On the way back from my early morning walk with Nicole, a volunteer and friend that lives ten minutes away from me, I realized that I am really going to miss this place. It hit me when we were passing by one of Nicole’s neighbors and he greeted and then que les vaya bien’ed us. It made me remember just how warm, sweet, and friendly Salvadorans can be. Now I’ve done (and still do) my fair share of complaining about how things haven’t gone as I originally planned and how Salvadorans can sometimes be really annoying/difficult to work and live with, but I can truly appreciate how much I’ve learned from them. As my time winds down as a volunteer I hope that when I leave I take the good things about this place with me. I hope that when someone asks me how I spent the last two years of my life I will tell them that I spent it with some of the best people on this earth.

Ugh! I’m going to miss this place! How’d that happen? ;) It's been my home for the past two years and my heart is here.

In other news…my father will be visiting me in January!! It will be the best birthday present ever! He’ll be arriving when this country is at its ugliest (dry season turns everything brown), but I will make sure that he enjoys his stay. I can’t wait for him to step off that plane in Comalapa!!!! I plan on showing him my community and the work that I’ve been doing here. Maybe I’ll put him on a chicken bus so that he can get a real sense of what my life here is like. Hit up one of the beaches, maybe the war museum, get some pupusas!!! It’s gonna be great! Hopefully we won’t butt heads too much during his visit…lol. I. CAN’T. WAIT.

Well, I have a pile of laundry that’s been calling my name since Friday, so I guess it’s time to wash it. Does anyone know how to get marshmallow out of cotton?

I hope that everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving holiday. Please eat some delicious food in my honor. I love you all!

Mya

Hello Folks!

Here's the rundown of the past few weeks...

I had minor surgery after Thanksgiving and I was in the hospital for five days. Overall, I had a great experience. No one ever really wants to be in the hospital (especially in a third world country), but my time there was about as pleasant as one could ever hope for. The staff was very professional and the food was delicious! After my stay there I had to spend seven more days in the capital because I wasn't allowed to travel back to my site, which is four hours away. I stayed with the country director at his lovely, comfortable house. I couldn't have asked for a better host and I am very grateful that he opened the doors of his beautiful home when I needed it the most.

After twelve days in the capital I was more than ready to get back to my community. Even though all but one project have come to an end I really enjoy being in my site. It's probably because I know that my days here are numbered and I feel the need to spend as much time with the people in my site that I love the most. At times I don't like to leave my house because everyone in my community feels the need to remind that I only have a short amount of time left and they go on and on about how I'm never gonna come back to visit them or that I'll forget all about my amistades. Oh how I love them!

Now that I officially have 2.5 months left as a PCV I've been thinking a lot about what's next. To be quite honest the thought of going back to the States is daunting, but I know that I have to start the next chapter in this book we call "Life". In preparation for my future I have registered to take the GRE in February. That gives me about two months to prepare for the test. Also, we have our CLose of Service conference next month and PC will provide us with valuable resources for securing a job and applying to grad schools. All of this is a bit overwhelming right now, but I have to come up with a "Plan of Action" (my Dad's words) asap! Trying to find a job while having to deal with reversed cultural shock should be loads of fun!!!

Travel Plans:

My trip to Honduras was cancelled due to my unexpected surgery, so I will postpone that until after I finish my service in March. In a couple of weeks I will be heading to Guate for NYE! I can't wait! I've never been to Guatemala, but everyone that has gone rave about it. Also, I've been thinking about taking a trip to Argentina in March simply because I've never been and I've been dying to go for years. Also, I know that once I return home life will get crazy busy and I won't have any time or money to travel. Hay que aprovechar YA!

Well that's all for now folks! I love you guys so much and we'll be seeing each other soon (if not in March, April for sure).

XOXO

Mya

On the way back from my early morning walk with Nicole, a volunteer and friend that lives ten minutes away from me, I realized that I am really going to miss this place. It hit me when we were passing by one of Nicole’s neighbors and he greeted and then que les vaya bien’ed us. It made me remember just how warm, sweet, and friendly Salvadorans can be. Now I’ve done (and still do) my fair share of complaining about how things haven’t gone as I originally planned and how Salvadorans can sometimes be really annoying/difficult to work and live with, but I can truly appreciate how much I’ve learned from them. As my time winds down as a volunteer I hope that when I leave I take the good things about this place with me. I hope that when someone asks me how I spent the last two years of my life I will tell them that I spent it with some of the best people on this earth.

Ugh! I’m going to miss this place! How’d that happen? ;)

In other news…my father will be visiting me in January!! It will be the best birthday present ever! He’ll be arriving when this country is at its ugliest (dry season turns everything brown), but I will make sure that he enjoys his stay. I can’t wait for him to step off that plane in Comalapa!!!! I plan on showing him my community and the work that I’ve been doing here. Maybe I’ll put him on a chicken bus so that he can get a real sense of what my life here is like. Hit up one of the beaches, maybe the war museum, get some pupusas!!! It’s gonna be great! Hopefully we won’t butt heads too much during his visit…lol. I. CAN’T. WAIT.

Well, I have a pile of laundry that’s been calling my name since Friday, so I guess it’s time to wash it. Does anyone know how to get marshmallow out of cotton?

I hope that everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving holiday. Please eat some delicious food in my honor. I love you all!

Mya

This past week I went to Perquin to translate for members of an NGO based out of New York. It was a great experience because I got some much needed advice about the future and ways to prepare for it...now that I have less than five months left as a volunteer. I've realized that it's ok not to be 100% sure (read: not to have any idea) about what I want to do with the rest of my life. I think trying to figure that out at the age of 24 is an unrealistic expectation. Many of the doctors and nurses that I spoke with told me that when they were my age they thought that they had everything figured out and they were wrong. I was advised to make mistakes, try a bunch of things, find my passion, and to ultimately do what I love/what makes me happy. That's all for now. When I figure out my next step you guys'll be the firsts to know.

Cuidense,

Mya

Since my last blog a lot has happened. There were tropical depressions/ storms that affected hundreds of thousands of people here in El Salvador. It rained ten days straight and the sun was nowhere to be found. Bridges and roads were washed out and many people lost their homes and, unfortunately, about 3 dozen people died. The President issued a national emergency warning and PC put us on “stand fast” as a safety measure, which means that we were not allowed to leave our communities.

A river runs through my community at three locations and many families live really close to it. The river had already flooded by day 3 and many people weren’t able to SAFELY leave their homes. My host Dad tied a rope from one side of the river to his store so that people could hold on to it when they braved the rains and left their homes for shopping. On day four of the stand fast I went to my neighbor’s house to make food packages for people that couldn’t leave their homes to go shopping. Each package contained 1lb. bags of rice, beans, sugar, and salt and a small bag of cooking oil. We made about 200 packages and then delivered them throughout my community. It was a good day and I felt great being able to help out my community. Some communities were hit really hard and it’ll take some time before they’re up and running again.

After ten days of rain and no sunshine, my furniture, house, shoes, and clothes were covered in mold and everything smelled gross. I really believe that my house was making me sick. I woke up with terrible headaches and swollen eyelids. I couldn’t stand being in my house, but I didn’t dare to leave out of fear that a tree or boulder would fall on me (landslides are very common) or that the river would wash me away. Finally the rains stopped and the sun showed its beautiful face, gracias a DIOS! The battle of Mya vs. Mold could finally begin! I took an entire bottle of bleach to everything that could be bleached. I soaked all of my clothes in soap (and more bleach) and threw a lot of stuff away. I am really glad that this is my last rainy season in El Salvador. Mold makes me gag and I just hate seeing it.

In other news, I will be home 4 or five months!!! I am so excited to be done here. Overall, I’ve enjoyed my time here, but I am anxious to start the next chapter in my life. I’m curious to see what God has in store for me.

Take care,

Mya

So I guess it’s been a while since I’ve updated this thing. A lot has happened over these past few months, but I’ll keep this short.

July-

I went home to meet my paternal grandmother for the first time. She is an amazing, funny, caring, loving, and inspiring woman. I cherished my time with her and I can’t wait to go to Nigeria.

