Ground Control To Major Tom

It has been almost a month since I posted. Lo siento a todos.  Per usual I have written out a series of stories, thoughts and updates for your entertainment

First of all let me give you all an update on the status of the Peace Corps in El Salvador. A couple of weeks ago we had a security conference. Members of the PC Washington staff came down and all of the volunteers and in country staff gathered to listen to what they had to say. Several issues were brought up regarding our safety. Basically El Salvador has one of the highest homicide rates in the world. Also something like one in seven volunteers has been a victim of a violent crime. Most of these crimes happen when we are out of our communities, on public transportation or in the capital. Right now we are in the middle of a two week safety and security assessment. Part of the assessment team came up to my corner of El Salvador to get a general sense of how the volunteers up here feel safety wise. I am very lucky to be living in one of the safest areas of the country. One option PCES is considering is clustering the volunteers around the safest areas of the country. Hopefully if that is implemented I will not have to re-locate. I can hardly imagine starting over in a new site this far into my service. Speaking of that, I am officially half way through my time in El Salvador! How crazy is that? In less than 13 months, I will be headed back to the states. 

When I came back to El Salvador from my winter vacation, I brought back my Dad's computer. My computer bit the dust shortly before arriving home and I have been so grateful that he was willing to give up his so that I might have some sanity. The other day I was browsing through his iTunes and started listing to my Dad's vast David Bowie collection. Now I cannot stop listening, Bowie is great. I keep being reminded of this time in high school that my Dad and I went to this little grungy movie theater somewhere in DC and saw a documentary called Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars. I remember David Bowie blowing my mind then as well. I also remember thinking my Dad was pretty cool, which was a big feat for a time in my life when most kids tend to think their parents are lame.

My Girls

So in this time of uncertainty down here, when volunteers are being forced to change sites, projects are put on hold and I am listening to too much Bowie, some of my closest friends have decided to leave early. I won't name names just yet, as the wounds are still too fresh. Volunteers come into the Peace Corps knowing that once we are put in our communities, there is a chance that we will have little to no interaction with other volunteers. Sites are rural and volunteers are placed all over these countries so it is not surprising. El Salvador has a unique program since the country is so small. El Salvador being about the size of Massachusetts, averaging 130 volunteers and having easy access to the capital make it really easy for us to stay close. It also helps that we have a great phone plan so we can call each other for free. I had a really fantastic training group, and really bonded with several girls. Two of them were placed in communities close to me. We met every week to grab breakfast, grocery shop and vent about crazy experiences. One of them is already back in the states and the other will be back within two weeks. It feels surreal. So even though I am staying in my community, I can already feel that this next year will be quite different than I initially expected. (God having no expectations is hard.)

More to come soon!