Sun., Nov. 30

- Slept in til 8:30am, washed my clothes and then some ‘mantas’ for a couple hours, then had a nice relaxing Sunday, with the exception of the ‘bolo’ (drunk guy) who wandered into the yard and started talking to me. I sent Monice to go tell Gilma, who yelled at him to go away. She and Paty were laughing, but I was a bit alarmed, especially when he started waving his machete around (although he was out on the street at that point). Gilma and Monica went to go visit Monica’s other grandmother, and I had just put my book down and dozed off in the hammock when Mr. Bolo came back, apparently having no trouble opening the gate. Thankfully, he had no machete, but nor did he leave with I told him to, and I had no idea what he was saying, so I went and got Paty and Tomasita, who again yelled at him until he went away (apparently he was looking for his bicycle, which he’d taken with him when he left the first time). We watched as he flagged down a passing pickup and climbed in the back, heading for who-knows-where. It took me a bit longer than usual to relax in the hammock again, but I did manage a nice nap.

Sat., Nov. 29 The future president comes to lunch

- Ate a good breakfast (feel a little guilty not paying for it, although at least I brought a few things this time), then Crissy and Adam dropped me off near an ATM in town. Walking to where the busses departed, it struck me that SJO seems like a really nice size, and the ‘centro’ is pretty postcard- or movie-worthy, colorful and bustling but clean and friendly-feeling. It was quite a nice visit overall.

- Bus back to San Salvador, #34 to the ‘centro,’ #26 to the terminal in San Jacinto, almost missed the stop in San Nicolas. Everything seemed to be suspiciously calm at the office, seeing as how there had almost been a near panic when the ambassadors came. Erica told me that it was over, that it had been a breakfast instead of a lunch, but then quickly told me she was just joking. It basically just turned out that they’d been preparing for the last two days I’d been away, had already cooked everything, and now didn’t have much else to do until Mauricio & co. arrived. Everyone from the office ate (rice, beef & ‘pelibuey,’ ‘chimol,’ ‘fresco de jamaica,’ and tortillas, all served from giant vats), then sat around and took pictures of each other waiting. Luckily, the caravan wasn’t as late as late as the last “caravan of hope” – ended up arriving at 2pm with a 12pm goal. I thought there were only about 60 people, but apparently they handed out 125 plates of food, so apparently my crowd-estimating skills are pretty off. There was a sizable security contingent, but not near what it would have been in the U.S. I walked right behind Mauricio at one point and could have easily stabbed him in the back if I’d had a knife. Instead, I mostly just wandered around and took pictures, including two of Gilma and Yaneth standing behind Mauricio, which seemed to annoy his wife, hwo was just trying to eat her lunch. He posed for a few group pictures after he was done eating, did a short interview with Wil, and smoked a cigar (also had a beer at lunch – such a cool guy…), but I never quite got up the nerve to go shake his hand. Was sort of afraid he would say something and I wouldn’t understand, and was also in no mood to be in a bunch of pictures, as I was wearing my glasses (another eye infection) and was all sweaty and acne-y. I hope he wins even more now, so I can say I helped serve lunch to the President.

New Words:

pijiado = very busy

Fri., Nov. 28

- Spent most of the day just sort of chatting with Crissy, which was really nice, and some reading. Went for a walk around the looped stret in the evening and ended up playing ‘escondelero’ with two little girls named S and E and then having S pretend-punish all of us for a while (one got the feeling that she was often on the receiving end). Saw B a few more times although she didn’t have permission to wander down to Crissy and Adam’s, and also met an older girl named E who was intrigued by my earrings (she had pierced ears from when she was younger, but Adventists generally don’t wear jewelry, as I learned, so she wasn’t used to seeing them). Earlier to bed tonight, and ended up having several dreams – one about the KKK hanging up some threatening sign outside my bedroom window, then being in a rowing shell (a single) and forgetting that Ihad to look behind me, then Luis helping me put a patch on the shell, which had somehow become inflatable. Interpretations?