My peaceful home stay with my Salvadoran host family came to an end when I came back from vacation. While away my host family decided that fourth and fifth grade students could have class in our living room until construction on the school is over. It was a very chaotic environment everyday with children running around screaming and staring at me while doing regular, daily tasks. I think they were out of class more than they were actually in class.

August-

I dealt with them (the kids) for a month, but then it became too much. I was stressed out and started to hate them and my host family for allowing them to be there. Long story short, I looked for another house and, after a terrible experience filled with lots of drama and horrible gossip, now finally have my on house for the next six months. The house is absolutely perfect and I am much happier. My host family has been acting a little strange with me, but over time I’m sure they’ll get over it.

Present Day-

I have about five months left down here in El Salvador and I still have not had a visitor. At this point I’m over it. Instead of begging friends and family members to come down here, I will travel to Honduras and Guatemala for vacation. Honduras next month and hopefully Guatemala for New Year’s (if we ever get that ban lifted). No hard feelings people…I know that if you truly wanted to visit you would have.

That’s all for now,

Mya

This morning at 3:30 the school committee killed a cow in order to raise money for construction. I even helped take off the skin! It was a very tiring job and I still can't get the smell of blood off of my hands, but I love how my community members were gathered around watching the morena get down and dirty. It made me feel a lot closer to them. Isn't this what it's all about? I still can't get the smell of blood off of my hands, but I really love my job!

Take good care and I love you all,

Mya

My God has given me the strength to overcome some spiritual strongholds that I have been battling with for years. When you trust completely in the Lord and you stop trying to justify your failures, good things will happen! I continue to learn from the past while looking forward to a brighter, more Christ-focused future. I wish that I could explain just how peaceful I feel right now knowing that He is with me, but I can't seem to find the words :)

God is good all the time and all the time God is good.

Btw...work is awesome! I have a workout class up and running at the school and it's a lot of fun. Sometimes the kids make me feel old because they have way more energy than I do. Next Monday we're FINALLY starting the school garden! Tomatoes, anyone? Also, we got the land to start building the clinic!!! The Ministry of Health told us to cut down all the trees so that construction can begin, so we've been busy chopping away. The first day I went chapodaring my machete wasn't sharp so it took me an about an hour to chop down one tree. While taking pictures of all of our hard work, a tree fell on me and everyone started cracking up. Eventually I was sent home because, according to my neighbors, I am not cut out for that type of work. Take a look at my neighbor hard at work.

I have fallen truly, madly, deeply in love with my community. The bolos and even the super dirty children have taken up a big space in my heart! I love when the kids walk pass my house and scream out, "SALÚ NIÑA MYA", or when they run up to me at school screaming my name. On my morning runs, the old men that are heading to the fields always tell me that they will start running with me. I like to think that one day there'll be a group of senior citizens running beside me down the hill(haha). As my time here winds down the reality that one day I must leave this place hits me like a brick. My host sisters know that I have only nine months left and it kinda stings when they ask if the next volunteer will be a man or a woman. WHY ARE YOU GUYS ALREADY THINKING ABOUT THE NEXT ONE!? The old ladies always tell me that I should stay, get married and have a couple of kids with someone from my village...and then they offer me their sons or grandsons, lol.

All in all things coulnd't be better for me right now. Life is good, it's calling and I'm glad that I answered.

Have a blessed day everyone,

Mya

My oldest sister, Kelli, had just accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Saviour! I've been praying for this day for a while now and it's finally here. God is great and I am so happy that He has answered my prayers. I see good things in store for my family. He's a good God!!

Hello All,

This post is a little late, but it's really important for me to write about it because it was one of the happiest moments that I've experienced as a PCV.

So back in early March, my community and I began to plan a carrera de cinta to raise money for the health clinic. A carrera de cinta is almost like a horse race. Ok so picture a limbo pole with small rings hanging from loosely tied strings. As the rider pass under the pole they reach up and try to grab one of the rings with a small pencil. The riders that get the most rings gets the most gifts from the "madrinas"(godmothers) at the end of the race.

At our event, the health committee and I got 50 madrinas (including two really great PCVs, Jordan Fox and Megan Butler) to participate and I was the "reina" (queen) of the entire event so I got to start the parade on top of one of the prettiest horses in town. Once the race was over each rider recieved at least one gift and some received two. Now, I dont find Salvo men to be particularly attractive, but there is something very sexy about a man on top of a horse...lol.

All in all, it was a great day. We raised more than $257 for the clinic and I felt like just another member of the community instead of the freakishly tall gringa. Life in El Pastor just might suit me :)

Greetings!

This past weekend I took five community leaders to an HIV workshop and it was probably the best workshop that I've ever participated in. The chemistry amongst all of the participants was amazing. We invited a person living with HIV to give his testimony to the 25 others participants and it must have been the most impacting moment of the workshop. I was afraid that the participants might treat him differently after they found out the person that they had thought, up to that moment,to be just another community leader there to learn about the prevention of HIV/AIDS. Once the news was revealed the question started coming, but everyone took the news really well. I was really surprised by these Salvos...who can at times be very judgemental. Their interactions with the invited speaker changed FOR THE BETTER. It was probably one of the most emotional moments that I've experienced as a volunteer.

Life's good!

Un beso gris, un beso blanco todo depende del lugar. que tú te fuiste eso es pasado sé que te tengo que olvidar :)

I'm happier than I've been in a very long time. Thank God! Learning to be patient with the things that I have absolutely no control over. Life's good and it's still calling.

Salu,

Mya

p.s. I will not be meeting Mr. Obama....such is life

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN I AM PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THAT THE PRESIDENT OF THE GREAT UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND MY FELLOW CHICAGOAN IS COMING TO EL SALVADOR!!!!!!! I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT THIS IS HAPPENING! I AM SO EXCITED RIGHT NOW (AS IF YOU CAN'T TELL BY THE CAPS). I REALLY HOPE THAT WE GET TO MEET HIM! IT WOULD BE THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE! AND I WOULD LIKE TO TAKE A PICTURE WITH HIM.

I'M SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW! GO OBAMA! YES WE CAN!! CHICAGO STAND UP!!!

Here's what's been going on lately:

1. Some guy threatened me in my site (not really a big deal)

2. I now have to change sites

3. Went to visit my possible new site, it seems like there's a lot to be done!!

4. For some reason I'm still in my old site and now my running water isn't running

5. Seriously thought about going home for good

6. Celebrated my birthday!

7. Realized that some people that I thought were genuine actually aren't

8. Realized that God is the only one that can help me

9. Renewed my faith. THANK YOU, JESUS!

Love you all,

Mya

Recently I've been going through severe emotional problems due to my job and all that comes along with it. I feel so lonely at times and it's so hard to deal with it. There are people here that I can talk to, but I don't reall have enough confianza with office staff and volunteers wil give you advice one minute and then the next they'll be bad mouthing you, questioning whether or not you're here for the right reasons. My family doesn't call me as often as I would like...actually they really never call unless they know that I'm upset that they haven't called.

Basically, I have been feeling very much neglected and alone (plus I had an intestinal infection ast week and thought that I was going to die). I just wanted someone to hold me and listen to what I had to say without judging me. I called an old friend and he encouraged me to stop looking to man and to start turning to God. In my mind I had been hearing this message for weeks, but I never sought Him out. Yes, I prayed...but only half-heartedly. I read the Bible...again half-heartedly. I was so caught up in how my family and friends were NOT checking up on me that I forgot that there is someone who will NEVER LEAVE ME! Someone that will be there when no one else can or will be there. Someone that'll listen to all of my problems, whether they're valid or not. SOmeone who loves me more than anyone has or ever will love me. I didn't turn to Him and I continued to suffer. I continued to let depression ruin weeks of my life.

I thank God for Akwasi's life. I thank Him for placing someone in my life that encourages me to nurture my faith and rely on The Most High. Today I'm feeling renewed, knowing that problems will come,but feeling capable of handling them. I know who's on my side and I can do nothing without His help.

Stay blessed,

Mya

“The impossible is God’s chance to work a miracle”, or at least that’s what one of my praise and worship song states, but as of late I’ve been having a hard time remembering this. I’ve been going through so much that I feel that I can no longer be a successful volunteer. I am an emotional wreck. Yes, being a volunteer comes with certain challenges and I completely understand this, but how much can I really take? I’ve never felt so lost and depressed in my entire life…and I’ve been through far worse things than this.

