earthquakes, teaching english, and the beach

Time has flown by so quickly and I keep meaning to update the blog but never seem to be able to. I can't believe that our training is almost over - on a week from Thursday we swear in as volunteers and are shipped off to our sites, though we still don't know where that will be. We finally find out where we are being sent on Wednesday! I feel like this whole PC experience has been one long lesson in patience, I'm dying to know already...

I remember reading some other volunteer's blog before I came down here and she was listing all the things that once seemed so strange and already are so familiar by the end of training, and I feel like I can identify with her so much. For example, taking cold showers and bucket baths (when the water isn't running, which is pretty often), waking up at 6am, taking the crazy buses (old American school buses, painted neon colors and outfitted with giant speakers that play reggaeton all day, and are almost always packed full), being stared at on those buses, or actually being stared at anywhere, all the time, speaking Spanish, living with my host grandma, beans for breakfast, lunch and dinner, the list could go on for ever, but the point is really that after this brief time, I already feel very much at home here. They keep telling us that the first couple months are a "honeymoon period" and I am probably in that stage right now, but it's nice to think about how smooth the transition period has been. Though being so comfortable in the communities we are in now is off-set by the fact that we're going to have to start all over again in an unfamiliar community in just two weeks, leaving this support network we have built here behind. It is quite intimidating.

So speaking of shaking things up, I got to experience two earthquakes that I actually noticed (I've lived through 2 in Seattle, but I wasn't paying attention when it happened), which was exciting. Though seeing how this country is very earthquake prone it probably wont be my last! They have a major one every 20 years or so - that's why there aren't very many historical buildings here...

This past weekend was our free weekend. We had class until 5 on Friday though so going anywhere by public bus was pretty much impossible. As a resourceful future Peace Corps volunteer, I decided I couldn't let that small set-back stop me, and went to talk to the man in town who owned the microbus, and he agreed to take me and 20 other of my peace corps friends to the beach. He promised there was room for all of us, but when the bus showed up it only had 4 rows of seats, I was a little scared, but hey, it's el salvador, and when in rome... So we all managed to squeeze in just barely and got to the beach in one piece. It was a great weekend though. It was so nice to simply be able to spend time together as a group, speak english, and swim in the beautiful ocean, all very much stress-free. Betsy had some of her crazy surfer friends from college come and meet up with us, which was great. I was very envious of their surfer lifestyle, they are currently in the middle of traveling all around central and south america (started in October). Though I suppose I can't really complain too much. Indeed, as we left the weekend we were all talking about how it was one of the funnest weekends we have had in a really long time. (there are some pictures from it posted below)

On Sunday we went to San Salvador for Passover. The tiny Jewish community there organizes a community Passover seder for all the Jews at a hotel. The Israeli ambassador was there, as were a lot of U.S. embassy people and NGO employees. Going to Jewish events in random cities around the world is one of my favorite things about the religion. I love how people welcome you in and take care of you. Speaking of which, we got very lucky because Betsy and I got to stay with Selena's mom in San Salvador, who was incredibly kind and took such good care of us. We both felt very spoiled! It's so nice to know that there is someone I can count on to take care of me in this country.

As for activities we've been up to during training, we got to teach English classes last week. I ended up teaching the class for the students who have been held back a grade, so it was pretty tough, but it was a fun experience and they asked me to come back, so I think it went all right. We listened to the Beatles song "hello goodbye" to learn English greetings, which was fun but the favorite activity was when we played "heads up 7 up," a classic. Though I am really not sure how educational that activity was, it did bring me back to my elementary school days. As requested, I will be there again on Monday, which I am looking forward to.

We had some interesting lectures in training this week too. Two higher-ups from the San Salvador office came in to talk to us about the history of the civil war here and then about gang violence. One thing that I am continually surprised by is the success of the Peace Accords. I find it remarkable that in after such a long and bitter civil war, where over 70,000 Salvadorans died, the country is now a (somewhat) functioning democracy. The FMLN (the guerillas) has been successfully transitioned into a political party, and is content now to fight its ideological battles in the electoral sphere, exactly as should happen in a successful post-conflict transition. The speaker said that in his opinion, the legalization of FMLN as a political party, and the formation of the national police (which by law was made up of 30% ex-military, 30% ex-guerrilla, and 40% non-involved) was key to this transition. I am amazed how communities such as the one I am now living in are made up of people who fought on both sides, and are mutually aware of their contentious histories, and yet are able to live together. I am very interested in why this is and am hoping to understand it better over the next two years.

Now of course, not everything is perfect, as the next speaker about gang violence discussed. El Salvador is infamous for its gangs, especially MS 13, which actually started in L.A. by Salvadoran refugees during the Civil War who were trying to protect themselves from rival gangs. Most of the gang violence here though is gangmember on gangmember, and is contained in San Salvador. One thing I thought was surprising was that the gangs here really make almost all of their money of extortion, and hardly any off the drug trade. Extorting bus routes is the most common form, they basically make bus drivers pay very high "protection" fees, and occasionally get on the bus and ask all the passengers for a $1-5 "donation." It reminds me a lot more of the mafia in Italy than what we think of as gangs in the U.S. In any case, I know I have probably scared my mother by now so I'll just end with saying that yes, it's a big problem here in El Salvador, but PC volunteers are not generally affected too badly as they try and place us in sites that are far away from the capital and are generally much safer.

Wow, this post is getting very long, thank you if you are still reading (at this point it's probably just my grandmother!). I have to go soon as my friends are waiting to go to lunch. Tomorrow we are climbing the big volcano (I posted a picture of it somewhere) so wish me luck and hope that there isn't a big earthquake! I will post again soon when I find out my site assignment, in case it isn't painfully obvious, I am very excited to know where I'll be for the next two years :).