Thurs., Nov. 27 Thanksgiving

- Left the house ~10am loaded down with my backpack filled with overnight stuff and the big yellow Panama bag with two pumpkin-ish “ayotes,” cashews, and “tablía” chocolate for Crissy and Adam (having since figured out they don’t drink alcohol – whoops!), and tortillas and a cheese to take to Niña Tomasa. Left my bike at Niña Maura’s house (so much better than having to walk the half hour to the “desvío”), bought some ‘saldo’ for the phone I’d borrowed from Mito, and was on the bus after a short wait. It ended up taking me about 3 hours to drop off the tortillas and cheese, what with having to take several different busses, visiting for a little while with Niña Tomasa (seemed noticeably better, is hoping to come home this weekend. Also met Carlos, who didn’t say much, and apparently the dog already died after getting hit by a motorcycle), and then the bus from the ‘centro’ to the ‘terminal de occidente’ getting stuck in standstill traffic for about an hour. I’m pretty sure I could have walked to the terminal faster, if I’d known how to get there on my own. Crissy had told me that the meal was going to be at about 2pm and I had foolishly thought I’d make it, but didn’t even get on the bus for SJO til about 2:30pm. Got in about an hour later, waited for a bit in front of the blindingly white church (the central plaza being closed for repairs/upkeep as always seemed to be the case in Chile), then Crissy and Adam arrived to take me to the school/orphanage campus. We headed straight over to the Reyes’ house, where the food was. They gave me a plate and I filled it up with glutein burgers (no turkey here!), mashed potatoes (sans gravy), stuffing, sweet corn, and some oat burgers, stuck it in the microwave for a few minutes, then sat there and ate while watching the three kids play with their Lincoln logs and Legos (some toys never go out of style). There was delicious ‘ayote’ pie and ‘ayote’ bread to finish up.

- We then headed outside and I ended up on the swings with the Reyes’ daughter, who at 7 years old doesn’t know when her birthday is or really grasp that the U.S. is made up of many states, but is fluent in English and Spanish. Also met a cute little girl named B who took a liking to me. She was a ball of energy, quite strong, and more than a little mischievous. She told me a story about chasing off some thieves (her uncle and cousin?) which could have been either true or made up, or a mix, and then didn’t want to let me go join the others in Adam and Crissy’s apartment (Crissy’s 18-year-old brother who has been there since about August and another girl named Mandy who does some accounting and complimented me on my Spanish). Adam led a short music-based worship session in the multi-purpose building (actually sweet singing as opposed to the usual half-screaming), then back to the apartment to watch “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” followed by a nice discussion on the nature of politics in general. To bed about 1am after spending a good while in the first-world-style bathroom (hot water, even!)

Wed., Nov. 26

- Short “meeting” in the afternoon where Arístides (first time I’ve seen him in a few weeks) announced that the FMLN presidential ticket would be coming through on Saturday and we’d been hosting them for lunch. So I’m sure that will be exciting – will have to come back from SJO a bit earlier than planned.

Tue., Nov. 25

- In the evening, Gilma cooked me a nice dinner and gave me a pair of jeans (a gift to Loli, but too small for her) that actually fit and looked decent, all of which helped cheer me up after a rough day. I felt like two different people within the span of about 2 hours – life is weird.

New Words:

osadía = boldness, audacity (= audacía)

Sun., Nov. 23

- Morning at a ‘turno’ at the Marta Gonzalez building in Zamorán (also the office of United Communities) with Loli and Gilma and the kids. There were some carnival-type games, a used-clothing sale where they only let people into a big cage thing for 10 minutes, some live music and a dance group, and plenty of traditional foods. Sounds like a lot, but it was actually kind of boring. It was also hotter than it’s been the last week and I couldn’t get my contacts in in the morning, so I was kind of uncomfortable and irritable. Rosi was really fixated on getting a Little Mermaid book from the clothing sale cage, and part of me felt bad for her while the other part of me wanted to just shake her and tell her to let it go. She also got mad at Gilma and me for eating some of her ‘papitas’ later on. Not a big deal, but I probably would have gotten mad too. But she’s like two different people when she’s all sweet and loving and then when she’s got an attitude or pouting about something. We left around 2pm when they still hadn’t raffled off the calf that gilma had been waiting for. Iris and kids were visiting when we got back, but I was Sunday-afternoon sleepy and not feeling very social, so I put no the fan and read some National Geographic in the rocking chair before lying down to not quite sleep. Shower and a couple of tortillas & cheese before some reading with Monica and heading to bed.

- Three weeks until home.

