We've been told that we should pretend that we are auditioning for a job. This audition is in front of an entire community, and the audition will last anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. No pressure!!
I am here in my new site, and it's true. Everyone just wants to check and make sure that you are "buena gente". They want to know that you know what they know before they are willing to learn from you what you know. I have begun the process of getting to know the community by visiting the school and passing through all the classes with the directora (I wish we could gender nouns in english!). I was also introduced in front of a parents meeting. Now pretty much the whole community knows my name, but I don't know the names of any of them!
The audition seems to be going well so far - in the afternoons I go visiting with my abuelita. We visit her friends in the community. I'm slowly getting to know people. I don't think I'm ever going to know everyone in this community. I hope for maybe knowing everyone in the school. I will probably be here most of the time anyway, since Peace Corps and MINED have an agreement of certain charlas that I have to give, and considering that there are 2-3 sections of each grade, I will be teaching a lot!
Not only do I think I will enjoy my job, but I think my new host family is great. Carolina, my new host mom, wants to exercise as well as learn to cook more "saludable" for herself and her son. I've already convereted her son to whole wheat bread without doing anything! I think we are going to get along very well.
This town is very interesting. It appears that there is quite a bit of money (I saw an air conditioner unit sticking out of a house the other day) and quite a few houses have cars and computers. That isn't so say that this town isn't a peace corps town - though sometimes, even though I've only been here for 4 days, I forget that I'm in El Salvador. And then, the bachata blasts from the car radio passing by, the cows barrel past as the farmers bikes behind them, the women walk by with guacals full of pupusas balanced on their heads. I have visited the poorer people in town, but almost everyone has family in the states that send down remesas, and with those remesas they buy luxuries. Not that I begrudge them any of it, it's just interesting.
I hope I can have a positive impact on this town. Just now entering into the school (where they have a computer lab and internet) I was acosted by a bunch of niñas. They were very excited to see me and chat with me. I think one of the toughest things for me to see though is the amount of children that have one parent, or sometimes both! in the states. A lot of parents from this town, and this country in general, are in Washington D.C. and Houston.
I have a feeling I will love it here. Somedays I might want to jump in the freezer to get away from the heat, but it's all the more reason to love a bucket bath! I think, in general though, besides the heat, this is going to be a great fit. Just wait and see.
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