I liked the size of my volunteer's community, and since people go to the city every day, transportation isn't a problem. I do want a cell signal so that I can talk to other volunteers, but maybe being near all the others isn't as necessary as I thought. I tend to just drop off the face of the Earth when I get into things, and I have a feeling that will happen at my site if I'm not careful. Whether that means I should let myself disappear into the community or be near other volunteers to work on projects, I haven't yet decided. It sounds exciting to have a "green" site (one that has never had a volunteer), but it might be nice to have a base to work with, especially since it's harder to get adults into projects and gain their trust than with kids. Basically, after lots of thought, I have no idea what I want from a community other than to be able to make my own food, use the Peace Corps family phone plan, and have consistent access to the shuttle route. Also, I want to raise a puppy. A very cute puppy. And start a garden. I am determined to eat my own food and a garden is a good start.

Spending three months just building confianza (trust) is going to be a challenge. I like lazy days, but I hate feeling purposeless. I understand that building relationships is essential, but at some level I want to build relationships doing something. After hearing about sites that don't want a volunteer this time around because of bad experiences with PCVs in the past, though, I'm determined not to push too fast. I can always brainstorm ideas and logistics for later projects, especially figuring out how to integrate Future Problem Solving into my site plans. And I'll have my hands full with the puppy.