Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Another move, a new house, and a sick cat

So the move into my new house went well, a horse and cart came to pick up my stuff to move it to the new place, which was very helpful. I have a GREAT talent of accumulating things. Not sure how I do it, but I do it very well. The new place is very nice, actually a lot nicer than the old place. It has two bed rooms, a front room, kitchen with sink, and modern bathroom and the best part is ITS ALL INSIDE!!! I no longer have to run outside when it’s poring down rain to use the bathroom or wash a dish! The house came with; table and chairs, fridge, stove, and two beds. Another great thing is during the day when it’s hot outside its nice and cool inside and at night when its chilly outside, inside its nice and comfortable. Oh wait you haven’t heard the best….I don’t have bug bites all over my body. I still itch a little but my legs, back, and butt aren’t covered. Today I went to the owners house, it’s been about a few weeks since I’ve moved in and the first thing she noticed is that my legs looked normal! Ok so the conclusion is, new house rocks!

My English class is winding down, our graduation is April 24. The day that I was prepping to give the class a charla ( little chat) about the united states, I went into Villarrica and received the letters from my mom’s science class. She has a few students from Mexico or that can speak Spanish and they wrote letters to my English class, including pictures. My girls ( English class = all girls) were sooo excited. They loved the photos and were fighting over the letters. Their homework was to write back, using as much English as they could. I took their pictures and they should be done and ready by the graduation. For their graduation, every one of them will talk in front of their families or friends that they invited. They all wrote something about their lives in English and have been practicing for a few weeks now, so it should be very fun!

I am currently prepping for my first charla about business. In the class of Informadores Turisticos we are starting to talk about if a tourist was to come, what kind of business would there be. The homework for the week was to come up with a business for San Salvador. Then the professor asked me to give a charla for the next week. So I am pretty excited. I have materials, it’s actually a business class, that I have taken themes from and am getting everything ready! I want to start the business class for the community, but I am going on a vacation when my parents come, and am going to wait till I get back so I can be fully dedicated.

Ndikuaai was acting kind of funny, not eating much, sleeping a lot and I could tell she was sick. I took her to Villarrica in a box, which she escaped from as I was getting onto the fully packed bus. Sat in the front next to the driver, with her in my hands the entire time. I got to Villarrica before the vet opened so we had to sit on the side of the street for about a half an hour. While in with the vet, he took her temp, 40 degrees Celsius, I went to get money, not wanting to watch him give her shots. David stayed with her, and when I returned I was told she didn’t like the shots and bit the doctor. Oh yeah she doesn’t have her rabies shot yet. Oops! We left her at the vet while we went to look for something to carry her home in. At the grocery store I found a plastic picnic basket which was perfect. On the way home in the hot bus, she cried, puked, and was not happy. Its been 3 days now and she still isn’t a lot better. She has been throwing up her food, and the medicine, but has been able to jump out the window and chase bugs. So there is hope.

I have been learning the traditional craft well its like cross stitch or something like that of the Paraguayans, Ao po’i. I had become friends with a girl, Nancy, who was my age and I would go to her house every day and she would teach me, we drank terere and talked girl talk! Well after two weeks of fun, her and her boyfriend decided to move to Ciudad del Este because they found jobs there. So she left, and I am left with the search for another good girlfriend, and someone to teach me more Ao po’i! These constant changes are getting exhausting!

I have also started a garden, I’ve cut down about 1/5 of the bamboo that I need, but things are coming together! I am excited to have some fresh lettuce and other veggies.

Well its starting to rain, again, and should probably turn the computer off before the lights go out. I am thinking about everyone back home, and have been really missing everyone lately. Can’t believe its been almost a year!

Love and hugs!!!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

The packing of the bags

My life story. Packing bags, and moving, from house to house, state to state, city to city, or country to country. I was excited to be in one place for 2 years! I can't remember the last time I was in the same house for a long period of time.