I think the problem is that I have the control to change this situation, yet I stay here hoping for something that may never come. I feel selfish at times because I came here wanting to be a great volunteer and wanting to somehow better my community, but now all I can think about is how unhappy I am and how much I really want to go home. In all honesty, home isn’t even that great but at least I have my family and friends there to comfort me when I’m feeling down. Yes, I have plenty of volunteers that are probably going through something similar, but sometimes (MOST TIMES) volunteers can be unsupportive of one another OR they might listen and give you sound advice, but when you’re no longer in their presence they start bad mouthing your sincerity and your ability to be a good volunteer. Therefore I’d rather not speak to any of them about what I’m going through. There’s also the office staff but I don’t have enough confianza with anyone to talk about my problems. How can you tell your boss that you really hate your job and expect him to support you?

I’ve been telling myself that this will pass just like all the other times that I’ve been down in the dumps. Usually things turn around for the better, but I’ve been in this rut for a long time now. Is anything more important than my happiness? Does suffering go hand and hand with helping others? Am I really being selfish? Should I just suck it up and somehow complete my service? Pues, a saber!

This week I hate every single thing about what I'm doing! AND I MEAN EVERY SINGLE THING!! Maybe it's because I'm sick, or maybe it's becasue I'm tired of being positive when things are really shitty.

That is all

I had thanksgiving dinner with an US embassy family and a couple other volunteers. Lindsey and I helped prepare the cornbread dressing (missing gizzards and celery) and some of the vegetables. I was in a weird mood the entire night and I’m most really sure why. I could throw out some ideas, but I’ll be nice today. Stepping into the family’s penthouse was like stepping into another world. HE HAD A PRIVATE ELEVATOR! It was really weird to have traveled from my site, where people make their houses out of plastic bags and palm leaves, and then spends a few hours in a place like that. It really messed with my head. After a few hours of eating, drinking, and socializing with a breed of Salvadorans that I didn’t know existed I was more than ready to head back to my hotel room. Unfortunately, I was the only one ready to leave, so I had to wait around for everyone else (didn’t want to be rude to my host). Finally we left and I returned to the real world…where my hotel room costs $10 a night and in order to save money I order a $5 pizza and split it with someone else. Next year, I’m pretty sure that I won’t spend my thanksgiving with an embassy family. Maybe I’ll make dinner in my site!

On Friday we had the party for the group that came down in July at a club called FOUR. This party was so much better than the party we had for my group. The club was a lot nicer and the dance floor was bigger. Needless to say many volunteers were fall down drunk and they made fools of themselves…and I was there to take it all in…mmmmmmmHAHAHA.

I also saw the new Harry Potter movie with 3 CO-EDers (Dan, Jess, and Erica). It was a good movie, but so much has happened since the second movie (which was the last HP movie that I’d seen before #7) and I’m really confused. I’ll have to go to Centro and find #3-6 and catch up on everything that’s going on.

It was a great weekend! I returned home and there was about 2 weeks of laundry waiting to be done. I left a few household chores slide while I was preparing for my HIV workshop. Washing 2 weeks worth of dirty laundry by hand makes for a very sweaty morning.

Love you all,

Mya

Hello All!

After countless weeks of planning my HIV workshop is FINALLY over!! What a great experience it was for me to have done this project in my community.

From the beginning:

In order to fund an HIV workshop I had to apply for a VAST grant. This was my first time writing a grant proposal and let’s just say that my first submission raised a few eyebrows…after REsubmitting my second proposal I was approved for $238! I know this may not seem like a lot of money to those that are reading this blog, but let me assure you that in a country like El Salvador this kind of money can go a long way. After I was approved to do the workshop in my site I became really nervous. I was thinking, “can I really pull this off? I’ve never managed funds before. Will my community be interested in doing this type of workshop? I don’t think that I have enough experience.” Thankfully these thoughts didn’t deter me from moving ahead. I met with my committee members and discussed the possibility of having a day-long, HIV-related activity. I explained the importance of the workshop by mentioning that the infection was already in the community (this got their attention!). They were all de acuerdo with having the workshop, so the planning began!

The Planning:

First we set a date that would work for everyone (Wednesday, November 24). Next I had to find a locale that could accommodate 20 people. I had originally thought about having it in the community, but my counterpart wanted to have it outside of the community, so I called the mayor’s office and asked if we could you the conference room there. They said yes and the only thing that I had to worry about at this point was food and transportation. There are a few comedores near the alcadía so the food wouldn’t be a problem. The only problem that I encountered was how to get everyone on the bus at the same time in order to make it to the workshop on time. I realized that there was no way that I could control this…I’d just have to trust them to be on the bus on time. Over the next week and a half I bought all the materials for the workshop; poster paper, markers, tape, etc and I began making everything that I would need for the workshop. Guys, this was possibly the most tedious work that I’ve ever done! At home, I would’ve created a PowerPoint presentation for everything, but that wouldn’t work for this particular workshop because my computer is practically dead and it would’ve added to much stress to my life if I would’ve had to get someone to loan me a computer and a projector…so I decided to do things the old fashioned way. It took a lot of time to prepare everything, but I was so proud of myself after I looked at all that I had done.

Problems Along the Way:

About three days before the taller I received a phone call telling me that the mayor’s office was no longer available for my activity! I almost had a panic attack when I heard this, but quickly I thought about the place in my community where we held my general assembly. The place put you in the mind of a tiki hut with its straw roof and all. Well, I went to talk to the cuidandero and he told me that I could use the place for my activity! Now I just had to find someone to prepare lunch for us and this is where my community really helped me out. Wendy, one of the committee members recommended her aunt Isabel as a potential cook, so we went over to talk to her and she agreed to prepare the food. She wouldn’t tell me how much she was going to charge me and I left her house praying that it wouldn’t be more than $20 (which is A LOT) because I had to stay within my food budget or I’d be forced to pull money from other places.

Another problem was that I didn’t trust anyone to actually show up for the workshop. Ok, well I was about 60% sure that most of my committee members would show up, but you never know because one of their kids could get sick or they’d go into labor (I have 2 preggers on the committee) or they could decide not to show up out of pure laziness. Hands down this was the most agonizing part of this entire experience. I even had nightmares that no one showed up to the workshop. Throughout all of this I kept reminding my neighbors and everyone else that I had invited what time we would start and where. After I had to change locations everyone was really relieved because they didn’t want to travel to the mayor’s office, ALTHOUGH THEY SAID THAT THEY WOULD! Now do you guys understand why I was freaking out about attendance?

November 24, 2010

I woke up feeling unsure about how things would go. I began to listen to gospel music in order to calm my nerves and to encourage me. Lindsey (she came over to help out/keep me from freaking out) and I got everything ready and headed out to set up for the workshop. On the walk over to the place I felt like I was going to throw up. Now, it may have been due to the fact that we didn’t eat breakfast (I hadn’t really grocery shopped in a while) and we had to walk on the beach while the sun was blazing down on our professionally clad bodies OR it could’ve been my nerves. So, we get to the palce and we start setting up. It was so hard to get the posters to stick to the “wall” because there really wasn’t a wall...so we had to hang posters from electrical cables and we stood a table on two legs in order to stick some posters on it. It took us a while to figure out how we were gonna display the posters and I almost had a nervous breakdown. Thank God Lindsey was there! She was like, “Mya, go away and let me figure this out!” For my own good, I went somewhere, said a quick prayer, returned and she had figured it all out!

At 8 o’clock no one had arrived so I began freaking out AGAIN! I kept repeating “Lindsey, if no one shows up I’m gonna crawl into a ball and cry.” From about 8 to 8:07 (yes, I remember the exact minute) I was pacing back and forth hoping beyond all hope that at least 10 out of the 15 invitees would show up. And then they began to arrive!!! At 8:12 twelve people had shown up and I swear that I wanted to cry. We started at 8:15 with a pre-test just to see how much they already knew. At about 8:24 my neighbor arrived and…THE EVANGELICAL PASTOR!! I could not believe that he showed up, but I was so happy that he was there.

