37 days...

Coming Home
Hello again from El Salvador! My final day here is August 20th and it looks like I'll be flying out August 21st for Washington DC to hang out with some friends for a short time and then will head on back to Illinois. And lucky me, I'll be back just in time for my 10 year high school reunion (after attending 3 different high schools, I'm bound to be back in time for at least one of them) so I'll be able to update former classmates with what I recently wrote for another reunion (that I missed): "I'm not married. I don't have any kids. I don't have a job. I'm penniless. And I was excited that my last house had electricity AND water (at night)." That should garner some attention.



Project Status
The project is coming along nicely. Again, thank you to everyone that has donated! (And you still can donate here.) We have over $6,000 now and I've been working with the Ministry of Education here to get an additional donation of materials that would make up another $1,000 or so. Also, the school director told me he thinks he can round up some volunteers to help out with the work, cutting the labor costs, so I think we're actually pretty darn close to finishing the fundraising! FINALMENTE (feeeeeee-nuuuuuul-ment-ay) is all I have to say about that - I HATE asking people for money! The real fun is going to begin just as I leave, and the new volunteer that is living about 5 minutes away will probably get to enjoy it all and tell us all about it. :) At least I know my time here made a difference (thanks to your support)! Oh yeah, and the Lima News (Lima, OH) wrote up a nice article about our project down here! You can read it here.


Short Story
There is not a lot to write about this week since I've just been in cold air-conditioned doctors' offices in the capital the entire week getting everything checked out before I go home. So, in case you missed this short conversation I posted to my blog last week, here it is again:

What made me MELT last week:

I had just dropped off a Peace Corps trainee to spend a few nights with a family in a neighboring community (you all remember my immersion day experiences from training) and was walking back to my house. A little girl, probably about eight years old, yelled, "Buenas, señorita Michelle!" And I said, "Buenas!" And the following conversation ensued:

Little girl: "Are you coming to school tomorrow?"

Me: "I don't think I can tomorrow."

Little Girl: "But we want to have a party!"

Me: "And you can have a party if I go?"

Little Girl: "Yes!"

Me: "And why is that?"

Little Girl: "Because we're celebrating teacher day and we need to celebrate you!"

Me: "Ohhhh...that's so sweet!" (giving her a hug)

Little Girl: (with her face lighting up) "So you'll come?"

Me: "Oh...I want to...but I have a meeting in the capital with some people from the Ministry of Education really early in the morning! I'm sorry!"

Little Girl: (looking down and all sad) "Ok....I guess we'll just save your present until Monday."

Oh my goodness!!! SUPER SWEET! The only time I'm with the little kids is during their weekly computer classes this year. And she still wanted me to go! Seriously, I was ready to melt!



Just for Fun
Ok, and this part is just for fun. My group created a facebook account and the site is incredibly addictive. One of the things I recently found on it is a Personality DNA test (basically just a fun personality test). You can take it at www.PersonalDNA.com. My result? I am a "benevolent leader". Anyway, I normally don't include things like this in emails, but it's interesting and an example of what I've been doing this last week between medical appointments! :)

See ya soon! Really!