Updates

these are the things happening in my community:


Bolo shooting his gun- There's this bolo (drunk) that walks around shooting his gun when he fights with his girlfriend. The first night that this happened I thought I was back in Chicago. I heard the shots and as I was about to hit the ground I realized that my hammock pretty much touches the ground so I decided to stay put. What worried me was the fact that a lot of houses here are made out of palm leaves, but no one got shot that night so everything is cool. I saw the bolo this morning and I told my host sister, Reina, that we should beat him up with his prostetic leg....but we didn't.

Running on the beach- So I have to work out here or else I'm gonna gain 25lbs and that's just not an option. So I've been running on the beach at about 6am. The sun isn't strong at this time (yes im translating as i type) so it's not too bad to work out for an hour and a half. It's actually pretty nice bc the ocean looks beautiful during that time and I get some uninterrupted time with my Creator. Now, the town has been seeing the crazy gringa running on the beach for the past two weeks and they probably think it's the craziest thing in the world. This one guy, Toñito asked my counterpart if he could run with me sometime. I didnt see the harm in it so I told my CP to tell the guy yes. Now, when I told my host family that I would start running with him they gave me the most terrified look. According to them I should stay far away from Toñito because his girlfriend will kill me if she sees him with me. Apparently she's a witch and practices dark magic and has killed someone before. Nuff said! Toñito and I will not be friends.


So, that's about all so far. I have some ideas already about the projects that I think would benefit the neighborhood....but we have to see what THEY want.

I love you all,
Salu


p.s. There's this 14 yr old girl in my community and she's about 5months pregnant. I went with the health promoter to visit here and to talk about pregnancy and childcare. This girl has the mind of a 7 year old so it was an extremely sad hour that we spent with her. So that made me think about a lot of things that are going on in my community. Teenage pregnancy is the norm, statutory rape does not exist here in the campo (the baby's daddy is 42 years old), family planning is frowned upon, sexual education does NOT exist....etc. So, thank you DADDY for talking to me about sex. Although I didn't see the importance of those little chats at age 5...i totally get it now!

Is This Real Life

When my friend Sam has had much more than he can stand or when things just seems unreal we always ask "Is this real life?" I've been asking myself that lately now that i have been in my permanent site all of ten days. I'm in the department of San Miguel and it's HOT here! HOT like 100 degrees everyday!

OK inicial thoughs upon arriving:
1. Ooooh the beach is less than a block away
2. This is far from town....how am i gonna go grocery shoping
3. I cant understand anything these ppl are saying
4. I'm gonna lose so much weight in this heat (which has not happened)
5. Ok now i'm ready to go back to Cañas (my training community near the capital)

The first day that I was in my community I started crying hysterically. Maybe it was the house (the 2nd floor where i sleep has no windows nd i've seen atleast 5 rats to date), or the accent of the ppl (my spanish is going to be sooooooooooo different when i leave here), or maybe the fact that I'm far away from my friends. Anyway....it was a bad first day...and the heat didnt make it any better. I was ready to go home by day 2. I couldn't remember why I had signed up for this and I felt like I was making a big mistake. I've been taking it one day at a time and trying not to think about the two years that i have left here (cough ONE cough). I've had great support from Cholo and all my other PC friends. One day at a time is my new motto.

not much time to continue....
love you all,
salu