Overall, the workshop was a success. It went much better than I could’ve ever imagined. There were a couple of glitches along the way, i.e. the pastor didn’t want to participate in all of the activities and I discovered that one of my committee members can’t read or write so I had to cut out one activity from the agenda. I had 93% of the invitees in attendance and seriously as a first year volunteer you really can’t ask for more! I really feel that the information was well received by all and I know for a fact that everyone learned something new. THAT’S WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT, RIGHT?!?!

Now that I’ve trained my community leaders I will use them to educate the students at the local elementary school. Sustainability at its best!

I love life and my job!

Salú

Mya

Yesterday there was this volunteer festival in an artesany town named Suchitoto. My Country Director and Peace Corps Response Coordinator took me and two other volunteers to the festival in order to represent Peace Corps. We had a booth set up where we offered information about the PC to other volunteers organizations in the country as well as to the local/tourist population that were there. It was a great day overall. I got to meet the JICA sub-director and I invited him to my site. JICA is basically like PC, but it's a Japanese organization and they have TONS of money...hehehe. I've had the chnce to work with a JICA volunteer/nurse this past week at the Table Fair and I found her to be very chispita!

So back to the festival...there was music (which probably caused me irreversible hearing loss), pretty awesome dancing by the National Academy of Dance, and food from Louisiana (the jambalaya was terrible, but the gumbo was great!). I met some really cool Israelis and we discussed many things, wwe spoke alot about keeping the Sabbath and travelling. I would love to go to Israel one day.

Right now I'm in my hotel room in San Sal with a terrible cold. I have to go back to my site in a few hours, but I really don't have the strength to get out of bed. I feel just terrible. But mentally and spiritually I'm doing just fine. I feel so blessed today and I thank God for His constant protection.

Love and live life!

Hey All!

It's been a while since my last update, so here I am! First and foremost I'd like to say that I'm extremely excited about going home to Chicago for Christmas. I can't wait to spend some time with my Mom and my crazy sisters. Hopefully I can catch up with some friends, but vamos a ver que pasa.

As very few of you know, I applied for a VAST grant to do an HIV workshop in my community and I got it!! So the day before Thanksgiving I will be having an 8-hour workshop in my pueblo to train community leaders on HIV awareness and prevention. I'm really excited about it...but also a little bit stressed out. I've never planned anything like this before and I just hope that things go well. Also, my committee members have been showing up to the meetings that I've been holding. I just hope that this will continue because it'd make things a lot less stressful if my commuunity could actually get organized...primero Dios verdad?

Recently I've been in great spirits! I feel like a weight has been lifted off of my chest and now I can breathe a little bit easier. It seems like certain things that I was afligida over are now falling into place quite nicely. I feel stronger today than I did last month, hell even last week.

My God is good and He has given me the strength to leave behind the things that are not good for me. What a wonderful God I serve.

I'm loving life! I love my job! I think that I might just extend my service in 2012.

Love you all,

Salú

Hey all,

This past weekend myself and 10 others PCVs from the eastern region of the country took 25 girls to a 3 day leadership camp on the beach. In this culture it is uncommon for kids to spend the night away from the home, so this was a great accomplishment for me (being the youngest volunteer amongst the other camp leaders) because my neighbors trusted me enough to send their daughter with me. The camp was awesome! The girls were between the ages of 12 and 16 and most of them had never been to the beach or even outside of their village . Just to see how excited they were to see the ocean was amazing. At the camp we talked about many important things such as leadership, effective communication, domestic violence/healthy relationships, the importance of higher education, etc. We also did many activites with the girls such as: self defense workshops, nutrition workshops, bonfire w/smores (definitely a hit!), bracelet making worshops and journaling. I can't even begin to explain how beneficial this workshop was for them (and for myself). Most of the girls come from VERY small towns and had never travelled anywhere alone. To be in a position to teach these girls something new and valuable is a great feeling. In the future I plan to do another camp and invite different girls.

I feel good here in El Salvador. Good times are ahead and I'm looking forward to them. Difficult times are also ahead, but I feel stronger to deal with them. I love and miss you all.

Stay encouraged!

Salu

I went home last Monday for the homegoing of my Aunt Nikki. Her death was/is a shock to the entire family. She was always the life of the party and will always hold a special place in my heart. I will always remember her unconditional support of all the decisions that I made. She never made fun of my dreams and she always celebrated my accomplishments with me. My cheerleader will be deeply missed. The pain seems to get stronger everyday, but I know that God will heal it in due time. Now I feel like I have to try even harder to be a good example for the kids (my cousins) that Nikki left behind.

Now I'm back in El Salvador and it wasn't hard coming back like I had previously imagined, so I guess I will make it until 2012 (God willing).

Ok...so i know that I said that I didn't want to be in a relationship for these two years, but this relationship is NECCESARY! His name is Aaron, he's 25, and he's a fellow PCV. He lives in the west (I live in the east) and we don't get to see each other very much, but I really value our relationship. I think we might actually defy the odds and make this thing work...I think we're in it for the long haul.

LOL...in all seriousness Aaron does not exist. I made him up so that men (and women) and my community would stop telling me that I need a man to move in with me in order to protect me and provide other "services" (some people will say just about anything!). Also, I don't want anyone to think that I'm available.

Here it's really uncommon for a woman to live alone. When a girl leaves her parents house she moves in with her husband and his family. My neighbors always ask me if I'm afraid to live alone (NO!)and then they begin to mention all of the men that are available for me. When I tell them that I can take care of myself and that I don't want to date anyone in my community they feel that, as a woman, I am too strong. In their eyes I should desire to have a man in my house to take care of. PUH-LEEZE! I barely like cooking for myself...I don't want someone in my house that EXPECTS me to wait on them hand and foot (this is the culture here).

So here's an example of what I deal with on a daily basis:

Since the ocean is trying to reclaim the land where my house and other houses are situated a lot of damage has been done. Coconut trees have been uprooted by the ocean and my muro, protective wall, has been severely damaged. The construction crew arrived this week to repair the damage because the tide is expected to rise even higher within the next month. I woke up yesterday at 6am to men knocking down rocks...o sea mucha bulla...and I thought it'd be a good idea to get up, make breakfast, and leave because I didnt want to be the only woman around 10 macho men (just in case they expected ME to cook for them!). As I was preparing breakfast one worker comes into the kitchen to ask for a cup. After i gave him the cup he stayed there and began talking to me. Now let me paint a picture for you guys...it's 6am, I haven't showered (the water comes on at about 7), I have bed hair, and I'm still in my "pajamas" (shorts and a cami). Basically, I'm not looking very attractive and I'm in no mood to talk to ANYONE. He didn't get the hint and I couldn't be rude...mainly because he was closer to the door and was basically blocking it.

Anyway...we start to talk and he asks me the usual questions: where are you from? how old are you? what are you doing here? bla bla bla...

He then goes on to ask if I'm afraid to live alone and if I ever get lonely at night (yuck!). I told him that I'm not afraid to be alone and that I actually prefer la soledad and if someone tries to mess with me at night I have a weapon to protect myself (if those at PC Washington are reading this rest assured that I do NOT have a weapon). So, I finish cooking and exit the kitchen....he follows me to the patio...we continue to talk. Long story short he offers to be the one to take care of me at night so that I wouldn't be lonely, he also offers to cook for me (I told him that I don't cook...hoping that that would turn him off...didn't work). So this is where Aaron comes into existence. I HAD to tell this man that I was already taken and that Aaron and I are very much in love y que él me cuida bastante bien jaja. He then told me that I was being unappreciative....THE NERVE OF THIS MAN! This is my life...I deal with men like this everyday. In a culture where women are expected to be totally submissive to men, a woman like myself must somehow find a way to fit in/live here without going absolutely crazy.

