Field-Based Training...

OK. So I have quite a long update since I haven´t written in a while...so read on when you get a moment! (People didn´t like the short ones...so I´m back to long for now...sorry for anyone that doesn´t like the long ones...)

Check out the video that I took...this plant closes its leaves when you touch it! I was so amazed by it...

Well, in the last week, a lot has happened. Some recaps:

MY FUN "BUSSIN´ IT" EXPERIENCE
Last week, I went to the capital again to run some errands and practice taking the buses. Another volunteer, Jermain, went also because he wanted to see "Fantastic Four". Anyway, getting there was a breeze. I got all of my errands done. I saw Batman Begins. It was all good. So since Jermain and I were going the same way, we decided to grab a bus together. Well, I wanted to run one last errand to pick up some office supplies.

So we rode the bus to the office supply store, got our stuff, and then were ready to go home. Now ít´s about 3:30 at this point...what should amount to plenty of time to return. So we ask the people working how to get to the bus terminal that takes us to our pueblos (cities). They give us instructions...go down the street and take the #52 to the terminal. Ok. No problem. So we do that. Oh, but on the bus, we´re told, "Oh, you need to catch the bus going the OTHER way." So we get off, cross the street, and get on that bus. It takes us to the "bus terminal" after about 20 minutes of riding around the city. Oh wait. But it´s the WRONG bus terminal.

No buses are going to our pueblos from there. So this other guy is like, "Oh yeah. You need to go to the south terminal. So you need to get on the #44 to the university, then grab the #26 to the terminal, where you can catch the #116 to your cities." Great. No problem. A little irritating, but no big deal. So we do all this crazy transferring, and on the last bus - the 26 - I start getting really freaked out. We´re in this run-down area, the bus driver is a maniac (apparently it´s bad to have other buses anywhere close to you so it´s imperative that you slam on the accelerator, take turns at 60 MPH, and turn off the main street into alleys - in the run-down looking area, mind you - to "beat" the other buses). So I turn to this girl behind me who looks pretty normal and say, "So, is this area safe?" She´s like, "No way. Never get off here and never make eye contact with anyone!" That gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling when you´re being whipped around by the mental bus driver"...more like a wanna-be race car driver caught in a bus. :) So I just look at Jermain like, "You have got to be kidding me! Just get us to the terminal!" So, we finally pull up to it, thank goodness, and you won´t believe this....it´s the WRONG terminal AGAIN!! I mean, seriously, how many "bus terminals" exist in the city and how can so many people give such bad directions when we say exactly where we´re going?? So it´s 5:25 now, and I´m looking at Jermain going, "You have GOT to be kidding me!" Jermain was like, "We´re done with this. We´re taking a cab." So there are all of these cab drivers standing around, and we inquire about fares, because at this point, we´ve already wasted most of our money on a pretty crappy bus tour of the capitol...or maybe you could think of it as an extended amusement park ride...no lines at all, and fun roller coaster terror fun the whole way! :) So the cab drivers are like, "Oh man. You need to take the #116 and the last bus of the day leaves in 5 minutes." We´re like, "take us". So now I´m thinking, "Oh geez....what do we do if we miss the last bus? Is this going to be a new type of immersion experience? The capitol in the dark??" So the cab driver was AWESOME. He was driving like no other to get us there on time...and this was CONTROLLED crazy driving...totally different than the bus driver terror. YES, THERE IS A DIFFERENCE!! :) Anyway, we FINALLY pull up to the terminal JUST as the last bus is pulling away. But the cab driver was intense...he was NOT letting that bus leave before we got on! (Can you tell I loved him??) So we make it - 2 hours later - to our WEST terminal, a trip that normally should take 10-20 minutes. We just layed out in those seats and were drained. So then, like usual here, it starts pouring outside, so Jermain and I are just gabbing away like crazy. I´m thinking, "I´m so glad we caught this bus so my family doesn´t freak out." Well, you know how Murphy´s Law acts...so I keep checking my watch. Since it´s in the downpour stage...close to the end of the day, it´s really dark outside and hard to see stuff. After about an hour (the trip normally takes about 30-45 minutes), I say to Jermain, "I don´t understand why we´re not there yet. It doesn´t usually take this long." And sure enough, the next thing we hear is, "Apastepeque!" Now this is the town where Jermain lives...about 30-45 minutes FURTHER than my city! He´s like, "I think you missed your stop." Yeah. Thanks. :) Then he suggests that I ride on the back of a pick-up back to my town. In the rain. At night. When sketchy people are out. No thanks. I was like, "Are you CRAZY?? No way.
I´m staying with your family!" So I got a little free field trip to another site. Jermain lives right next to another volunteer, Josephine, so it worked out great. I got to sleep in her room and have spanish class the next day at their site. It was a blast! But man. That was some drama to travel around for the day!!


