I wanted to write a quick post to update everyone on our projects and to let everyone know they can check out the pictures on the side link. The computer lab is now up and running. The ministry of education ended up matching our donation of 10 computers and adding an additional 6 more! We now [...]

What kind of work do you do? This is probably the most common question I receive as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Family, friends, people in El Salvador or anywhere else I find myself, almost everyone asks this question. Unfortunately, I really don’t have a straight answer. The best I can come up with [...]

Happy Thanksgiving!!!   I know we are terrible at updating the blog so I thought I could at least upload recent pictures. One of the albums is of the recent mudslides here in El Salvador. The other album is of pictures of graduation and the scholarship winners. Ross is in the middle of writing a [...]

  Construction has concluded and here are a few pictures of the new and improved school. $217,000 later, welcome to the new centro escolar.   Before picture of the center of the school:     After picture of the center of the school:     Before picture of the outside of the library:   After picture of the outside of the library:     Before picture of [...]

I have updated the photo links to the pictures on facebook! All of the pictures are under the title links on the right side of the page. You should now be able to see all of our pictures even if you don’t have a facebook account. I also added pictures from our visit to the [...]

  On March 28th I attended a World Cup Qualifying soccer game between El Salvador and the United States. It was quite possibly the most interesting and exciting experience I have had to date in country. The following post will give you a little background information to better understand the circumstances followed by the [...]

The quinceañera is the celebration of a young girl’s fifteenth birthday but it means so much more than turning fifteen, it signifies her transformation into womanhood. The quinceañera is not only a Latino tradition; some cultural equivalents include the Bar Mitzvah for Jewish boys and girls, the sweet sixteen, and the debutante ball.   The [...]

Lets talk about alcohol and El Salvador…shall we? There is only one mindset about drinking in El Salvador, at least here in the campo anyway. If you are seen drinking, you are obviously drunk. If you are drunk, you must be that way all the time, there for a beer with dinner would make you [...]

So you know when you were a little kid and your crazy uncle used to steal your nose at every family event? Did you ever think it was real? I mean did you ever freak out or cry because you thought your nose had really been stolen? I have been thinking about it a lot [...]

In case you were wondering…Yes, Santa Claus does come to El Salvador. This being one of the many Christmas traditions our cultures do share. However that is not to say that Christmas in El Salvador is just like it is at home in the States, there are many differences as well. The most obvious and [...]

I am working on two main projects and some secondary projects at the moment. My main focus at this point is the stove project. Our community suffers from upper respiratory problems due to cooking over an open fire inside of the house.  During my census in May, I discovered that 92% of the houses that [...]

Big news out of Central America, apparently they have found a cure for cancer. I know this because there is a short, round man with a moldy leather satchel on the 302 Directo from San Sal to Usulutan who just happens to be selling it. It comes in a small spray bottle with no [...]

Many people have asked me why I joined the Peace Corps and my answers are always similar…I want to help people…but it’s more than that and it isn’t as altruistic as it may seem. My time here has allowed me to search deeper to find the true complex answer. The day I left for El [...]

Melissa and I have been tossing around the idea of getting a dog for some time now. However, every time we discussed it there was always conflict with timing and we decided it would be best if we wait. After a few months of waiting we came to the conclusion that there is never a [...]

Not long ago Melissa and I moved into a new house in our community. It consists of three rooms, a kitchen/living room, a bedroom/office and a bathroom. It is quite small but it fits our needs perfectly and we are quite happy here. Living on our own means we now have a lot more freedoms [...]

I just wanted to let everyone know that I live in the desert. It’s true. Actually its nothing like the desert, there are trees and volcanoes, but you know what I mean. It’s HOT and it’s the end of the dry season. On our walk to town on the dirt road I have to cover [...]

As of May 8th we are officially Peace Corp Volunteers. After two short months of safety, language, technical and cultural classes, training has come to end. We are now living in the site that we will be working in for the next two years. Currently we live with a [...]

*Please note that we have added direct links to our photo albums on the side bar titled “links.” *Also, anyone that is planning on sending any sort of package to us in the near future, I would ask for you to please hold off until further notice.  We will be leaving our current location in approximately [...]

This is probably my last post for a while. We will find out our permanent site on Wednesday and then just one more week until we move. We don’t know yet what amenities we will have but internet will not be an option. We will most likely have to travel to find an internet café. [...]