Love you all,

Mya

Today I had to go to the airport to get a package that Daisy, Kez, and Yem had sent me via FedEx (never send via FedEx) and I was in a great mood because 1)I didn't get lost on the bus, 2)the weather was really nice, and 3) I just had a really nice weekend. I got to the airport and headed straight to customs. There they sent me back to the main entrance of the airport for a pass. At the information desk the attendant tells me that I have to go to the cargo terminal because that's where the FedEx office is. When he asked me anda carrito? (are you driving?) I knew that putting on 3" platform shoes this morning was a bad idea (hey sometimes I need to dress it up a little bit). The cargo terminal was really far from where I was and of course me tocó caminar, I had to walk. I arrived at the FedEx office and they asked me for the tracking number. OOOPS! I forgot to get that number from Daisy. So, I texted Daisy and she sends the number. The FedEx guy put the number in and then he started shaking his head. Oh NO! He explains that some information is missing and that the form that is needed to correct the mistake is in San Salvador! What??!! He told me that I would either have to go to San Sal (which is about an hour away on the bus), get the form, and then return to the airport OR I could wait until noon when they receive their deliveries from the San Sal office (it was already 10:30). Have you guys ever heard of a fax machine?! So I waited. And I knew that noon would in fact not be noon. The form arrived at 1 (dont you just love Salvo time?). So what did I do for those 2.5 hours? I sat in a chair pissed off at the world.

So I got the form. I then had to take it over to the customs office and handle all the paper work. Then I had to wait for them to locate the package, while filling out tons of paper work. While they were locating the package I started asking the other people that were waiting how long they'd been there. On average I'd be waiting for three hours. It was already 1:45 and being on the bus to San Sal in the evening is not recommended. I started to panic. Where would I stay if I had to wait for more than three hours? How can I afford a hotel near the airport on a volunteer's stipend (especially since I had spent $$$ in San Sal over the weekend)? As these things were running through my head i got even angrier. This is where the angel comes in. When I first arrived at the customs terminal there was this man (Rafael) that helped me with the paper work. He was also picking up a package . He was there with me throughout the entire process, telling me not to look so mean and that everything would work out in the end. He knew EVERYONE that worked in the administrative offices and in the warehouse where the packages were stored. He talked to the officer there and had him go and get my package right away. The officer moved me up in the line and I didn't wait for more that 20 minutes!! I could NOT believe that things were moving so fast until I remembered the prayer that I had sent up to my Father. I prayed, "Father, please show me favor so that I am not here all day long". Did He deliver or did He deliver? Rafael was the person that turned my day around for the better. He took time out of his schedule to help me and he made everything so much easier. I'm so grateful for the blessings that He throws my way...even when I don't deserve them.

THE PACKAGE

Once I was called into the warehouse to open the package I was so nervous that something bad would happen and they wouldn't allow me to take it home. We did the necessary paperwork and then the official opened the package to review the contents. I burst into tears as he took everything out of the box! I was so touched that my friends sent me a box full of goodies...noodles, mac n cheese, PEANUT BUTTER, shampoo, candy, cheetos and tons of other things. At that point I really began missing my friends and the tears wouldn't stop falling. I kept repeating las extraño tanto, I miss them so much. The official looked at me and in order to make me feel better, he pulled out a tampon from the box and asked me if it was a jumbo size Qtip. From tears to laughter in a matter of seconds! So long story short, after about another hour of paperwork, I left the airport with my 12 lb LOVE PACKAGE in my hand...thinking about what to eat first (I just finished a bag cheetos).

Today, inspite of the blisters that are now forming on my feet, was a really good day. I am truly blessed to have friends that care so much about me and a Father that knows EXACTLY what I need and when I need it. Rafael was a true blessing today.

Love you all,

Mya

I'm so happy to have received a care package from my Mommy and sister Kim. Thank you guys for the lovely underwear (washing your panties on a concrete rock causes a lot of stretching), the shaving cream (now my legs will be nice and smoothe), the febreeze (now when my clothes can't dry because of the rain, they'll atleast smell good) and the clothes!! I love you guys!!

Salu,

Mya

Hey all!

Right now it’s 5:55 (1 hour til bedtime, but who’s counting?) and I just ate “dinner”. Dinner is in quotations marks because ever since I’ve moved on my own my eating habits have been…poor. I usually get around to eating three times a day, so that’s not the problem. The problem lies with what I’m eating. I usually go to the grocery store and spend anywhere from $50-70 every two weeks on food, which is a HUGE chunk of my living allowance. Usually I buy comfort foods like peanut butter, Doritos, mashed potatoes, Ragu spaghetti sauce, etc. which cost me an arm and a leg. Ok, so I usually go into the store with a list and I try my best to stick to it. Then I get home and realize that most of what I purchased doesn’t really combine nicely into meals. Yes, I’m usually able to make some kind of soup and then there’s always spaghetti (I’ve already had it 4 times this week), but besides these dishes I’m usually stuck, staring into my fridge wondering what the heck to do with these items.

So dinner tonight was butter and herbs mashed potatoes. This box of potatoes (breakfast and dinner) and a can of sweet kernel corn (lunch) were the only things left in my fridge that I could eat. There’s a bag of pasta that I could’ve boiled, but I woke up this morning and found that the pasta sauce had molded…lol. Back to the potatoes…while reading the instructions I realized that I lacked half of the ingredients needed to make them. I had the water and the pouch of potatoes and seasoning but I didn’t have the milk or the butter (why I needed butter when the box clearly stated that real Land o’ Lakes butter was already mixed in is beyond me). Facing starvation (yup I’m dramatic) I decided that the potatoes would be just as good with only water. Oh my dear friends and family I was SO wrong! These potatoes tasted like warm grass. I ate as much as I could stomach and fed the rest (not much because I WAS really hungry) to the dog that has decided to live with me.

I wish I could tell you guys that this doesn’t happen very often but the sad truth is that my life has become filled with meals that sometimes even the dog won’t eat. This brings me to my latest culinary disaster. During my recent trip to the store I decided to buy soy protein. Why? Because it comes in a bag and I don’t have to worry about putting it in the fridge until after I cook it and because it’s loaded with folic acid and protein…two things I’m sure I could use more of. I was really excited about cooking for the first time, but when I opened the bag and saw the little pebbles I couldn’t help but to think of dog food. It even SMELLED like dog food. Anyways…I decided to give it a chance, after all it did cost me a whopping $0.50 a bag (foolishly I bought 2 bags). I make a soup and put the soy protein in the soup after I had seasoned it and stir fried it. That soup was the worst thing that I’ve ever made IN MY LIFE, mainly because it wasn’t REALLY a soup…more like scalding water with chunks of soy protein, bell peppers and onions. I really did have more veggies but somehow my knife disappeared and I couldn’t cut them up. I ended up ripping up the bell pepper with my hands and I just put the whole onion in the pot. It was so pathetic yet hilarious. I’m not one to waste food so I had to eat every drop of it. The texture of the soy protein made me gag…and I still have another bag waiting to be consumed. After that I made spaghetti and tried to roll the soy protein in to little meatballs, which didn’t work. I gave up and fried it and smothered it with garlic, black pepper and curry. Mixed with the spaghetti and sauce the soy protein was HALF bad…you just had to swallow it down really fast without chewing. I’m relieved to say that it’s all gone and I will never buy it again.

This weekend I’m going shopping again and I will make sure to buy things that I can turn into meals. Also, my friend Lindsey is coming to visit my site. Her best friend is visiting from the States and they’re gonna come hang out with me at my beach. Should be fun….hopefully my water will be running. Three girls, one bathroom, and no water? DIOS GUARDE! Love you all! Pray without ceasing and take good care!

Salu,

Mya

I received this email from Keisha this morning while I was having coffee at the local café. I broke down and the tears wouldn't stop falling. I felt like an idiot because everyone was staring at me, but THEY didn't just get an email like this so they can KICK ROCKS!

encontre que hubo un maratón de Golden Girls [A Golden Girls marathon was on]. Have you ever watched that show? I watched it when I was little, but never understood what it was about. But watching it today made me realize what a good show it is. It made me think that when I get old, if for some reason I had to have some room mates, it would be nice to be roomies with you again. Okay I'm on a rant, I really wanted to just sing you the theme song to the show, because every time I hear it I think of you. Here I go (I know you hate me cause I'm singing to you in an email) :

Thank you for being a friend,

Travel down the road and back again,

You're heart is true

You're a pal and a confidante

And if you threw a party, invited everyone you knew,

You would see, the biggest gift would be from me and the card attached would say,

Thank you for being a friend!

