Children, Fire Ants, and Churches

Hello again! I'm on the University of Central America Campus right now, sitting outside using their wireless internet . It's a beautiful campus with tons of outdoor space and greenery. Makes Seattle U's quad with our 3 rocks in the fountain look kind of sad....

We finally visited the site where I will be working for the semester, a neighborhood called San Ramon. When we got there, they offered us all coffee that is picked and roasted there (score!) and explained to us about the project, which is a social service and a school program that is focused on holistic education. Then we got to go meet the kids and see the classrooms, which basically means we (the 3 of us who were going to be working there) walked in and our knees got SWARMED with small children yelling "HOLA" and hugging us. So, basically, I'm REALLY excited to start. We have to decide between the 3 of us who works in what classroom--the 2, 3, or 4 year olds room, but either way I can't wait. Another awesome thing about my site: the place where we are eating our lunch, the 'comedor' project, is a SOY project!!! Vegetarian lunches! So maybe less personal growth or something on the food front, but also much less awkward refusals of meat or traumatizing meat incidents.

After visiting my site, we did a crazy bus ride up a "road" (a very loosely used term) and then hiked a few minutes up to the highest house in the community that is built on an active volcano. Even though it is only minutes away from San Ramon, where I am working, the people who live in Las Nubes generally have no electricity or running water, and collect most of their water from rain run off or private water deliveries. It was definately a very different world. It does seem, though, that wherever we go, people invite all 30 of us into their house (regardless of size) and usually have something to offer us, like coke, coffee, cookies, or atol (a hot corn drink). I can definately say that few people in the US would be so gracious to having 30 American college students come into their home. Also, keep in mind that about half these kids are taller than their ceilings.

On the way back, a HUGE rainstorm started so we walked our way down as the bus followed. Then, as we got onto the bus, we all slowly realized (starting with me) that we were covered in fire ants! so we all proceded to remove our tevas, birkenstocks, and tennis shoes, douse our feet in water, and slowly realize how much it hurts to be bitten by about 15 fire ants. Hooray!

The next morning we visited the site where Oscar Romero lived and was shot during mass, where a 4 foot tall Mexican nun named Sister Bernadette taught us life lessons, such as "don't go looking for a husband, he will come to you." Like going to the UCA, it really was incredible to see this place after hearing so much about it. That afternoon, on an equally happy note, we visited the largest public hosptical in El Salvador, Hospital Rosales. The doctor who gave us our tour was brilliant and she seemed to know everything about health, politics, etc etc. It was very enlightening to go and see the state of public healthcare in other places in the context of everyone in the US complaining about our own healthcare in the US. A little perspective never hurt anyone...

Today was a VERY hot and muggy day down here. We went to the meditation center at Mariona and some meditation in Spanish, which was an awesome experience. First day of classes tomorrrow, and potentially the first day of hip hop classs? They offer them at the UCA...could be interesting. and awkward. i guess that means today is my last day of summer.....

That is all for now! Sorry I'm so long winded...I promise that won't happen all the time. Hope all is well up north!

Peace & Love,
:Sabina

¡Mi Cumpleaños Salvadoreño!

After a lot of orientating and such (its like freshman year of college all over again, but actually fun) I finally have a free moment to update this thing.

First and foremost
Yesterday was, as you may know, my 21st birthday! It was a bit anti-climactic to wait all year with all my friends being 21 and leave for El Salvador right before the golden birthday, but it was actually one of my best birthdays yet. I was wished happy birthday many, many, many times in a few different languages all day. We then did some regular orientation stuff, like health and safety talks (about not drinking alcohol, ironically enough...) but also a very adorable bake sale by Kevin and Trenas (the program directors) daughters, lots of delicious wonderful lunch foods, some relaxing time, and a lovely present of Salvadoran art. Then at night we as a whole group went to one of the biggest papuserias in El Salvador, where a group of 30 white kids all stuck out a lot, as always. A papusa is basically a Salvadoran hot pocket, with a dough made of corn and filled with cheese and beans or something of the sort. The food was amazing, a mariachi band sung me the longest and most cheerful happy birthday song I have ever heard, we had delicious cake, everyone made me a card, and then we went to a beautiful look out over the city. Overall, a very good birthday in El Salvador. But i fully expect to have a fake 21 year old birthday when I return, heads up to everyone in Seattle.

















