As far as work with the church and school and youth center, all is going well. We're about a month and a half away from the end of the school year, and student performance reflects this as well. I personally am also ready for the school year to be over. We started in mid-January, had a week off in April, a week off in August, and the year will finish (unless kids have to go to summer school) at the tail end of October. I don't know about you, but it feels like a much longer school year than what we have in the US. Part of it could be the fact that we go to school here all throughout the "summer" in the US. Mentally, I can't get my head around it. I'll finish up formal classes on October 11, with a cumulative exam for the advanced students, and a regular exam for the pre-schoolers. (Yes, exams for pre-schoolers. I'm not a fan.)
The peace program continues full steam ahead. We've changed our focus over the last few months, realizing that we can have a greater impact with 4th through 6th graders, and therefore have begun a series of workshops with them, focusing less on the abstract idea of peace, and more on group cooperation, respect, and peer mediation skills. This week is the UN's International Day of Peace on September 21, and to celebrate Peace Day we'll hold a series of workshops with our 4th, 5th, and 6th grade classes, making a Dream Gallery. The kids will participate in a guided meditation about what their dreams might be for a world free of violence, and then afterwards they'll draw what they dreamed. On Saturday, a peace march will be held in another part of the city, and we're planning to take the high school kids. I finish with the peace program at the end of September.
Human compass exercise
5th grade group cooperation workshop
Drawing the class monster
5th grade
Spiderweb reflection exercise
5th grade
English classes in Cal Pipil Youth Center are also going well. I have a small conversation group which has been the highlight of my last few months in terms of my involvement as an English teacher. Half the time, specific lesson plans aren't even necessary. We just sit around and talk for an hour or so, and it's great fun. It's so refreshing to have a group of students with a thirst for learning. And a group for whom I don't have to explain much grammar! Also quite nice. I'll finish up in the Cal also at the end of September. We have a presentation on the 29th, so that will be my last day. I'm looking forward to having a few free Saturdays (nearly every Saturday since I came in October 2010 has been taken up by English classes or other commitments, and not really any other chance during the week for a "day off"). It will be good to wake up late and make pancakes and do yoga. Or run off to the beach.
Trying to explain a toaster without actually saying the word
English conversation group, Cal Pipil Youth Center
In my personal life, I am one giant ball of happy. I never thought I'd find someone as loving and affectionate and so darn-close-to-perfect as Mario. Really, words cannot even describe what I feel for him. Talk about head-over-heels. The last three months have been so much fun. We so enjoy being together, whether it's sitting together at church during the sermon, spending time with his family, going to the grocery store, having a romantic date night at a neighborhood pupuseria, etc, we haven't gotten bored yet. And I know I can safely speak for myself and for him when I say neither one of us has gotten tired of the other. Sure, we've had disagreements, but so far none have been "dealbreakers." A big test for us as a couple came in August when we decided to take a trip together while I needed to renew my Salvadoran tourist visa. We traveled by bus for 18 hours one way (ugh) to San Jose, Costa Rica, crossing 3 international borders in the process. I hate crossing borders. Even if all my documents are in order, it's still always a stressful event. And thrice. We stayed in San Jose 2 days, really just long enough to make my visa renewal completely "legal" (must be out of El Salvador for 3 days, or so they say), and on the way back had to stay over in Managua, Nicaragua. It was a good chance for us to learn how to manage money together, make decisions (however miniscule), and *hope* that we'd not kill each other. It was quite a successful trip. I got my visa renewed, we saw some cool things in Costa Rica, ate traditional Nicaraguan food, and "enjoyed" bus travel (ha!) And we didn't kill each other. These last weeks that I have left will be filled with as much time we can spend together as possible, hopefully including a trip to the beach and to Mercedes Umaña, where his father's family is from. Ok, enough gushing.
Well-rested and clean after 18 hours on the bus the day before.
Worst beer ever. Really. If you go to Costa Rica, do not waste your money on Imperial.
I found apple pie! We ate lunch at an Englishman's restaurant. Pulled pork, potato salad, and apple pie hit that little spot in my stomach that always longs for comfort food.
Gold pieces made by Costa Rican indigenous groups
Museo de Oro (below the Plaza de la Cultura)
San Jose, Costa Rica
A monument to peace, sponsored by a poultry production company. Whatever, we liked the message.
Plaza de la Cultura
San Jose, Costa Rica
Little did we know, we stayed in a neighborhood quite close to the national soccer stadium. We had to go check it out.
Parque La Sabana
San Jose
I like trees.
Hangin' out in the park, took this photo just before our picnic lunch.
Ugh, back on the bus. We are tired of the bus.
No, actually, WE LOVE BUSES!
Typical Nicaraguan dinner.
Rice and beans (gallo pinto), a bit of grilled pork tenderloin, pickled cabbage slaw, and plantain chips
Managua, Nicaragua
Found a quiet place to sit for a bit in Managua.
It was a good trip.
And now the million-dollar question ... what's next? A job. Where? In the US, or in El Salvador. If in the US, I'd prefer to be close to my family, a 7-hour's drive or less. Philly, DC, and central PA are all possibilities, but no one's biting yet. I put in an application here in El Salvador with an NGO, the SHARE Foundation. We'll see if they're interested. What do you want to do? In the US, use my Spanish, preferably working with the Hispanic community in some way. But the bottom line is to work somewhere and save my pennies, having as few expenditures as possible, so I can come back to El Salvador ASAP. In El Salvador, I want to work with delegations or local development initiatives. I've got my feelers out, we'll see who bites first. Otherwise, upon return in November, if I am sans job, most of the month will be spent visiting with family and friends, and hopefully attending the SOA protest. There will be a moderate amount of pigging out on certain delicacies, such as goat cheese, decent salad greens, raw vegetables in general, Mom's cooking, good beer, and marathon baking sessions. It will be good to be home. I should stop freaking out about whether or not I arrive home with a job in hand. As far as Mario and my relationship, he has a good job here in El Salvador and has more opportunities here than he would in the US in terms of work, so I can't ask him to move. I have the luxury at this point of deciding where I land long-term, so the plan is to come back as soon as possible.