To my dear Keisha, I love you more than you know! You have always been there for me, without passing judgement (but keeping it real), and I am blessed to have you in my life! Count on me to be your pal, your sister and your confidant for as long as I live!!

In other news, I've been crying a lot lately. The smallest things make me cry. I'm not sad or depressed...I'm just overly sensitive right now.

Love you all,

Salu

Heeeeeeeeeey Everybody!

I know it's been awhile since I updated my blog, but seriously you guys aren't even following so it doesn't matter. YES, I SAID IT!!

Anyways...I'm sitting at the mall in Wendy's watching the World Cup. uruguay just elminated Korea. Soon the US will take on Ghana...I'm not sure if I should support my country or the last African team in the Cup...hmmm decisions. Who would've ever thought that I'd be this interested in soccer? I think it interests me so much because it gives my Daddy and I something to talk about...lol.

So what have I been up to you ask? Well I went back to San Vicente for 3 weeks of "technical" training. I don't really feel like I learned a lot of technical things, but oh well. I did learn how to make shampoo and I almost burst into laughter when Gabe, a volunteer and the mastermind behind the whole shampoo thing, told my group that "shampoo is shampoo" and that everyone could wash their hair with what we made! Clearly he doesn't know about Black people's hair...better said...he doesnt know about MY hair! We also killed some rabbits at his house and grilled them up. I dont think I will have a rabbit project simply because I'm not willing to kill them. After training it was time to head back to my site. It was really hard to be back the first nite and after talking to my Mommy, I cried like a baby, fell asleep, woke up the next morning and went to the beach with some other volunteers. I stayed at El Espino for two days, dreading going back to my site. So, I went back moved into my new place and have been trying to decide what my next move should be.

Ok, so maybe I'm going to fast. Why was it so hard to be back in site? After spending almost a month with your friends...speaking English...complaining (not too much) about things in site it's really hard to leave them. You know that when you leave you're gonna be alone, you're gonna have to readjust to being back in the middle of nowhere, etc. So THAT, my friends, is why it was so hard to go back. Thankfully God keeps me from going crazy...and things are going well in site. Monday I plan on going to the school to see what I can do there.

I miss you and love you all! Keep me in your prayers so that I won't go loca!

just 6 more months til Xmas break!!!

I am not coming home until I feel that there’s a real reason to leave El Sal (i.e. natural disaster, sick family member). I know that I scare some people when I update my status on Facebook, but I assure you guys that I am fine. Instead of telling me to come home, SUPPORT ME!!Yes, I have very bad days, but I also have really good days. I’ve been tested both physically and mentally and there were PLENTY of times when I wanted to throw in the towel, but then I have to remember that I prayed for this. I asked to be tested. I asked to be here (well maybe not in this particular country, but you get the point). It would be easy to say, “I can’t live like this. I miss my family. I’m going home”, but I know that there’s a reason that I am here. I’m not a quitter and I won’t give up without a fight. But if I see another rat anywhere near my suitcase…I’ll be on the first flight home! Hahaha…just kidding…I think.

Love you all,

Salu (this is the Salvo way of saying goodbye)

p.s. My Daddy is the best man in this world! I'll be asking him to run a background check on my future boyfriend ;-)

I'd rather be hurt by the truth than protected by a lie.

Now that I got that off my chest I guess I'll let you guys know what's been going on in my life. I recently had my heart broken by someone that I thought was incapable of hurting me. I wanted to hate him but I prayed that God would take away those negative feelings and today...I'm learning to work through the pain.

Love you all,

Salu

I've heard that if you wanna make God laugh you should tell Him your plans. I bet He's getting a good laugh off of me right now. I've had a lot of time to think over these past few weeks (I'm really not doing anything else) and I've come to realize that I've lost some things that I thought would be around for a while. I had to travel thousands of miles in order to realize lo que me conviene y lo que NO me conviene. It really doesn't surprise me that this is happening because when I was in CoRi the same thing happened. I just thought this was different! HA! Me equivoqué de nuevo...púchica!

Does it hurt? Yup!

Will I get over it? Eventually

In other news...these are the things happening in my community:

Bolo shooting his gun- There's this bolo (drunk) that walks around shooting his gun when he fights with his girlfriend. The first night that this happened I thought I was back in Chicago. I heard the shots and as I was about to hit the ground I realized that my hammock pretty much touches the ground so I decided to stay put. What worried me was the fact that a lot of houses here are made out of palm leaves, but no one got shot that night so everything is cool. I saw the bolo this morning and I told my host sister, Reina, that we should beat him up with his prostetic leg....but we didn't.

Running on the beach- So I have to work out here or else I'm gonna gain 25lbs and that's just not an option. So I've been running on the beach at about 6am. The sun isn't strong at this time (yes im translating as i type) so it's not too bad to work out for an hour and a half. It's actually pretty nice bc the ocean looks beautiful during that time and I get some uninterrupted time with my Creator. Now, the town has been seeing the crazy gringa running on the beach for the past two weeks and they probably think it's the craziest thing in the world. This one guy, Toñito asked my counterpart if he could run with me sometime. I didnt see the harm in it so I told my CP to tell the guy yes. Now, when I told my host family that I would start running with him they gave me the most terrified look. According to them I should stay far away from Toñito because his girlfriend will kill me if she sees him with me. Apparently she's a witch and practices dark magic and has killed someone before. Nuff said! Toñito and I will not be friends.

So, that's about all so far. I have some ideas already about the projects that I think would benefit the neighborhood....but we have to see what THEY want.

I love you all,

Salu

p.s. There's this 14 yr old girl in my community and she's about 5months pregnant. I went with the health promoter to visit here and to talk about pregnancy and childcare. This girl has the mind of a 7 year old so it was an extremely sad hour that we spent with her. So that made me think about a lot of things that are going on in my community. Teenage pregnancy is the norm, statutory rape does not exist here in the campo (the baby's daddy is 42 years old), family planning is frowned upon, sexual education does NOT exist....etc. So, thank you DADDY for talking to me about sex. Although I didn't see the importance of those little chats at age 5...i totally get it now!

When my friend Sam has had much more than he can stand or when things just seems unreal we always ask "Is this real life?" I've been asking myself that lately now that i have been in my permanent site all of ten days. I'm in the department of San Miguel and it's HOT here! HOT like 100 degrees everyday!

OK inicial thoughs upon arriving:

1. Ooooh the beach is less than a block away

2. This is far from town....how am i gonna go grocery shoping

3. I cant understand anything these ppl are saying

4. I'm gonna lose so much weight in this heat (which has not happened)

5. Ok now i'm ready to go back to Cañas (my training community near the capital)

The first day that I was in my community I started crying hysterically. Maybe it was the house (the 2nd floor where i sleep has no windows nd i've seen atleast 5 rats to date), or the accent of the ppl (my spanish is going to be sooooooooooo different when i leave here), or maybe the fact that I'm far away from my friends. Anyway....it was a bad first day...and the heat didnt make it any better. I was ready to go home by day 2. I couldn't remember why I had signed up for this and I felt like I was making a big mistake. I've been taking it one day at a time and trying not to think about the two years that i have left here (cough ONE cough). I've had great support from Cholo and all my other PC friends. One day at a time is my new motto.

not much time to continue....

love you all,

salu

Today a couple of US embassy officials came to give a charla about safety in El Salvador. According to them El Sal is the 10th most dangerous country in the world. Now this might be due to the size of the country and the population...but i DOUBT it. The lady that have the charla was preety bad ass. She had a gun holstered and she reminded me of the detective shows where there's this tough female detective kicking ass. Anyways......I think this blog is important because the PC is a governmental organization which sounds pretty cool and important (and it SO is), but we PCV's (Peace Corps Volunteers) dont live the same life as embassy employees. Here are a few examples:

1. Embassy employees are not allowed to walk/run outside. PCV's MUST walk/run outside.

2. Embassy employees are prohibited from taking public transportation. PCV's have to take public transportation EVERYDAY!

3. PCV's are not allowed to operate vehicles, take pictures next to a runnig vehicle, or sit in the driver's seat of a park, broken down vehicle. BUT WE ARE ALLOWED TO RIDE A HORSE/DONKEY/COW! Embassy employees drive governmental vehicles.

