September:
With the youth group from my old community – Isla de Mendez – we hosted a turtle vigil and invited other youth from the region and community leaders. In total there were a little over 100 people. We all went to the beach for the night and searched for turtles coming out of the water to lay their eggs. We split up about 15 km of the beach into five sections and each section had a group of people that were to keep watch for the turtles. I was the leader of one group and in the first hours we didn’t find any turtles, but I finally spotted one coming out of the water and we helped it up the beach and watched it lay its eggs. Once the turtle has laid all of its eggs we gather up the eggs to take them to the turtle incubation hatchery where they are incubated for up to 45 days until they hatch. The vigil was a HUGE success. In all we collected over 600 eggs. It’s one of the most successful turtle vigils that the community has ever seen. It was really exciting!
At the end of the month I went to the states for Chelsay and Kevin’s wedding. It was so much fun to hang out with them and go to their wedding….I caught the bouquet. HEHE. I also got to spend time in Cincinnati with friends…it was a great time.
October:
September and October were the rainiest months. In my new site it rained every single day. Not always during the day (thank god) but every night. It was pretty bad and there was a ton of flooding. But I didn’t get washed away…luckily.
October was full of work with Red Solidaria: observing the trainings that the promoters give to the families, going to meetings, the events where the families receive their monthly bonuses, and at the end of the month I helped give some of the trainings to the families because one of the promoters resigned.
One weekend in October I also went with a volunteer friend of mine to a small pueblo in the mountains called Ataco. We ate tacos in Ataco (haha…) Anyways, this region is known for its flower nurseries and a lot of the hotels have flower nurseries on the grounds. We stayed in a small cabin, which was so beautiful. Simple but really beautiful, with beautiful gardens and a small café that served breakfast and lunch. We checked out the pueblo that is known for its artisan crafts including handmade candles and lambs wool materials.
We did some shopping and checked out the central park, the Catholic church and a small art gallery that presented Salvadoran painters. The pueblo is calm and artsy and very friendly. One day we also did a hike to a lagoon…the lagoon is called laguna verde (or green lagoon)…but it totally was green. There is a picture of the lagoon in the Lonely Planet guide book and it looks beautiful so my friend and I were really excited to see it, but compared to the photo is was a huge disappointment; but it was still pretty and the hike was nice.
November:
The first week of November I participated in a youth camp in Lago Coatepeque – the crater lake of the largest and still active volcano in the country. The camp was organized by a group of 12 students from the American School in San Salvador. Five volunteers including myself and about 40 youth from all over the country participated.
It was super fun. I brought four youth from my old community and we had a blast. We tye-dyed shirts, had a talents show, the students from the American School gave charlas on trash management, planning your future, decision making, self-esteem and communication. It was a great experience for the youth and fun for me as well.
Lately, I have been going frequently to a community that is called San Pedro. It is at the bottom of a huge valley where there is no water (only a river), no electricity, no streets and no basic services. The kids have to walk between 30 minutes and 2 hours to get to school and many walk to school without shoes. It is definitely the poorest community that I visit. The teachers at the school are great and have to hike down this huge cliff every day to get to the school to teach. It takes about an hour to walk down. So I had an idea to do a Shoe Drive at Mary Star High School to collect shoes for the kids in the community. We’ll see how the collection goes and in January, when the new school year starts, we’ll go to distribute the shoes.
I had a super special birthday. I told the promoters from the municipality of Jicalapa (I get along with them the best) that we should have a small little party at the beach cuz I was going to be my birthday. One of the promoters, Gloria, found us a house on the beach to have the party at and all the others chipped in to make the lunch – carne asada y chorizo con arroz. I made a cake and bought a piñata. It was so much fun. Alfredo, my boyfriend, drove out from Usulutan to surprise me for my birthday and to meet all my friends here. The house where we had the party was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!! I felt like I was at an Italian villa on the Mediterranean. The house, which is painted all white with blue doors and window shutters, is perched on a small cliff over looking the ocean. The property has its own small private beach, which is like a little cove that has caves and rocks. It was such a beautiful birthday. We all had a great time!
For Thanksgiving I got together with a group of six other volunteers at a hotel on the beach and we made a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner! I made the turkey which turned out superb. We also made stuffing, carrots, beet salad, corn-on-the-cob, mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, deviled eggs and chocolate pie. We ate our Thanksgiving dinner overlooking the ocean and a beautiful sunset. It was perfect.
The last weekend of November is the biggest party in all of El Salvador. Carnaval in San Miguel – the second biggest city in the country. The month of November they celebrate their patron saint and the last Saturday of the month they have Carnaval, which is the second biggest Carnival in all of Latin America outside of Brasil. The parade is the best in the country (in my opinion) and throughout the city they have live music playing of all different genres. I went with Alfredo, his cousin and a friend of ours. We hung out in the area of reggaeton, where the biggest international stars from Puerto Rico were. It was fun and a little crazy!
Other than that, work is the same as always. We are planning a trash campaign in one community and hoping to do more in other communities as well. The youth group from Mendez just started a Hammock Workshop so that is exciting, because we have been planning the workshop since April. I’m looking forward to going home for Christmas and to having my family down here for the New Year!
On December 7th, the youth group from Mendez started the Painting Workshop which we solicited from the Ministry of the Exterior and is being taught by a famous Salvadoran painter. The teacher is great and we had a fun time in the class. I think it will be really inspiring and enlightening for these kids that don’t really have any background in art.
One week my best friend Tania, from Mendez, came to Teotepeque with me to spend the week and to get to know some of my friends here. One day we went to San Pedro, the poor little community a the bottom of a valley. We walked so so much but had a great time.
And the last weekend before I went home for Christmas, Alfredo and I went to Ilobasco, an artisan town where they make all kinds of ceramic art. I bought some cool stuff and we also went to San Sebastian, where they make the cloth hammocks. It was a great trip.
And finally….pictures of the pueblo Teotepeque.
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