Time

Time is so weird here. I´ve been on the internet for 30 mins now and I´m rushing. I slept in til 6 am today...and then read another chapter of my book. Yes I´m reading Twilight still. But only because I wanted something that would completely take me out of El Salvador for the night and not make me homesick. And yes, reading about vampires and warewolves does just that. Not that I don´t like it here, I love it, but sometimes you just want a break from refried beans, chicken shit and gravel dirt roads. Otherwise, I have to admit, I´m not a Twilight person. And if it weren´t for the fact that I mistakenly read New Moon before the first book (I was pretty confused the whole way through), I would not have read more than one of the series. I hope the Twilight fan club will take it easy on me.

Anyway, I´m rushing because I have lots to do. After I finally got out of bed, swept...like usual but it´s gotten much harder. Usually it just sucks because no matter how much you sweep there´s still dust and halfway through you can´t see through the cloud of dust...but now my dog attacks the broom. So either I kick him aside or wait til he gets smacked in the face (if you´ve seen me clean you know I´m rather aggressive) and learns his lesson. After I showered, water was actually running today :), outdoors, looking up at the sky ... and my neighboors who live on a hill above me :/ ... I studied some spanish and headed to my counterparts to see what we had planned for the day. I remembered I had to go to town to make copies of some paperwork to use for my upcoming community census. I ran to the 10:10am approaching bus only to realize I forgot the paperwork. It worked out okay though because Barro has been biting the crap out of me so I figured I´d run back to the house and leave him there.

After waiting 20 mins without any sign of a bus or pick'up, I decided to start walking. Shortly after, a couple fellows from Intervida, the NGO I will be working with, drove by in a pick up and stopped for me. I even got to ride INSIDE the car and I swear, maybe it was the wind, but I felt air conditioning. We chatted a lot and my spanish was fortunatley going smoothly this morning. Without surprise, the conversation ended with ¨how old are you and do you have a boyfriend¨... and I didn´t have to pay for the lift :)

See one of the benefits of being a gringa is that people are amazed by you. It doesnt matter what you are wearing or what you look like any certain day, you WILL get cat calls. People will stop and say ¨buenos dias¨ or ¨salu¨ as you pass by, offer your fruit if you visit their house and give you free rides to town.

A downfall is that sometimes you DONT want to be noticed. Cat calls as I exit the latrine, still make me uncomfortable. Sometimes I just want to have regular small talk with people without explaining the mission of the Peace Corps or comparing life in New York to life in the Campo. I´m not complaining, its just sometimes you don´t want to be the gringa. I kid you not, even the cows meander over to the fence in the morning to stare at me as I brush my teeth.

Anyway, back to time. I´m rushing, even though I´ve been here an hour now...because after internet time I have to make photo copies, visit the post office to introduce myself and make sure I´m actually using the right address, go to the grocery store and get home before my dog dies of heat exhaustion in the house. Or eats my soccer cleats. one or the other.

Othertimes, Time passes slowly. My mommy asked me what a daily routine is like. Hmmm, right now, I wake up btw 5-6am, sweep my house, straighten up a bit. Let my dog out or pour a bucket of water on the floor if he´s already peed it. Oh that reminds me, he´s lucky I tuck my mosquito net in because he falls off the bed an average of twice a night and I wake up to find him crying on his back trapped in the net. He´s cute, but not the brightest pup. Anyway, next I eat some sugarless cereal with bananas, about the only healthy thing I eat all day, bathe, relax, listen to some music, study and then head to my counterparts at about 8-9am. Its about a 3 min walk down the dirt road with my pup at my heels. There we chat a little. They tell me we are going to town at 9:30am so I know to be ready to go at 11am. I´m sure to receive a second breakfast of greasy eggs and beans with 2 tortillas if I can´t get to them first to say ´solo uno´. I gulp down some coffee and eventually we get our day started. The day can consist of actually going to town on the 30min bumpy ass bus ride, shopping, meeting people and sweating. Or visiting neighbors houses. Playing soccer. Going to the river with the kids or the waterfalls. Anything really. This week I am starting the cenus though. I need to visit all the families to do an evaluation and start doing needs assessments. I will walk around with the Health Promoter to do this since he knows the houses the best. Sò I´m rushing today so that can get it all done and home before I am too exhausted to get up tomorrow for a longgg day of repeating the Peace Corps mission, my program, why Im here, yes I´m Catholic, no I cant talk about ARENA or FRENTE or anything about politics here, sure I´ve have another cup of coffee and some pan dulce, no I dont have money to give you guys, yes the climate is different here, my name is Jaime, not high-me, yes its funny cause its a guys name here, not Yaimy, just Jaime, no I can´t understand your 2 names even if you say them 3 times and, vaya pues, I have 378 more houses to visit so I must go.

I have a little over 2 weeks til my boss comes and I have to present my findings to her and the entire community... so I don´t feel like I have much time. But as I sit at the table listening to Juan play the guitar under the stars tonight with the drunk bolos singing along, I´m sure to feel like I have all the time in the world and enjoy every passing moment.