4. Embassy employees must live in the safest areas in the capital. PCV's can NOT live in the capital. As a matter of fact, the closest PCV is atleast an hour from the capital.

5. Some embassy employees can carry guns. PCV's can not! But we can carry knives/machetes...which will more than likely be stolen from us and used against us.

6. Embassy officials can't enter their residences from the attached garage because someone could easily attack them. PCV's might not have electricity necessary to have an automatic door opener so we dont have to worry about that. Is this real life?

These are just a few differences between us. But we all work to uphold the integrity of our beautiful country and we're all diplomats :)

Salu,

Mya

So I stole this from my friend Lindsey's blog.

"Mya and I went to a dance this weekend, and had a lot of fun.

Lets describe the scene. There is a man wearing a suit in the shape of a bull running around shooting fireworks at people. (Not just shooting fireworks, but shooting them AT PEOPLE). Ages of individuals there range from 12 to 75. Older women are wearing clothes made for 13-year-old girls, and dancing like 20-year-old girls. There is an old man sleeping against the fence. The only good-looking men there are police officers who carry guns as tall as me. There is a fight happening between some transvestites and some clowns just outside the entrance. (Yes, it is exactly what I said).

Mya spots the only black man she has seen in 2 months and yells out loud, “Look a black man!” Good thing it was in English so not everyone around us could understand. She spent a good portion of the night trying to talk to him without being awkward. She finally did, and was disappointed because he wasn’t cute and he was just from Panama.

Even though Mya (a tall black girl) and I (the only blond person in hundreds of miles) are completely inconspicuous, we somehow (hmmm…somehow!) got dragged up on stage. The singer is shouting at me in Spanish. I have no idea what he wants, but apparently we were entered into a dance competetion, and we had to dance in front of all 300, 400? people.

The singer is screaming “Para abajo,” or “Get down.” Mya is shaking her butt all the way down to the ground and the crowd is going wild!

The next day we found out there is some sort of video of the gringas shaking our behinds on stage. Hopefully, this does not end up on the internet. But we had a lot of fun, got a free CD, danced a lot, and got to stay out later than 9 for the first time in 2 months. Totally worth it if it does.

After the dance, as we are waiting to be picked up in a death-trap pickup truck owned by Mya’s “dad,” Mya is attracting drunks, men dressed as clowns, and weird people who speak English like moths to the flame. I am trying to contain my laughter, as she gets more and more irritated.

We finally get home around 2 am.

You know in this little town they are going to be talking about the silly gringas who came to the country dance and got video-taped for the next 10 years….always loving to cause a stir."

In short...that was the best night here in El Sal :)

Salu

I love you guys more than I love myself. I am so blessed that you guys support my decision to be here (even if you tell me to come home every time we talk). I carry you guys with me all the time. As I read my Daily Word I think about you Sister Marie. When I think about people with hearts the size of Texas I think about my big, little sister Ree Ree. When I see a kid terrorizing someone else I think about Xman, Khala, and Kelz. As I listen to my iPod I think about you Kim because you’re the reason that I have so many songs!

I love you guys,

Mya

My conversations with other volunteers here in El Salvador are pretty interesting. We dont talk about international affairs or the current political situation in country. So... what do we discuss over breakfast? Diarrhea, parasites, the current status of the latrine, cockroaches, rats, and roosters. Here's a typical conversation:

Convo #1

Mya: Hey Cholo what's up?

Cholo: Nothin much just telling Emily about the 1000's of cockroaches that were crawling around my latrine this morning. I've been pissing out of my bedroom window since I got here.

Emily: Well atleast you don't ahve rats chewing through your mosquito net every night!

Convo #2

Cholo: Do u still have parasites.

Mya: hell I don't know but i did spend about 4 hours in my latrine last nite. I thought I was gonna die out there.

Cholo: Have you talked to the nurse yet?

Mya: Well yea, but she keeps asking me how my poop looks. If it's liquidy or not. HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE? IT FALLS ABOUT 20 FEET INTO THE GROUND! I HAVEN'T SEEN MY POOP IN WEEKS!

Cholo: *laughs hysterically*

So, if you guys think that I overshare on FB please forgive me, but this is my reality right now!

Luv you all,

Mya

p.s. I move to my permanent site in two weeks. I dont know where it is exactly but I do know that I'll be living on the beach. Not like IN THE SAND. More like.....i'll have a house on the beach!!!!! Hopefully ppl will visit me. YEA RIGHT!

Salu

I'm allergic to Salvadoran pork...and how did I find this out? I ATE IT AND MY LIPS SWELLED WHILE I WAS SLEEPING. Well actually I didn't sleep that night because I felt like there were a million bugs crawling all over my body. I was scratching from 9pm-6am. Around 3am my bottom lips began to swell and it SCARED THE HECK OUT OF ME!! Do you guys remember the movie Nutty Professor? Well, there's this scene when Buddy transforms into the Professor. Remember how his bottom lip was just kinda hanging there....about the size of a polish sausage. THAT WAS ME! By the time I got out of bed my entire mouth was swollen. I didn't want to leave the house because it looked REALLY bad. My host mother, being such a darling, told me that it didn't look that bad (she was lying to make me feel better...it didnt work). Long story short...I went to the hospital, was told not to eat anymore pork, was given medication. Last nite I slept like a baby and my lips are no longer swollen. :)

luv u all

ketchup: I never thought that I'd miss eating ketchup but I do. I really do. Do they have ketchup here, YES. But only in the super market and that's far from my house. My host family doesnt buy it because they dont eat it!

internet cafe: Young ppl here cant have sex at home because there's always someone there so they use the cafes (cheaters also). These places have doors with locks and sometimes the keyboard and mouse feel sticky (LMAO). But hey...30 minutes of privacy for 60cents is a good deal...those of us that actually use the comps are the ones that suffer.

washing my clothes: Yup, I do it by hand and it's HARD! Jeans are the worst but I'm getting better with time. Also, I hang them out to dry and when my family burns the trash (we dont have a garbage truck in our community) the smoke gets in my clothes and they smell like I havent washed them at all. ¡Púchica!

sleep by 9,up b4 6: My days start really early...usually before 6am when the rooster starts singing (I was secretly happy when we killed one a couple of weeks ago bc I thought there wouldnt be one to wake me up, but he was replaced by another one). By 8pm I'm exhausted and I'm asleep before 9. I've turned into an old lady.

hot chips: Of course they don't ewxist down here and I miss them so much!!

fried chicken n mild sauce: HA! Don't even know where to begin.

parasite: It's official...I have parasites. Constant diarrhea, unbearable stomach cramps....sigh...I´m better now, but my parasites cant be treated with medicine so I have to get rid of them naturally. HAHAHA...sigh

Luv you all,

Mya

Last Thursday all PC trainees had to visit a current PC volunteer in order to get a better understanding of the PC as a volunteer. I was sent to a place called Las Mercedes, Tacuba, Ahuachapán. I was excited to get away from the training environment for a few days, but the volunteer that I was to visit told me to pack VERY light because we’d have to hike 1.5 hrs in order to get to his site. HIKE?!?! LIKE UP A MOUNTAIN!!!! I tried to be open minded and everything….but I really wasn’t looking forward to that part of the trip.

So early Thursday morning I left my host family and about 4 hours later I met Jeff (the volunteer that I had been assigned) in Ahuachapán and we then took a bus to Tacuba. While in Tacuba I saw MS 13 and MS 18 spray painted on a few buildings…needless to say I didn’t wanna spend much time in that city. We took a pickup truck from Tacuba to some place which is located at the bottom of the mountain (most cars can’t go up the mountain). I remember thinking to myself “this guy lives in the jungle”. We started up the mountain and the only thing that I could think about was the fact that I might be living in a site like this in less than two months. THE HIKE WAS TERRIBLE!! The guy lives AT THE TOP OF A MOUNTAIN!! The hike lasted for more than two hours, we took so many breaks because I thought my lungs were gonna jump out of my chest. THIS IS WHEN I FIRST ASKED MYSELF “What the hell am I doing in the PC?”

