mis primeras dias en el salvador (my first days in el salvador)

hola tod@s!

i am currently in a nice little internet cafe near to where i live. i am living in one of the three houses my program has, and it is called casa silvia, after an influential woman who was murdered during the war and is a martyr here. i am still learning more about her story (olivia i know you know a lot about her because of oti!). my house is the medium sized one and i love it! i am in a large room with two other roommates, and a noisy bird that wakes us up in the morning lives outside our window. we are still in orientation (it lasts for over a week!) and yesterday we visited 2 of the placements where students in my program will be working, tepecoyo (which is my placement!) and los sitios, after which we walked for maybe ten minutes to a river with a small waterfall and played in there for quite a while. it was such a beautiful experience.

i have already eaten pupusas on 2 different occasions (which are corn tortillas with yummy stuff inside like beans and cheese). today for instance (our free day) i had one pupusa which is super filling and a can of peach nectar for $1! you wouldnt believe how inexpensive things are! on the one hand it is nice for us to not have to spend a lot, but in the other it is sad to look at the broader implications about the economy here.

also since ive been here i visited the UCA where 6 jesuits and their housekeeper and her daughter were murdered in 1989. this year marks the 20th anniversary of the murders (and the 10th anniv. of my program) so november will be an exciting month here with festivites and a reunion of many of the alums of the casa program. also the couple that directs the program is pregnant with their fourth child who is due in late october, what a semester to be here!

i went to mass yesterday at the UCA, and the mass was in spanish with Dean Brackley presiding (if you dont know who he is, look him up!) i love the other people in my program, everyone is really kind and open and willing to get to know one another, which has been really great.

i woke up early again this morning because of the fire and brimstone church cady corner from my house, so i went outside and read while lying in the hammock in our garden, it was so picturesque! the showers are cold but feel nice after being sweaty and the food is amazing. we have salvadoran women cooking our meals. lots of beans and rice, whole avacados, and amazing fruit. i can already feeling my clothes getting tighter...

the sites and sounds and smells here are so fascinating and wonderful. the nights are cool and the rain feels divine! on our second night here we went out for pupusas (refer to above for description) and it was a girl in our group's 21 bday so we had cake and the mariachi band sang her a bday song. afterwards we walked to a lookout area and saw the city lit up. because we were in the city we couldnt see many stars but the mountain in front of us was black as night and all the lights twinkling from the houses looked like stars. this is such a beautiful place, the buganvia flowers are gorgeous!

i am so happy to be here but every once in a while i think, "what have i gotten myslef into?!" but my dad has a great quote about how every great adventure starts with a bit of nervousness. ill let you know some more later.

brazos (hugs)
catalina (because "th" doesnt work here)