OH...I GET TO BE A TEACHER HERE!
Yes, so for the last week, I´ve been in Chaletenango, another department of El Salvador (like a state in the US) in Field-Based Training, which basically means I spend the week with a current volunteer and work alongside him/her. So Dan Holmes was the volunteer that I visited and the week was AMAZING! There were 4 trainees that went, and the first day we watched Volunteer Dan teach a math class. Man, I LOVED that! Then on day two, 3 of the trainees (me, Jarred, and Marie) taught 4 IT classes. I taught how to take digital photos/use a digital camera, Jared taught the kids how to move the photos from the camera to the computer, and Marie taught them how to insert them into Word/manipulate the photos. I tried to get her to teach the keyboard commands but she said, "I´m not a fan of those." I´ll bring her over to my side...it´s only a matter of time! :)

Anyway, in between teaching, I got to spend a lot of time with the younger kids around. So I taught them a few things...thumb war (guerilla de los pulgares in español) and attempted to translate the "Hello. My name is Joe. I have a house, 3 kids, and 1 spouse..." (if you don´t know this song, it´s pretty catchy...I´ll have to sing it to you sometime). So by the end of the day, I had about 50-75 kids in a circle around me, all having thumb wars or attempting to sing the Joe song in español. It was hilarious. Then, the next day, we had to teach 2 classes (7th-9th graders) songs in english. So, Jarred taught, "Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes" (and I had us all singing it faster and faster and faster with the motions...THAT was some good stuff)! Marie taught "Old McDonald Had a Farm" (if only I had that puppet here!) and I taught "Row Row Row Your Boat" and at the end of it, had everyone sing it in rounds. We had time at the end of each class for another song, so in the first class, I asked the students if they wanted to learn anything special in english and they chose my favorite song from when I was little!! I was SOOO psyched. I bet you can guess it...."If you´re happy and you know it, clap your hands...." I had SOOO much fun teaching that and afterwards, we did the same thing for class number 2. My trainer Bri was like, "You missed your calling in life" and volunteer Dan told me that all of his 9th graders were like, "When is Michelle coming back?? Can she live with me next time?" And Jarred told me that when he went home the second night, his host brothers (5, 7, 9) were all having thumb wars and singing the Joe song. I LOVED it!! I got SOO lucky with my site visit! Now, let´s compare that with my fun teaching experience this morning. I had to teach a class of 9th graders about how to improve communication. Wow. All I have to say is wow. If I was feeling like there was nowhere better for me last week, today I was feeling that I should be ANYWHERE BUT here!! I couldn´t motivate ANYONE to save my life. I would ask for volunteers...no one would volunteer. I would have them do an activity about communication and attempt to follow up with processing the activity so they could actually learn something and NO ONE wanted to participate. I was ready to slit my throat. So anyway...guess there are good and bad days, right?? :)

