IST

Tuesday I headed out for IST (in-service-training) at six in the morning. I had to make it into San Salvador by the afternoon so that Peace Corps could shuttle all the rural health volunteers to Ataco in the West, all the way west, as far away from me as possible. Then again, I guess it's all relative, really not that far because we're such a small country, but the buses always provide interesting routes so you never know. Well, happy birthday to me. The gangs shut down the buses across the country, prohibiting bus drivesr to drive without facing "consequences," those consequences being death by gunshot in conjunction with bus burnings. So of course many of us were stranded. We were still encouraged to make our best efforts to get to the capital. A few volunteers made it out on the few morning buses, but most of us utilized some form of hitch-hiking, often said to be the better option in this country due to the gang problem. Anyway I made it in safetly; a group of us travel together meeting up with each other along the way. Anyway, the strike is still going on as of now. The gangs are demanding the the government lower bus fares (even though drivers have a pay the gangs weekly already), raise minimum wage, and provide jobs for gang members. The Salvadoran military is out in full force protecting the roads while the government continues to ignore the demands. We head back to the captial tomorrow morning where we'll find out if we can get back to site or if Peace Corps will be putting us up San Sal style. Wish me luck, although I wouldn't mind a few compted nights in the capital.

Anyway, my birthday ended up fun once we got to our location; we went into Ataco (our hotel is right outside of Ataco) for the last night of their festivals. The cobblestones streets were lined with colored laterns, music was playing, and there were tons of food vendors out. We found a bar and sat outside drinking beers. It was nice, especially since my beers were free.

The actual training has been helpful, getting to know a few NGOs and spending time hearing about projects some of the older volunteers are involved in. I'm not really sure what my next move is, but it's nice to see what potential projects I can do. Now I'm just ready to launch my new classes at the school which I made a schedule for on Monday. All and all training was a nice get away and it was a pretty nice set up too (free hotel, free food, hot-ish water, toilets, the opportunity to drink, etc).

Anyway, not a lot to report, but I thought I'd fill you in on the latest.