A whirlwind last 3 weeks...

Wow. What a whirlwind last 3 weeks it`s been! I`ve had 3 visitors from the states, we`ve had the monthly earthquake, I´m experiencing the invasion of the frogs, rainy season has started, English classes are ready to end, we`re getting estimates for the Cyber Cafe, and I`ve finished 2 books: Ishmael and The Story of B. Whew!

PROJECT UPDATES
English classes
Course I is coming to an end. I gave a test last on Monday to the adult class and they did surprisingly very well. I made them write in complete sentences for everything, and their subject verb agreement was good and they remembered to put adjectives BEFORE nouns. We`re getting somewhere! :) After Monday night, however, I`m not sure when we`re going to start course II. (Click here for further details on that...)

Cyber Cafe
We have a location. Do you know how exciting that is?? It definitely needs to be fixed up, but it has great potential. The Cooperativa (association of farmers) is going to let us use it for free and provide us with a security guard free of cost. They`re huge supporters of the idea and I`m ecstatic. Now comes the dreaded part (for me, anyway)...finding the money to fund the project. I hate asking people for money...I know it will come...it`s just the part of the job I dislike. Too bad my man Robinson isn`t here to make that happen... :)

Band
We`re starting again in mid-May. Since I`ll be traveling all over during most of May, I`ll probably start in June with them. But I`m excited about it.


THINGS THAT HAVE HAVE CRACKED ME UP...
The visits...
Wow. So many with so little space here. The three visitors: my mom, my step-dad, Norm and my friend, Jeff. Let`s just say that my mom and Norm stayed for 3 days and on the last day, my mom said, "Michelle, can we just please stay somewhere with air conditioning, a nice bed, and a hot shower? We stayed in the Sheraton. It was AWESOME!! And when she got out of the shower, she said, "That was the BEST shower I have ever had in my life!" I was like, "Mom! You`ve only been here 3 days!!" :) It was memorable. But we had TONS of fun. (See photos above.) We went to my site (obviously), where we attended one of the English classes and ate pupusas, El Pital, the highest point in El Salvador, San Ignacio, a little town located in the northern part of the country where you can see Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala at the same time, to Juayua, where we hiked to waterfalls and swam in them, and to San Salvador.

Then, a week later, my friend Jeff came. Here is what we did:

Day 1:
Arrive and go to my site to attend English class. Jeff`s comments, "Wow! This is cool! I can`t believe I`m in El Salvador!"

Day 2:
Jeff wakes up to Michelle screaming, "Jeff! Get up!! We have to go outside NOW!!" because an earthquake occurs. Eat breakfast and hang out at Lago Coatepeque. Jeff`s comments: "I can`t believe I experienced an earthquake in day 2." Michelle: "You`re getting the FULL experience."

Day 3:
Go to Perquín. This involves taking 2 buses and a pick-up. 1st bus from San Salvador.
[Bus 1 from San Salvador]
Jeff: ...as EVERY seat is taken..."Well, this is a little crowded."
Michelle: "What are you talking about?? This is ROOMY!!"
Jeff: stares at Michelle

[Town where we catch a pick-up, 3 hours later, in like 110 degree heat]
Michelle: ...asks a man how long to Perqín, he answers 20-30 minutes...
...Jeff and Michelle find the pick-up that they need to take. It`s packed full with people hanging out the back and Michelle says to wait for next pick-up...Jeff gets icecream...
...next pick-up arrives (covered in plastic) and is acosted by tons of people...Jeff and Michelle shove their way on with their backpacks...the temperature inside quickly doubles what it is outside due to the nice plastic covering and 30 bodies crammed together...
Michelle: sweating profusely...asks seated woman where she`s going...Woman replies a town about 30 minutes away...Michelle asks if it`s by Perquín, woman laughs and says Perquín is way farther away...Michelle asks how long...Woman says at least an hour...Michelle looks at Jeff and says
Michelle: Are you going to be able to hang out the back like that for an hour?
Jeff: I thought you said it was 20-30 minutes!
Michelle: That`s what the other guy said, but no, it`s an hour.
Jeff: Well, I don`t really have a choice, do I?
Michelle: Sure you do! ...gets the guy next to her to touch her body instead of having the comfortable between space so Jeff can stand INSIDE the pick-up instead of hanging out...
Jeff: ...stares at Michelle during the whole trip with the look of, "THIS is my vacation??"
Michelle: ...laughs...

We arrive to Perquín to find that our hotel room is at the top of this hill. We finally get to it and collapse on the bed. But only for about 10 minutes, when we decide we´d better get going to the War Museum, since it closes at 4. We walk up the mountain into town, breathing hard from the walk. We get directions to the museum that include the local saying, "It`s up up up!" and turn the corner to the street we have to use and see we have another 45 degree incline to hike to the next turn, where we find more of the same. But, we finally make it to the museum, and have a good time going through it. On the way out, Michelle sees a sign for a "view". So, of course, she says, "Hey, let`s go see what the view is!" Jeff stares at her like, "Are you kidding me? You want to walk UP even higher??" So, we did, with a local guide that Jeff remembers from his "jerry curl mullet" and who Michelle remembers as the guy that wouldn`t stop hitting on her. But the view was nice. :) Then, it was back to the hotel, where dinner was eaten and cards were played.

Day 4:
Trip back to San Salvador. On bus #2, Jeff says, "Is that woman behind us carrying a live chicken on her lap?" Michelle answers yes. Jeff says, "Ok. Just checking. It`s the full experience, right?" :) Then, the bus has to stop for a moment to let some cows pass. Jeff says, "Hm. Cows just walking in the middle of the highway. That`s normal." Michelle says, "Hey. Full experience." :) 6 hours later, we get off the bus and take a taxi to the hotel. The whole bus thing...we`re done with that. Jeff isn`t feeling so well. We stay in the hotel room for the rest of the day.

Day 5:
Jeff continues to not feel well. He takes all kinds of medicine. Nothing is working. We end up going to the clinic to have his #2 bathroom stuff tested. He can`t go, so the trip was really more about the photo, which I love. :) We hang in San Sal some more.

Day 6:
Everyone gets off of work for Easter. This means that everyone in the country goes to the beach. Not good since that`s where we`re going too. We finally make it to the beach, to arrive close to sunset and just decide to eat at this restaurant with a good view. Because all the hotels are overbooked, we go back to San Salvador that night.

Day 7:
The celebration week continues. We go again to the beach and this time end up at a beach house where Adolfo`s friends are. They are all staying in hammocks and tents...that are full. We spend the day in a pool with a broken filter (so it had pretty green and brown water), the beach (with waves that were the size of buildings), and went to another house party at night where we danced the night away. Jeff did some "robot" dancing and won the Salvadoran love. That night, we slept on the sand.

Day 8:
And, as did my mom and Norm on their visit, Jeff requested the Sheraton for the last night...and loved it. :)

Ok, that`s it for me at the moment. More to come...
M