June 12, 2006

I have been in my new home in Concepcion Batres for a week now and things are going well. I was sick last week before coming out but it passed almost as soon as I got here which was a huge blessing.

We dropped Mariah off in her community last Tuesday and visited the literacy center and radio station where she will be interning. They did an impromptu interview with us and much to my great horror I went into the booth first. The DJ was like a one-man show, lots of energy, fast talking and I was just praying that I understood his questions. It went fine, it was a total kick actually though I´m sure I sounded like a five year old (what did you see in san salvador? Uh, churches, and the market and the UCA!!! Tell us about yourself!! Uh, my name is Deb, I´m from Iowa!! Why did you want to come to El Salvador? Uh, because its an interesting place! and pretty! etc.)

So, briefly, at the last minute my host family was changed due to an illnesss in the family and I ended up living with a family who lives very close to my office. Manuel and Marina are the parents/grandparents, Reina is their daughter, she is 26, and she has a daughter named Tatiana who is 2 and hilarious all the time. Marina II, as I call her and her brother who I think is 12 are the children of Manuel and Marina´s son who lives in North Carolina.

Their house is comparatively more comfortable than most. I have a bed and consistent electricity, fans, tv, etc. We still bathe and do our business outside, but it is a really nice environment. The family is very open and confident which allows me to just be myself. I don´t feel pressure to understand everything all the time and we are communicating well so far. At least I don´t think I have offended anyone yet. :)

Marina and I hang alot and play UNO. She´s adorable, sweet, very mature and funny. I am like her giant, white pet in a good way. About six times a day she whispers with a big smile and sparkly eyes ¨Deborah, jugamos¨ Somehow she translates between me and all the adults. We (basically the whole family and the neighborhood kids including Tati) play baseball alot and Marina II is amazing. She´ll like go for the catch against all odds of physics, her gusto totally amazes me. She just kicks ass at baseball. Recently she figured out how to cheat at UNO, so I have to watch her like a hawk. I just learned the word tramposa (like trickster, shiester) which I use to address her almost all the time now.

I have tons more to say about them but will save it for another day. I am working for OIKOS an NGO that serves a set region near El Transito and Usulutan up towards the volcano Chaparrastique. Their three main goals involve the development of active citizenship, food security and natural disaster preparedness, which is a huge issue here. Its a hybrid of urban planning and community organizing. Everyone on the staff is really charming and I´m having a great time with them. Right now I can´t do much because of my language skills. I am making presentation boards for an NGO expo/feria tomorrow with another volunteer from Belgium. My job right now is to become familiar with the communities and go from there.

I hope everyone is well. Thanks for reading. I miss all of you.

deb