The day before that, we went to the University of Central America, the UCA, where we will be taking classes. Also where the Jesuit preists and women were killed in 1989. It was very bizzare finally going to the place that I have been so involved with for the past few years, with the SOA and everything else. It was, to say the least, overwhelming. I didn't take any pictures because I was so overwhelmed, actually. I know I will be back there 4 times a week though, so I can do that later. It was an amazing experience to finally see in real life, and a perfect (though very somber) start to the semester.

Today we started visiting Praxis sites, where people will be working 2 days a week in groups of 2 or 3. We first visited Tepecoyo, about 40 minutes away. We met some people in the first zone of the village then did a nice downhill hike to the zone 2, where we were served a corn, milk, sugar, and cinnaomon drink thing that, despite it being steaming hot and also about 90 degrees outside, I loved because I could eat corn for 3 days straight and be happy. Then the walk back was roughly a 90 degree climb up cobblestones for about 45 minutes. Small children were running past us, I felt pretty out of shape and pathetic.
Next we went to Los Sitios, where we were served lunch that was...a steaming bowl of meat stew!! In El Salvador, food is a huge sign of generosity, hospitality, and pride, so its really difficult to reject food. Its also difficult to explain that you are vegetarian here. So there i was, with meat broth and a huge chunk of red meat, starving, and sitting next to the women who cooked the meal....it was awkward. I am definately going to have to work on my picky vegetarian streak while I'm here, or else it could be a long and hungry four months. Not saying I am going to eat meat, but maybe I will have to learn to eat the potatoes NEXT to the meat. If not, it will be a lot more nights like this, feeling like a stupid american and nursing a pounding migraine.
However after that we went to the river to hang out with little kids, swim, and play chicken in the waterfall. So, you win some, you lose some.

We have an all free day tomorrow!! Heres to sleeping in until about 8 until the very loud birds wake me up, or the evangelical church next door starts playing loud music.

:Sabine (or, Sabina, as I am in any Spanish speaking country)

Arrival!

Success! After layovers, one very turbulent flight, and a van ride through San Salvador, I am here! Even though the first day has been kind of a blur of no sleep and meeting way too many people (about 25 in the program, a bunch of cooks at the house, leaders, salvadoran students, etc etc), its wonderful so far. I am living in the biggest house, casa romero, with 13 people. I love everything so far; the house is amazing and has a huge backyard. We had a relaxed day today of walking around the town to get our bearings and tomorrow we start orientation for the program. I also killed my first cockroach, so overall today was a success. Off to bed now for my first real night of sleep in El Salvador...
:Sabine

Goodbye, America!

Just a quick post from the Atlanta airport where I am enjoying a wonderful layover at 6 am before my 10 am flight to San Salvador. Now to find something else to entertain me for 2 and 1/2 more hours before my plane leaves...
:Sabine

Still Technically in the U.S., but...

I figured I would actually put a post up before sending a link out to my travel journal. I leave 4 days from now, on Tuesday the 18th. And no, i have not started packing yet. oops.
Anyways, if you don't know what this is all about...I am going to El Salvador from August through December for a study abroad through Santa Clara. The program is called Casa de la Solidaridad and I'll be studying at the University of Central America in San Salvador and living in a community house near there. A few days a week I will also be working in a community about 45 miutes away by bus, helping out at a preschool among other things. At the moment, I don't know too many details about everything but I suppose that will come later.

I'm hoping to update this every once in a while, since I have internet access at the school or at internet cafes around town. For now, I am going to start packing and finish my time in Portland for the summer with family, friends, and Jono who just got back from Iceland. I am currently procrastinating on packing by making this post, actually.

Hope I can keep this travel journal mildly interesting for the next few months! I will mostly be keeping in touch through this journal (especially since I am deleting my facebook soon--?!) or my email, sabinetb@gmail.com. Four months isn't THAT long, but I think that this merits a travel blog anyways. Thanks for reading, I promise the next one will be more interesting and actually involve some travel bloggery.

-Sabine