I walked out of my house at 12 noon. Definitely not the best time to be traveling. The hot oven heat practically knocked me off my feet. But at least it was dry! (Extra bonus - my hair was wet from my recent shower.) So on I marched to the bus stop with my goal of iced coffee and air conditioning firmly in mind.
Now, I know that some people may have cultivated this idea that Peace Corps is without any comforts, and I for one had that idea in mind as well. (And some Peace Corps volunteers definitely still have that "few comforts" type experience.) But not me. Everyone's experience is different in the Peace Corps. (Differences are immense between continents, and countries, but even within this tiny country, the size of Massachusetts, the differences are still outstanding.)
My experience is made much more different by the fact that I am about 20-40 minutes from the 3rd largest city in El Salvador. (The time changes depending on whether you are in public transportation or private, how many people are getting on or off the bus, and what time of day it is.) So about this city. San Miguel - La Perla del Oriente (Pearl of the East, as they so humbly call their city) is a hot, hot, hot spot to be. And I don't just mean for all the awesome pupusas, great market deals, and cat calling locals. No, it's just a great place to be.
Some days I come for the market - nothing like buying all the food you could stuff your face with for a week for 5 dollars. Sometimes I splurge and buy a lot of fresh fruit and my total shoots up to $6.50. Booyah! Some days I come for the vet - Monkey needs her shots and I for sure ain't gonna give them to her. Some times it's just passing through on the way to meetings or get-togethers in other cities. And some days it's for Metro Centro.
Metro Centro is a mall. It's the only mall east of San Salvador and it's here in San Miguel. And it's air conditioned. And has cafes with wireless. I know, you are all promising yourself that you will never again feel sorry for me (as if you ever have, but I don't know why you would have.) So when I can't take the heat any more in my site, and I want to be able to sit in relative comfort while "internetting", I come to Metro Centro. And normally it's a calm, tranquil experience, where I sometimes run into students from my community, teachers from the schools I help out in or other volunteers. But not today.
Today is a game between Barcelona and Real Madrid - two Spanish futbol teams. (The crowd is currently going crazy because someone just scored. I can't see who.) So this cafe that I'm in right now, aside from having wireless, has a fairly large flat screen TV. While the women and children are out shopping, their husbands, brothers, boyfriends, sons etc. sit around and watch the game. A lot of times the women join in too, though. And it is packed right now. I can't even see the screen from where I'm sitting. The game started at 2 and I've been here since about 12:30. By 12:45 there was standing room only. Some people are just walking by and watching a little bit before they continue on to their shopping; some people look like they plan on standing for the whole game. Which, I guess at a stadium you might end up standing for a lot of the game anyway, because you're singing and cheering and participating, but here there isn't even an option of sitting. But it is air conditioned. And crowded.
But the good thing about there being something really interesting on TV is that Gringo TV is not so special today. People are giving me weird looks because they can see that I couldn't care less about the game. (I'm facing away from the TV, way in the back.) But they think that's normal for us Americans, what with our obsession for pig skin football.
So I'm here, enjoying a coffee, and wireless internet, while an enormous contingent of Salvadorans crowd around a TV for a futbol game. Gawsh it's good to be a Peace Corps Volunteer!
