Enchiladas

Every week my host mom, Melida, makes enchiladas to sell in the community. Now there are these types of enchiladas, but that is not boat we ride down here in El Salv. The enchiladas we have down here are a little different. Here is a step by step tutorial on how to make enchiladas, Salvo style.

Step one: Prep the curtido (or cabbage topping eaten with just about everything down here) (basically its cole slaw haha)

Step two: Prep the veggies

Host sister Evania peeling and dicing potatoes and guisquil (a squash like veggie) 

Cooking said veggies with bullion until tender

Step three: Prep the masa (or dough that makes tortillas and the base layer for our enchiladas)

The pink stuff is the masa. Usually it is more of beige, but for enchiladas color is added. 

Step four: Create balls of masa to be smooshed by the masa smoosher (no idea what it is actually called haha)

Smooshed.

Step five: Deep fry masa circles

Step six: Top with cooked veggies

Step seven: Add curtido

Step eight: Add salsa blanca and salsa rojo (probably ketchup and mayo, but who knows for sure?)

Step nine:Add crumbled queso duro*

Step ten: Eat!

Host mom, Melida, indulging in an enchilada :)

It is an odd mixture of flavors, but surprisingly delicious. Don't knock it till ya try it! A quarter will get you two enchiladas. I usually get two quarters worth, and its perfect for dinner. People in the community gobble (literally) this stuff up. Melida usually runs out of supplies before she runs out of customers. I put an estimated cost of supplies at about five bucks, and tonight she sold about $8 worth. Meaning she gained about $3, not a lot, but hey, every bit counts.

*Queso Duro is a hard, very salty, terribly smelly cheese. This is the *only* way I will eat queso duro. Totally grosses me out any other way.












Also I just got a stove! Only one of the burners works, but hey that is better than the none I had before. And it was free! I had to buy a tank of gas for it which cost me $15.70. Now, that may not seem like a lot, but in January the government tripled the price of gas from $5 to $15. For famlies who are struggling to get by down here, that is a HUGE jump. But here it is... Now I just need a table haha

How to Save The World- Or at Least Teach A Women's Group How to Make Shampoo

Like this picture of a strangely delicious fruit called mamón.
You bite off the outer shell and eat the
gooy center that surrounds the seed in the middle

Well I said I was going to post from San Vicente didn't I? And I did not. That was due the the terrible fact of my computer charger being fried and my intense dislike of El Salvadorian internet cafes. Also now I can add some colorful pictures to brighten the post. :) And if it makes you feel any better I am super out of touch with news. I do not even know who the Republican presidential candidates are... I am a disgrace to Poli Sci majors everywhere. 


So I did just spend 3 weeks back in San Vicente for more training. Literally I now know how to or have the information to complete just about any project a Peace Corps volunteer could ever want to do. I can make shampoo. I can start a women's or youth group. I can teach basic hygiene and first aid. I could start a trash or recycling campaign. I could have a chicken or rabbit project. I could teach English. I can promote HIV/AIDS prevention. I could run a camp on pretty much any theme you can think of.  I could teach life skills or self esteem. I can teach nutrition. I can apply for grants and scholarships.  The list goes on, but I think you get the point. Literally were were going for the entire 3 weeks. I am glad to be back in my site now. It did take a little readjustment once back in site, but I am pretty much back into the swing of things.        

Lil guy hiding in the lid of my water filter.

Since I have been back, it has been a whirl wind. Some interesting things that have happened in the last week. - My host dad brought out the head of a deer and ate it at the lunch table. -At that same lunch he pulled one of my host sister's teeth out with pliers. (Thank you Dad for never being serious about that) -Two of my chickens died. :( -I had to travel to Santa Ana (the city) to pick up a package. It was in a warehouse. At the jail. Sweet. 

This is my pila. It is filled with river water. This is what my river
 water looks like during rainy season. This is what I shower with and
wash my clothes and dishes with.  'Nuf said. 