New Words:

to mate = aparearse, copular

tener cría, estar cargada ~ to be pregnant (animals)

Sat., Nov. 22

- Went into San Salvador to visit Niña Tomasa at Lupe’s place. Gilma made a cheese and a bunch of tortillas, so we took those in the big yellow Panama bag. I was reading my Mental_Floss magazine on the way there and at some point looked up and realized I just felt very content – nice blue sky framing the volcanoes, a good breeze coming in through the bus windows, and cheerful music that had been turned down so it no longer hurt my ears. Plus it was nice to be going with Gilma, even if she wasn’t sure where to go once we got there. Lupe had given her some directions, though, and luckily the bus driver told us where to get off to get the next bus, and we eventually got close enough that Gilma recognized where she was.

- Lupe’s place was nice – not luxurious, but she had some solid-looking furniture and there was more room to breathe than in either of the other places I’ve stayed. She has a ground-level apartment in a building that could be from the 70s, 80s, or 90s. Living room, kitchen (good size but not much counter space or storage), bathroom, and two bedrooms (one for her, one for Carlos). Also a small porch and a bit of a garden area where she had a 2-month-old lab/German shepherd puppy named Tila. She also had a little section set aside on the roof where I went to hang laundry with Gilma and Chagua (laundry which, miracle of miracles, had been washed in her washing machine!). Niña Tomasa seemed a little bit better, but not much. She was out of bed and sitting at the table when we got there, but went to go lie down (with Chagua’s help) shortly after. I lay down with her for a little while, but couldn’t really understand much that she said. I also wanted to poke around the pictures and stuff on Carlos’ shelf (a board set across two stacks of cinderblocks). At one end he had a poster of a guerrillera woman that I recognized from another poster at ‘my’ house – Susana, Chana. Lupe lifted it up to reveal another large photo underneath, saying “and this… is me.” And sure enough, there she was as a smiling, chubby-cheeked kid. Wearing a helmet decorated with leaves for camouflage and wielding a large gun. I asked how old she was there and she said about 15. I knew Lupe had fought in the war and that she’s in her early 40s now, but I’d never really done the math. I asked Niña Tomasa, who said Lupe had joined the ‘guerrilla’ when she was 12 or 13. I later confirmed that she’s now 42, which means she was born in 1966 and joined the war in 1978 or 1979. By the time the peace accords were signed in 1992, she had a young son (still trying to work out exactly how old he is) whose father had been killed, and had spent just as much time or more fighting as she had not. I think it was more or less immediately after the war that she joined the PNC (police), and then I’m not sure if that went all the way up until her getting together with a Swiss guy from the Swiss Red Cross and moving to Uruguay in 2004. That lasted til sometime in 2007, when she went to Cuba for about a year, getting back here around the end of February (if I remember correctly), and since working for the ‘alcaldía.’ I’m so curious about her and her life, and she will answer direct questions but never elaborates much. She did say, when I asked her about joining the war so young, that it wasn’t a choice so much as something that the situation demanded. But then Gilma later said that she personally hadn’t ended up joining the ‘guerrilla’ because it scared her and she would start crying, so her father kind of protected her. Her family apparently lived in Las Arañas for a while after leaving the mountains near La Quesera, and the ‘guerrilleros’ would make them go to lots of meetings. At some point they wanted to take her off to Morazán (for what, exactly?), but her father went instead, and then they moved to La Papalota to sort of get away from that. She also said Niña Tomasa hadn’t wanted Lupe to go fight, but Lupe went and liked it, so her father said to let her. So it’s tough to figure out exactly what it was like and what the choices really were.

- Lupe and Gilma and I went to the Despensa de Don Juan to do some grocery shopping before lunch. It is definitely the Christmas season there – they even had some employees dressed up as elves. It gave me the usual “almost back in America/ I want to buy lots of stuff I can’t afford/ I want to live on my own” feeling. I ended up getting a bottle of wine for Thanksgiving. It’s been a while since I’ve bought any and I never can remember the difference between cabernet sauvignon and merlot anyway, so we’ll see how it turns out.

- Back to Lupe’s for lunch, then we toyed around with the idea of spending the night before finally deciding against it (Gilma kept mentioning not wanting Monice to be upset, and neither of us had brought anything for an overnight, not to mention where we’d actually sleep). Semi-sleepy bus ride back to SM, bike back home, etc., etc., to bed.

- Am re-reading Blue Like Jazz. It’s just as good as I remembered.

New Words:

carambola = starfruit

salpora de arroz = thick hard cookie things

Thur., Nov. 20 – Fri., Nov. 21

Nothing much. Wore my hair down again….