Still Going

New Blog. . .

I’m obviously struggling with this commitment. It’s hard sometimes, life just gets monotonous out here and I don’t really have a lot to write about. And frankly, lately, I’ve been in an uneventful rut. Luckily, on one of my never ending bus rides, yesterday,
I brainstormed a few anecdotes to share with the avid readers out there.

After a year and a half of a clean bill of health, the parasites finally got me. I’ll spare you all the details, but t wasn’t pretty.

P90X, the new workout regimen I’ve been doing the last few of months or so. So I finally decided to start exercising in Peace Corps. I mean, after sweating through the first year of my service, I figured why not whip my body into shape with some more sweating. It’s about an hour a day and it’s a pretty good workout. . . I mean the first few weeks I was a pathetic mess and felt like my body would never recover, but I’ve come around. The down side of it all, the lovely host Tony. I basically want to strangle him at every chance I get, with his stupid jokes and his cheese-ball humor. I mean, a little positivity here and there is fine, but his voice has become excruciatingly unbearable. I pretty much am forced to listen to his annoying stream of consciousness each day. Shut up, and let’s get on with it. Love, Kristina P.S. It’s a really good workout, but Tony thinks it’s the BEST workout EVER!!! Yay, for him. But you should try it.

Next, homophobia. It runs rampant in Latin America, as we all could have guessed. However, we have a high population of men, who dress as women, who have sex with men, who are completely accepted into society. And that’s great; at least this people are accepting of one typically discriminated upon population, but it confuses me, because men are called gay for the slightest hint at sort of feminine demeanor. I guess it’s gotta be all or nothing. . . it remains a question unanswered.

Okay, time for some real stuff.

I have new neighbors who have moved in with my existing neighbors. It’s a mother and her two children (the father is still living in their San Miguel house and working). They hail from San Miguel where they have two houses, but are currently all living in one room and sharing a latrine with my other neighbor, the kids’ grandmother, and I. So what happened? What always happens, MS18 . . . the gangs. They were being extorted and couldn’t pay up. After demanding thousands of dollars, the mareros (gang members) told them to pay or they would slaughter their children. So they came here.

It’s been a couple months now, I they’re a really nice family. I even had the opportunity to speak with the mother, Elsy, about the war. She told me that in the early eighties the guerillas invaded her home in San Miguel, staying there for an eleven-day battle, fighting from her living room. She said they slept under tables surrounded by furniture it hopes to protect themselves from some of the blows. An entire wall in her house was blown out by a bomb. She still says it was the most terrifying time in her life. I can’t even begin to imagine what it was like for her and her family.


Moving away from the heavy, stuff . . .

Work wise, I’m still teaching my classes and will be heading up to Perquín this weekend with one of my teachers to attend a workshop on recognizing emergencies (First Aid training) so that we can finally start our first aid youth group. Should be productive. At least the weather will be cooler up there.

Anyway, hope that gives you an idea of what’s happening here.

Kristina