The next day Jeff told me that we were going to take a water filter to some lady’s house and that she lived about 1.5 hrs away (LIE!!). So we headed out after breakfast at 7:30am. The walk was so intense that I seriously thought I was gonna die. On the way we passed many people and they asked Jeff where we were heading. Once people found out where we were going they would look at me (at this point I was sweating profusely) and then tell Jeff that I wouldn’t be able to make it and that I would be in a lot of pain the next day. One man even asked him why he was taking me to a place so far away. At about 9:30 my legs started trembling and I began to feel nauseous. Periodically Jeff would ask me if I were doing ok and if I could continue walking WHAT OTHER CHOICE DID I HAVE? IT WAS EITHER CONTINUE WALKING OR STAND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE JUNGLE WHERE EVERYTHING LOOKS THE SAME AND ONE WRONG STEP I’D BREAK MY ANKLE, FALL INTO A DITCH, AND DIE!

After about three hours of hiking my hands started to swell. My fingertips were the size of grapes and I thought that blood was gonna start gushing out of them. I threw up three times and I just couldn’t understand why I was sent to visit this guy up in the mountains and why he was taking me to my death. As I was walking up (and down and up and down) the mountain I prayed for strength to make it through. To God I said “Father, I am dying here. I don’t think I can make it. Just give me a little more strength.” Even though I was in so much pain I had to remind myself that He was there with me and that He wouldn’t leave me. Long story short, we finally made it to the lady’s house at 1 (do the math!!!), gave her the filter, rested and then went back to his community.

I was in such a bad mood. My experiences that weekend made me question my motivation for wanting to be a PC volunteer and I wanted to return to Chicago. On that mountain I was convinced that I had made the biggest mistake of my life and that I wasn’t cut out for PC life and I was LIVID with Jeff for taking me through all of that. I honestly thought about killing him on several different occasions. The one thing that held me back was the fact that I had no idea how to find my way off that mountain...AND i guess I'm not the murdering type. I had to call my Mommy to let her know about my terrible weekend. When I called she said that I had been on her mind all weekend and that she had been praying for me. She also told me that everything that I had gone through had been a test of my faith. She also reminded me that God has a purpose for me and that it was no mistake that I had been sent to that site.

That test has now become my TESTimony. My God is real and He didn’t leave me! I called on Him when I thought that I couldn’t make it any further and He showed up for me! Yes, my legs still hurt! Yes, I will probably be sore for a few more days! Yes, this was probably the first of many tests that I will have to go through here in El Sal! But one thing that I know for sure is that even during my darkest hour there will always be someone with me…strengthening me when I’m weak, accompanying me when I’m lonely. Ain’t God alright?

It ain’t over til God says it’s over…

BTW…I am no longer mad at Jeff. I had to go through this experience and NOW I’m grateful that he took me up that mountain (hmmm...how crazy!).

I’m so grateful for my Mama and my Daddy...who encouraged me this weekend when I thought I’d be heading home a lot earlier than planned.

Love & miss you all,

Mya

I went to the local high school with my fellow trainee (Erik) and then we were locked in this one classroom and we couldnt get out. A lunch lady who had had a fight with the woman that locked us in the room came to our rescue and freed us. Erik and I then ran from the school and somewhere along the way we realized that the army was trying to kill us. We hid out on top of two houses until the soldiers began closing in on our location.

We realized that the only way to get away from the Salvadoran army was to escape to Guatemala. We began to make our way north, with the army close on our trail. Finally, we reached Guatemala. We stood in line for the bus, boarded, paid 50 cents, and when we got off we were in NEw York.

THIS....my friends, is one of the side effects of taking antimalarial medications. My dreams have become a lot more vivid (cant complain about all of them, haha) and some are so scary!!

So...not really sure what to write about today....let me think....OH!!! So today we took a field trip to visit a volunteer that has been here for one year. His site was relatively close to the city but getting there was kinda hard. Half of the journey is on the Panamerican and the other half is on an unpaved, dirt/"bouldery" road. I thought we were gonna hit a hole and then go head on into a tree.....or maybe a cow.

So we get there and it´s super hot and dusty but not bad. The guy´s house is really nice....although he said that he had to kill some big rats when he first moved in (!!!). A couple of us trainees helped him vaccinate his chickens that he´s raising and it was kinda fun/challenging picking up these 15 wk old chickens and putting drops in their eyes. We only spent a couple of hours at the guy's site and then we headed back to San Vicente, which is where our training center is.

So I guess I should let you guys know what else we've been up to. Well, as trainees we have cultural classes, language classes and some other classes that I cant really recall right now. We´re a group of 36 trainees and we live in 6 different communities. My community members are AWESOME!! I am so happy that we're all together because we have a great time cracking up with each other and sharing our opinions about the things that we've seen so far.

Now since my Spanish level is higher than my community members I dont have to attend the language classes. Instead, I get to go around investigating the neighborhood (which is only about 3 blocks long/ 484 ppl), making appointments for my group to meet with the health promotor, school director, etc. and I also get to interview ppl in the community.....which brings me to the health promoter.

HE'S A BIG ASS FLIRT!!! So, I had to make an appointment with him so that I could ask him for the key to the medical clinic (we've having a meeting with the youths in our community) and if we could go with him during his house calls. The meeting was a success...we will use the medical clinic and we´ll accompany him this Monday to his house visits. The whole time we were talking he was FLIRTING while his wife say a few feet away. My trainee friend Lindsey lives at his house and I told her to be careful because I know his type all too well....donde él va yo ya he ido!!!! More on him later bc this post is getting long.

Love you all,

Mya

p.s. PLEASE TELL MY MAMA TO SEND ME SOME FEBREEZE AND FLAMIN HOTS IF POSSIBLE

the title means "it smells like Nicaragua" and that's the first thing I saw when I exited the airport (I was the first in our group to step foot in El Sal, hehehe). This place brought back many memories of my time in Nicaragua and from what I've seen so far I'm gonna love it here. Hmmm...maybe I should wait a few more day....maybe some months...

So now we're in training and today was SUPER long...I felt like I was gonna fall asleep. Tomorrow we move in with our host families and I'm really excited about that. I hope I get a good family with a couple of kids running around.

Ok, I'm tired now.

Hasta pronto,

Mya

"You can kiss your family and friends good-bye and put miles between you, but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach, because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you."

— Frederick Buechner

This is one of my fave quotes because it reminds me that my loved ones are always with me. As I get ready to leave I'll try to remember this...

I leave in exactly two weeks so I thought this would be a good time to get this blog thing rolling. The primary goal of this blog is to keep everyone updated on what’s going on in my life in El Salvador as a Peace Corps trainee/volunteer. First in foremost I feel the urge to make it known that:

1. Grammar is on vacation therefore expect to find mistakes

2. I will write some words/phrases in Spanish without realizing it and expect you to understand 

3. Sometimes I will write about absolutely nothing 

4. Comments are welcomed and much appreciated

So, now that that’s out of the way…JUST TWO WEEKS LEFT! *hyperventilating*

My upcoming trip has completely taken over my life. I had completely forgotten about my birthday until Yemi suggested that we meet up on Thursday. This is how the conversation went

Yem: so when am I gonna see you before you leave?

Me: ummm…you tell me when you’re free because I’m free everyday

Yem: how about Thursday?

Me: Thursday’s fine. Hmmm…Thursday…Thursday…what is that? Hmmm…I think that’s my birthday. Yea it is…Ok that works!

Anyhoo…during these last 2 weeks I plan to spend time with family and friends, pack and then repack my suitcases. I did a trial run with my luggage and let’s just say that I am going to die if I have to climb one mountain! Ok, I have a huge duffel bag and an equally large suitcase that I will check in (I’m praying that they’ll weigh under 80lbs) and my backpack and a computer bag as carry-ons. My check-in luggage exceeds the limit (107’’) set by the airline and the PC (Peace Corps) so I might have to pay extra. Now, the PC says that we can bring as much luggage as we want so long as we can carry it. I’m wondering what they’d do if I can’t carry my luggage. Are they just gonna leave me on the side of a road with 100lb of luggage? I doubt it! Therefore, I’m not gonna worry too much about it, but I will make sure to take only the necessities…i.e. hair supplies and baby wipes (thanks Daisy).

Ok…I think the next post will be a week before I leave or maybe once I’m in D.C.

¡Hasta pronto!