OK so it is officially rainy season. I was assured by numerous people that it would cool down. It has not, we have just added humidity to the mix. Terrible. Lets get down to the dirty dirty though. What does a little rain and humidity really mean for me?  *whining commence now* Well you can refer to the picture here of my pila water. Gross, just gross. (Yes parents you will have to bathe with that when you come visit.) The rain mixes up the river water, so it is visibly filthy. Usually it is pretty clear, so I can pretend to ignore the copious amounts of bacteria that are in it. But never mind how clean I feel, I feel like my clothes are never truly clean. Speaking of my clothes, it is so humid here that my clothes never fully dry. (Also the fact that it rains every single day could have something to do with that.) The shirt I am wearing right now is dry but smells like mildew. So there's that. Also it is mosquito season. Let's all cross our fingers I make it until October without contracting dengue. *End of whining*

This is where Hoja sleeps now. On my table.
She will not have it any other way. 

Well on to happier things. Like Hoja. Also I realized for all of you non-Spanish speakers out there Hoja might be a little odd sounding if you pronounced it like an American. haha It is actually pronounced Oha. haha Here is a series of pictures. None of them are staged. She is actually this cute all the time. 

When she finishes her chores she has to do her Spanish home work.
This is also very hard. 

I am so mean, I make Hoja do all the chores.
Takes a lot out of a little puppy. Also
please note how ghetto my broom is
with its handle made of a tree branch. 

My backyard is full of corn! 

Also now we are in the middle of corn season. Salvadorians eat a lot of corn. I know Americans eat a lot of corn, but it is usually hidden in the form of HFCS or chips. But here, there is no hiding it. Tortillas, corn on the cob, tortillas, deep fried tortilla dough filled with potato, tortillas, pupusas and tortillas. People here brag about the amount of tortillas a day they eat. And really, it's quite impressive. Some people eat upwards of 10 tortillas EVERYDAY. haha This just blows my mind. My host mom told me I needed to eat better and I could start by eating more tortillas. Most families have huge containers that they store all of their corn in for the entire year. But right now they are growing it, and El Salvador is covered in a blanket of corn fields, and this does not exclude my backyard. 

Punk rock corn? I'll take it.

 Spanish word of the day. Milpa = Corn fields 
I won't pinky promise that I will post more often now that I am back in my site and have my computer up and running, but I will make a better effort. I know how you all await my posts.

Little bumble gathering corn pollen.
Everyone and thing loves corn down here. 

Vaccines

Just a quick post today. My computer charger died. Poop. So much for having internet in your site if your computer won´t turn on due to a dead battery. So I am sitting in an internet cafe right now. I have vaccines in my cesta (along with a million other things) and they need to get home to be used\ refridgerated. I will be vaccinating my dog today along with my chickens. I know there are many reasons to and not to vaccinate chickens, but right now it seems like the right thing to do. Especially because I will be going back to San Vicente for 3 weeks this Friday and I will not be able to watch out for them to the best of my ability.

Have I ever vaccinated anything before in my life? I mean I was the cootie vaccination expert in 3rd grade. Circle circle dot dot, now you have your cootie shot. No? No one? Well if any of you out there decide you need a cootie shot or know someone who does, I am your girl! But real needles? With medicine in them? Well you can just ask my parents about me and shots, my neighbors are going to want to have the smelling salts on standby.

Also speaking of vaccinating my dog, I named her! Finally. Her name is Hoja. It means leaf in Spanish. (Also that is your Spanish word of the day. Repeat? Maybe. But honestly did you remember it? Did not think so) haha I know it did not take that long, but a dog ought to have a name when she is being trained.

Ok well I have to run! Next update will probably be from San Vicente!

Just a little food for thought

Yes

It could happen any time, tornado,
earthquake, Armageddon. It could happen.
Or sunshine, love, salvation.

It could you know. That's why we wake
and look out—no guarantees
in this life.

But some bonuses, like morning,
like right now, like noon,
like evening.


William Stafford 

Dixie Chicks

I thought I would start this post out by listing some of the random things I miss from home. I miss:
being able to drive/ Blue Jay, my super sweet VW Bug
CVS
hamburgers/ red meat in general 
fast food
clean feet
clean clothes
air conditioning
showers (bucket baths just are not the same)
Dr. Pepper
tap water
fast internet
pretty much everything in my kitchen
Target


Can I live with out all of those things? Yes, of course. Are they nice to have? Yes, of course. And I am already starting to compile a list of things that I will miss from here when I go back to the states (in 2 years). (PUPUSAS, how cheap everything is, liquados (super good smoothies), how fresh everything is, the entire country that shares my love of cabbage, etc...)

