First of all I want to share my new found love of Pitbull with everyone. I know what you are all thinking, who is that again? Pitbull is an American rapper born to Cuban immigrant parents in Miami. I was slightly disappointed to find out he was not actually born in Cuba, as it takes away from his appeal a little. He is also known for being a snappy dresser, almost always seen in suits. And being the badass that he is, he always wears sunglasses. (Oddly when I googled imaged him, and saw pics of him with out sun glasses on, I observed that he looks very quizzical.) (Also please don't judge me for google imaging Pitbull.) He has come out with many hot dance songs, including the title of my blog today. This song is HUGE down here right now, and playing on repeat on my Ipod right now. I have no shame. I love Pitbull.
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| This is what I wake up to every morning. Just waiting to get fed... |
Second: last week I went to a GAD show in a small town called Juayua. This town is known for food festivals that are hosted there every weekend. When my family visited, we stopped by the food festival for lunch, and were more than impressed. Juayua is not very far from my site, maybe an hour and a half by car. But since PCV's are not allowed to drive, I took the bus. Let me tell you, the bus is always an adventure. Wither people are selling you anything you could ever think of, clowns performing for tips or disabled people with blood bags hanging off the side of them asking for money, you are sure to always have an interesting trip. On this specific trip, I had to take a bus from my pueblo, Metapan, to the capital of my department Santa Ana, then get on a bus to the city of Sonsonate and catch another bus to Juayua. This takes about 4 hours.
I had to leave Metapan pretty early in order to make it to Juayua in time, and I fell asleep on the bus. I woke up when we were in Santa Ana and, fearful that I had missed my stop, I asked the woman next to me if I had missed the terminal stop. She assured me that I had not, and as she was also getting off there so she would let me know. Our stop came up, and we got off. The woman told me she would walk me to the terminal as it is not in a good part of town. We get to the terminal, no problem, and she decides that she really does not feel comfortable leaving me alone. I contemplate telling her I had self defence training the two weeks before and that I am carrying pepper spray, but as I don't know how to say pepper spray, I do not say anything. At this point she spots her boss who is eating pupusas at a shop in the terminal. We go over and say hi, and he invites us to join him for pupusas and coffee. It is never polite to turn down pupusas (and I love them so I never would), but I seriously considered it as there were a pair of antenna staring at me in the crack in the wood in front of me as I sat and ate.
We ate pupusas, generously purchased by the boss of a woman I had never met before this morning, as I awaited another member of GAD who I was meeting up with at the terminal. When the woman and her boss finished eating they decided it was time to go to work, but the woman clearly had issues leaving me alone, even though I assured her my friend would be there in under 5min. Apparently I look like a good person to rob. Looking skeptical at the thought of leaving me alone, the woman calls the pupusa lady over and tells her to keep an eye on me until my friend gets there. The pupusa lady does not look pleased with this task and responds that if I have faith in God, I will be protected. The woman I met on the bus looks at the pupusa lady like she is out of her mind. The bus woman looks at me and tells me to watch my back, she then turns and leaves. Thankfully nothing happened in the next 3min before my friend got there, but I now remember very clearly what it is like to be baby-sat.
Third: I spent my first 7 months in country being super healthy. But it is like a switch flipped and I have been sick 3 times in the past month! I can only hope this is not a habit. The last time was this past weekend. I was headed to the last showing of GAD's musical, A Mi Manera. I was in a car with my boss, Carlos, and our country director, Jaime and two other GAD members. I woke up early and had not had time to eat. So as we set off on the hour drive to the show and as I began to feel sick, I attributed my upset stomach to hunger. About 10min before we arrived, I knew I could not wait another moment, and I asked Jaime to pull the car over. He did and I immediately threw up everywhere. Love to keep it classy in front of my boss'.
Fourth: I have mentioned the GAD musical a couple of times in this post. The musical has now come to an end, and it was pretty successful. The musical was created by another volunteer and GAD member and addresses gender roles and stereotypes. The play was put on by a group of Salvadorian college students, who performed it 7 times all over the country for volunteers of the region and students or youth groups they brought. The kids watch the play, and after are broken into small discussion groups. The group leaders are given a set of questions that address the issues brought up in the play. Some of the issues addressed are the stereotype that women who have condoms are prostitutes or promiscuous, men should not cook or clean, and women should live with having an abusive, non faithful husband. Powerful stuff.
Fifth: I have my first women's group meeting this Thursday! yay! I am nervous, but also excited to see who turns up. I am going to take this time to gauge interest in the group as a whole, interest on possible meeting topics and hopefully vote on a President, VP, secretary, etc.
Updates to come people, stay tuned.
Great update, Chels. Really enjoyed the description of your 'escort' in Santa Ana. That seemed like a tale that could have gone on and on. Good luck with your group Thursday!
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