Welcome back to El Salvador

Trip Start Sep 18, 2005
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Trip End Dec 03, 2007


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Sunday, August 27, 2006

Well, I made it back to El Salvador. Did a bit of house cleaning then headed to the capital for our 4th of July celebration on the 1st which was put on by the American Society. Being at the party with ex-pats other than PCVs was really strange...weirder than being in the states. We of course were served cheap hamburgers or hotdogs for far too much money. The ambassador shook everyone's hand and gave a speech. His wife clapped when he assured us it wouldn't be long. They played all kinds of traditional U.S. songs...born in the U.S.A., etc... Much of the party however was strongly Salvadoran. The music was too loud, the woman "translating" the Spanish into English simply spoke Spanish with a different accent, the drawing took place an hour and a half late and the fireworks were going on during the drawing and too low to see.

As the night and next day progressed I became quite ill
Baby running
Baby running
. Eventually I learned I had a severe bacterial infection and amoebas again. Back on meds! While chillin' in the computer lounge at the office my APCD ran in frantically to tell us that protests had started near the University and Estancia (where we stay) about the raise in bus fare. When he came in it was breaking news that two police officers had been murdered by snipers. We were warned to travel together, not go out at night, avoid conflict and of course lay low. The violence just keeps escalading. Last week the parents of the woman who started the guerrilla radio during the war were murdered (tortured war style then macheted to death) in Suchitoto (a tourist stop...one of the few).

Recently things have been slow moving. In the capital again for some skin irritations but nothing too extreme. My master's work seems to be getting ready to take off which is nice. I have been working on a survey to study the women's perceptions about health, environmental issues and natural hazards.

My mom came down for about a week and a half this month. She got to see my site and go out on the lake then discovered how hot it is, even at night. She then gave a presentation to a group of PCVs on EFL. We headed to Antigua, Guatemala for a few days. It was so beautiful but ridiculously touristy. Pretty much everyone spoke English and about half the people were white (a ton of tourists). There were a number of families at our hotel adopting Guatemalan babies. It was nice to have a chill vacation since my amoebas were getting active again.
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