....No idea where to start with this one...how about a list of what i have done for what feels like a month, but in actuality is less than a week.

1. BEACH DAY WITH THE BECARIOS!
On saturday, we gave up sleeping in on our first real weekend to get up at 8 and drive to the beach with the Becarios, the Salvadoran scholarship students that live with some of us. The drive is about an hour from where we are now, almost in the middle of El Salvador (El Salvador is a really, really small country). It was WONDERFUL. Who would have thought that the Pacific Ocean actually gets HOT?! Having 'swam' in the Oregon beach, I would never think that I would be in the pacific ocean for a good 5 hours in a row. We were all confused about why we had to leave at 8 am, until at around 12 when the waves got insanely huge and stayed that way for the rest of the day. Highlight/Lowlight of the day: being "saved" by a 40-something Salvadoran lifeguard in a speedo who noticed that we were swimming in really slowly and having some trouble with the current, so he swam out and held our hand to help us back. He turned to us first thing and asks, "Americana?" and we just had to shamefully hang our heads and say "si" and accept his lifeguard help.
That night, we had a papusa party and watched the US-El Salvador socce game at the program director's house with the Becarios, which of course got loud and obnoxious because everyone here LOVES soccer (it is on the front page of the paper every day). The US won but it was fun times all around.

oh, also, i got sunburt at the beach of course.

2. NO WEDDINGS AND A VELA
On monday, after a nice and restful sunday we went to Praxis as usual. It was a fun morning at the school, but once we got to Anita's house, we found out that her father, who lives with her and has been struggling with cancer, had died half an hour earlier. Literally, 30 minutes before we got there...in the US, someone would probably NOT invite you into their house at this moment. But this is El Salvador, so she told us to come in. However, also since this is El Salvador, she invited us into her father's room, where he had just passed away. It seemed like such a natural invitation, that she didn't even think TWICE of. So, as we have learned here, we did as we were directed by a nice Salvadoran woman and went into her father's room to see him. Had this been the US, i would have been fairly traumatized...but there is such a different feeling surrounding death here that it seemed compeltely normal. A few other family members were also in there, sitting on the bed next to him. It sounds really bizzare when typed out, but, standing there about one foot away from someone who had died 30 minutes ago, it felt so much more normal than what we do in the States--cover up bodies, call an ambulance to take them away, and try to avoid the fact altogether.
Later that night, we went to the Vela (the wake), which is basically everyone getting together the same night at the house for coffee, tamales, talking, etc. It was also so much more natural than US funerals, which can feel so contrived and awkward. The coffin was in the middle of the room, open, but so were hundreds of flowers, pictures, and cards that seemed to have come out of no where in the matter of a few hours. There were also, no joke, probably about 300 tamales. It is amazing what people can do with 6 hours to get a party togethere here. Much less in the wake of someone dying. The next day, around 200 people went to the burial, 3 hours away. Everything seemed like a natural and honest process, so focused on life and community. That is officially how I want my funeral to be. Except I want vegetarian tamales, not chicken.

3. SUECIA!
REALLY long story short, I met a woman at my site who has half her family in Sweden and half in Portland, OR. Life is SO weird and the world is SO small. Looking at her Sweden pictures from her visits and talking to her about Sweden was one of the best moments here yet, hands down.

4. PRAXIS FIELD TRIP!
Today (wednesday) we went back to Praxis and went on a field trip with the 5-6 year olds. On the 12th of September, they celebrate the life and martyrdom of Alfonso Acevedro, a man from the community who helped to organize community groups, found refuge for people fleeing war in the countryside, and wrote publically for the national paper about the oppression of priests and catholic communities. he was killed in 1982 and, though he wasn't an ordained priest, buried in the church that we went to visit today. Transportation was hilarious...we literally packed about 40 kids into 2 vans. The ride was only about 20 minutes, but it was still amazing to see that many people in one car. On the way back, they NON STOP sang the chorus of the song they know about Alfonso...literally, 20 minutes of the same chorus, over and over and over and over and over. Hilarious.














Baby successes of the week:
1. washing my towels and laundry and NOT having them smell like mildew! I have never appreciated a washer/dryer more. Do you know how hard it is to wash and dry something that is MADE to soak up water!?
2. At least 10 kids now regularly call me 'sabina'. There were 2 Julias thrown out today but...baby steps.
3. 2 for 1 at Mister Donut!

That is all for now, i think? Hope all is well up north further away from the equator. Let me know what fall feels like....its currently almost 6 (and hence, almost dark) and im still sweating. such is life. Pictures to come later when i have more patience and internet that moves a LITTLE faster.

:Sabine