After Christmas, my whole family – mom, dad, Aaron, Feather (Aaron’s girlfriend), Matt, Drew, Sam and my Uncle Bill – came down to El Salvador for a week. It was SO much fun. The first day was just Aaron, Feather, Bill and I. We went to the art museum, did some shopping at the Artisan Market and went to dinner. The next day the rest of my family came down and we headed to La Union where we rented a house on the beach – Playa Maculis. The house and the beach were beautiful. The house wasn’t a mansion or anything, but it was very typical and comfortable. We hung out on the beach, ate lots of yummy seafood. One day we went into La Union with my Peace Corps friend Devon and also to the small and very cute pueblo Conchagua. We bought a bunch of fireworks and Alfredo came out to the beach as well for New Year´s. We lit off all the fireworks, made a bonfire and watched all the crazy local kids light off firecrackers and almost burn themselves. It was so much fun and I’m really glad that my family was able to meet Alfredo, which went over pretty well. On the last day we went to my old community, Isla de Mendez, to free some baby turtles and hang out with my friends. I was so happy that my family was able to meet all of the people who are important to me here. We hung out with my host family, my grandma and with Alfredo´s family. It was great!
At the end of January, my Peace Corps group had our Close of Service conference where they explain all the stuff we have to do before finishing as a volunteer and about what to expect upon our return, how to get jobs, etc. It was the first time in a year that we had all gotten together, so that was super fun – just catching up with everyone and seeing what their plans were. We had the conference at the beach which was fun.
Other than that, on the 18th of January the mayoral and legislative elections were held and the FMLN, or leftist party – won the majority of mayoral office and legislative positions. Now we just await the results of the more important presidential elections in March.
I also had a co-worker and friend die in January which was really hard on me and on my other co-workers. She was a promoter of Red Solidaria, the program I am working with right now and she was such a very friendly and funny person always telling jokes. She helped celebrate my birthday in November along with the other promoters. It’s been hard without her there, but we can only remember the good times that we shared.
María Luz is the girl in the middle.
Other than that not much is new. I hope to visit more with some of my Peace Corps friends before we all finish and continue my job search. Hope all is well at home with our new president – YAY!
