long overdue

hello all!

my apologies that this is only my third blog post. life here is tiring. i dont have my laptop but even if i did we dont have internet where i live, so i have to be very intentional about my time, especially when i use the internet. these are merely excuses though...

life is beautiful here. two weekends ago i went to this giant crater lake for the day and the water was so clear you could see your feet. this past weekend we stayed at our praxis sites (the communities were in on mondays and wednesday) which was a really wonderful experience. this is such a minor part of the experience, but after having to pee into a hole, i really appreciate the indoor plumbing where i live. i took a bucket shower, which is pretty much what it sounds like lol!

im not very homesick which is good i guess, but sometimes i miss home and all of you so much! im trying to be very present to my experience here so i apologize for the lack of communication.

i went to mass at my placement this past weekend, and the homily alone was about 45 minutes! a lot of kids stared at me. you just kind of have to get used to the fact that people stare and it feels uncomfortable. machismo is a new experience....

i love the house i live in and i love the people i live with. we all get along so well and bring such unique and wonderful persectives to the community. the kids at my praxis site are such a gift. children have been a significant part of my experience thus far. the kids who live in my neighborhood have really taken a liking to me and we play together when i decide to put off my homework. the kids in my english class on wednesday know the beatles song hello hello and i get such a kick out of hearing them sing it.

classes are great. im taking an amazing philosophy class in which im learning all about life. (PULSE friends, everything comes back to PULSE, even in el sal), my sociology class is interesting and all in spanish taught by antonio canas who worked with the UN for a bit, im also taking liberation theology, and a history class on el sal´s civil war. the speaker in history on friday was so interesting, and some of his speech was pretty challenging. while this is a very beautiful country, theres also a lot of sadness that lingers from all that happened in the past. his story included some pretty graphic rape stories of young women in his community by the military. that was tough to sit with, and right after his speech we rushed off to our placement sites for the weekend. as i played with the young girls at my praxis, one is 15 another 12 and others younger still, and i just felt a huge sadness. i thought, if they had been born 15 years earlier, they might have experienced such ugliness in life. they seem so innocent and so willing to let me get to know them, its heart breaking to anticipate the struggles they will experience as young women in a society that is worse than the US in dealing with auto esteema of the women here.

i went to a hiphop class once when i was here and the teacher told us to be ¨mas sexy ¨ and it was weird. and for those of you who know me well, i dont do mas sexy. the teacher is pablo.


what else? i wash my clothes by hand, im living a simple lifestyle. no tv, movies for class sometimes, little internet use (mostly my own choice), very little meat, and cold showers. i have pretty much gotten used to the frigid showers which feel really good if you wait until the afternoon to bathe. my clothes are getting stretched out already. underwear is expanding from handwashing which is probably a good thing since we eat so much amazing food.

anyone ever seen beautiful salvadoran art of an artist named llort? i went to his museum and workshop and bought a few things.

i cant think of too much else to say for the time being, when i get back i would love to tell you all more details. it will take time. i can already anticipate that coming back will be difficult.

next weekend we leave for the campo for a week (the country).

much love and ill try to blog again soon!
kathleen