Today at 9 am the owner of the house came over and told me that I need to be out in 2 days because her ex husband and her are getting back together and are going to live in the house. 2 days to find a place in a pueblo where I've been for 4 months looking for other options because I wanted to pay less in rent. So I went scrambling, asking every person I saw in the street if they knew of a place that was available to rent. The thing about the house now is that it has EVERYTHING the only thing I've bought is a mattress and dishes. Therefore most likely I'll have to start ALL over and buy or borrow everything needed.

I went and looked at a few places...The first place very nice, cute, big yard, lots of trees. But..no running water or bathroom. The second place very nice, beds, sink, windows, big yard,bathroom outside, but its very far from any neighbors and next to the busy road therefore I wouldn't feel very safe all alone.

Also right now they are planning on paving the road therefore all of the construction workers are moving into town taking up all the available places.

So the hunt continues. Wish me luck!

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Semana Santa

Happy Easter/Pascua. It was a good semana santa here in San Salvador and a little sad to see it end because it brought a lot of life to the community, oh and a little dengue. All of the relatives from the cities came to visit and transported the mosquitoes with them on the busses.

Wednesday the 31st of march started semana santa with the making of the chipa. There was a countdown for a least a week or more before. 3 weeks before I saw people buying their cheese and corn flour to make the chipa. People had been hording their eggs for months, and 2 days before there were no eggs in san salvador, and no one was nice enough to give me some. All I wanted was a fried egg, I wasn't going to make 10 kilos of chipa. Chipa, a traditional Paraguayan food. I think I've talked about it before, delicious.

Anyways....I was asked by every single woman, man and child if I was going to make chipa. No I said to all, but I was going to help someone. I was invited by my new friend Nancy to her house to make chipa. I arrived in the early morning and 5 hours later we had 11 kilos of chipa, 1 jakare, the chipa that looked like and alligator that I gave to david,and 3 birds, my wrists were killing me and I told myself, never ever will I make Chipa alone. I am willing to pay 2 mil when I want to eat chipa.

Thursday is the big food, feast, bbq day. David and I were invited to the same place for a sheep bbq. They had to kill their sheep because their house and yard were flooded with the rain and the sheep broke his leg so they killed it before it got a fever. I had told the family the day before how the tradition on Easter in the United States it to paint the Easter eggs and hide them, not chocolate eggs, but hard boiled eggs, and how my parents would forget where they hid them and 3 months later we would find rotten eggs. They thought it was hilarious. My job was to bring a potato salad to the feast and so I boiled some eggs and dyed them and took them to the house to make the salad. Well of course we all know that when you dye the eggs a lot of times the dye gets on the white part too, so the salad had a nice color of red and purple. After eating we drank wine with Nancy and her boyfriend, oscar. They are going to be good friends. We're going to go fishing together.

Friday... Good Friday. You can't eat, well you can eat chipa. The people think because you can't eat meat, you can't eat anything. I mean what else is there..? Its also the day where you do nothing. There was nothing open and noo movement in the town. I was really bored really quick. So after eating, well i was hungry, David and I went fishing down at the train station. Fishing...bamboo pole with a worm and a hook. Yea yea I know that’s how it was in the old days mom. We got some pescaditos, little fish, that i later fed to the cats. They were happy! David was hooked he made plans with the man who lives and cares for the station to go back later that night. He left at 7 and got home at 10:30 with a bag full of goodies. 2 big fish and 2 eels, i think, they looked like snakes. He was very happy.

Saturday... Things were open again and people were in the streets. After washing 50 pieces of clothing I went to go visit Cynthia and Juila. We talked, drank terere, painted nails, made empanandas de choclo, and drank more terere. They were all talking that the weather is finally going to change. It’s been hot for 5 months and that Sunday it was going to cool down. The mass was from 8 till 11. Then the Fiesta de Pascua started at 12 am. We went and danced until 4 am. Lots of fun! It has been awhile since I've danced. There really aren’t a lot of fiestas here in San Salvador.

Sunday...today. Its cold, the women were right. Good thing we washed all of the clothing yesterday when it was still really really hot. Today I woke up super early, couldn't sleep, I was itching. So sick of itching. Not sure what I am going to do today. I feel like making pancakes!