Mini egg that my mini hen laid,
next to a normal egg

So an update on what I am doing these days, that's what you want now huh? I am eating scrambled eggs. Not what you ment? Fiiine, well one of my chicks died. :( Also Big Mama had some problems cohabiting with my Mini Mama, so they had to be separated. The chicks are all big enough to feed them selves. So both of the hens are out and about. Big Mama has gone back to my neighbor who loaned her to me, and Mini Mama is just hanging out. She just started laying eggs for eating, and they are so tiny! They are less than half the size of a normal egg. Also I have decided to name my flock of chickens, the Dixie Chicks. Did you all know that when I lived in Texas, and was a Girl Scout, I sold cookies one year to one of the Dixie Chicks who lived down the street from me? True Life. 

Chicks in a cesta

How do you tell if an egg is for eating or if it has a chick in it you ask? Well I am still figuring that out. But to the best of my knowledge, this is how it goes down:  if the hen is super protective, and is incubating them, then they are chick-containing-eggs.  If the hen lays the eggs and does not sit on them, they are for eating. Also I have heard that if you hold a light up to one side of the egg, and see veins running through the sides of the egg, then you know it has a chick inside. Not exactly scientific, but thats what I got so far. haha Also as requested by my Dad, here is a picture of my chicks in my cesta. (A cesta is a colorful bag made of woven plastic, not un-similar to the lanyards that kids make at camp.) Why are they in my cesta? Well until a couple days ago there was no shelter from the rain in the chicken coop, and it was starting to rain, so I had to carry them to shelter all some how....

Also this is my non-functioning wood burning stove,
where a chicken has decided it would be a great idea to lay her eggs....haha

I am still plugging away at my census. Today I hit my 100th house! Yay! Big mile stone for me, but I still have 50 or so more houses to visit. Oy. And my general, community wide assembly is only a week away! Yikes! I have confidence I will finish. I keep being reminded that the volunteer that I am replacing, did not finish his census, and people are clearly offended by this... almost 3 years later. My town is pretty spread out, and it is pretty tough to get from one side to another. Lets just say that if I was not eating peanut M&Ms to my face all day (thanks Mom and Dad!) my pants size would be dropping with all the walking I am doing. Also I have to say it is really inconvenient that when I am trying to census people decide to not be home. I mean really... how rude. Now I have to go back another day. haha 


I am trying to think of some odd experiences I have had while doing census visit.  Well there is one question on the census that asks about wither or not the women of the household know how to conduct a self breast exam. 98% of the time the women say that they do not. But one day I was at a house and I asked this question of a woman who said that she did, and then she whipped out her breast to show me the scars from where she had breast cancer. Boobs are widely accepted here as a part of life, so while I sat there in a semi-shocked state, this woman continued the conversation as though she had just showed me an ingrown finger nail or something. I bet Janet Jackson's 'wardrobe malfunction' never phased people down here. Also even though my Spanish is improving daily, a lot of people seem to tune out the fact that I am speaking coherent Spanish, and have me repeat what I am saying 3-4-5 times. Because a gringa can't possibly speak Spanish, can she? 


Speaking of language mishaps, the other day I thought I was going fishing with some people in my community but in reality I spent 6hrs hanging out in someones house, and then just because people here like to see the gringa do random stuff, they had me kill a rooster. Totally not fishing. haha Oh the joys of misunderstanding. 

And this little bundle of joy is my new puppy! I was going to try not to get a dog here, but just look at her! Who could say no to that face? She is currently nameless, but she is only a month old so we got some time to name her. She is still living part time with her brothers and sisters, but her mom has decided she wants nothing to do with her pups, so she will move in with me permanently when I get back from my next set of training in June.

Spanish word of the day (actually a sentence): Estoy cansada/o : I am tired 
End cansada with an 'a' if you are a girl, 'o' if you are a boy. Don't mix them up when talking to people because, apparently, it can be offensive to use the wrong ending....