OH YEAH....I KNOW ALL ABOUT SERVICIOS SANATARIOS
Yeah. Those are toilet or toilet-like facilities. :) Since Volunteer Dan is a water and sanitation volunteer, we got to experience this stuff first-hand. We went to San Francisco, a canton (translation middle of nowhere), to conduct a census...number of people in household, type of bathroom facility, and we rated the "fullness" of the bathroom facility. Translation: we visited numerous holes in the ground, some with human feces up to the top of the hole, with bugs flying all around to entice us even more, some with hardly anything in them and really clean. I learned how to do the "drop a rock and see how long it takes to hit" test. I learned how to listen to random people talk about nothing for quite a while, since we were the only people in ages to stop by and talk to them. It was quite the experience...I actually really liked it. And now, when I´m using a latrine (usually a hole in the ground), I don´t think anything of it. It´s just normal everyday life here. So did I mention I want visitors? It really is fun...and GORGEOUS here!! :)

OH YES, I HAVE SO MANY FRIENDS...
Yeah, so to end the fun Field-Based Training week, I got to attend a Quincenera! For all of you that don´t know...this is a HUGE party for a girl that is turning 15 years old. It´s seriously the only thing that girls here have to look forward to for the most part, so it´s a HUGE deal. It reminded me of a wedding. There is a ceremony in the church with a Priest (Catholic service). Lots of praying and church stuff. And the dad presents his daughter with a ring, to symbolize her womanhood, or something like that. Then, the girl walks with her dad and all of her attendants to the reception site, where she and her attendants complete organized dances for the guests. Everyone is served food (this is seriously just like a wedding reception). Then people get down on the dance floor. Now getting down here is with salsa music...it´s really fun! What a fabulous week. And to end it off...I met a new friend. As I was getting ready to go to bed after this fabulous week, I started undressing and noticed this brown thing next to my backpack on the ground. I was like, "What is that?" and I´m running through everything I took. I couldn´t think of what it could be, so I bend over, half naked to pick it up and it starts MOVING. I was like, "AHHHH!" and IMMEDIATELY started shouting, "Danira!! There´s a live animal in my room!!" (She´s my host sister that had just gone to bed.) So she comes out and I´m like, "Can you help me for a minute?? There is something ALIVE in my room!" So she walks in and I show it to her...let´s face it...I didn´t really do anything except point this out to her...and she´s like, "Oh wow. It´s a crab!" So by this time, the entire family is in the bedroom, watching this fun display. I was like, "I thought crabs were only by water!" And she says, "They are. You brought it home in your backpack." Well, as you can imagine, that just gave me the CREEPS....I mean, my backpack was PACKED...where the heck WAS that thing? And how many more were hiding away in my room. I, of course, start getting these images of things crawling all over me in my sleep, or hiding in my clothes so I can find them as I get dressed in the morning. So, acting like a 5 year old with monsters in my room, I´m like, "Ahhh...How many more are there?? Are they under my bed?? In my bag??" So Danira, being the AWESOME sister that she is...checked out all of my stuff. I said, "What am I going to do when I live alone?? I´m going to have to call you and say, ´Danira, there is something alive in my room! Can you come help me?´¨ (She had told me earlier in the day that after I move out, I have to call her whenever I need help.) So we all laughed about that. And now I have a friend that I think of...I guess I brought back a little souvenier from Chaletenengo. :)

Alrighty...this is quite long enough for me today. And I heard from some people (GRANDMA) that they wondered if I was ok since they "hadn´t heard from me for awhile. OK people...I am in a third world country. I´m still alive. No worries. If something happens, you´ll hear about it on CNN...so not hearing anything is good. :)

Miss ya all! Talk to ya soon! Oh yeah, and my phone number here is 23-78-0367 if you want to call. I don´t know the country code, I´m sorry! But when I dial the US from here, I dial the 800 number on the card, then enter the card number, then enter "155+001+XXX-XXXX". The "001" is the country code for the US. Anyway, this will be my home number until mid-August and then I will look into a phone for my final site. If you call this number, someone that speaks only spanish is probably going to answer, so if you just say "Michelle", they´ll know what to do. And if I´m not there, they´ll say, "Michelle no esta aqui." And they might tell you when I´m going to be back..."Domingo-Sunday, Lunes-Monday, Martes-Tuesday, Miercoles-Wednesday, Jueves-Thursday, Viernes-Friday, Sabado-Saturday".

Miss ya all!