Wrapping things up...

I cannot BELIEVE we are leaving our communities in two days. Our host families are being weird about it, insisting that we have to visit them all the time and then yelling at us because they've decided that we're never going to.


I'm in town today for final interviews. The first one was just about how training went. As a weed-out interview, it was pretty halfhearted. They kept asking things like, "So what do you hate about El Salvador?" and "What would make you go home?" Um, full-scale war?


But since this is a blog about my Peace Corps service and that service starts Saturday, I'll revise my anxieties.

• The isolation. The nearest volunteer is a 45-minute bus ride away, which isn't too terrible, but I've never lived without seeing a ton of people every day and don't know how I'll handle it. Of course there will be Salvadorans in the community to make friends with, but that will take time.
• The work. I'll be teaching environmental ed in two schools, and although I have classroom experience, my enviro knowledge is very basic. The rest of my group is much better off than me -- they were all enviro majors, lived in eco-houses, worked for national parks, the works.
• The rural life. I'm a city girl and proud of it. I've been speaking campo (rural) Spanish and hating every minute of it because I want to speak city Spanish! I'm living in a village now and love it, but where I'm going is still more remote. Apparently I have to set up my own latrine once I get there (it will be a composting one, to show the community how to do it.) Plus villagers are more conservative than capitalinos.

But because there are two sides to every story, here are things I'm excited about:

• The site itself. Everyone keeps telling me it's beautiful and that the people are open and welcoming. And you can never have too many pineapples.
• More independence. I will finally be in control of my own schedule instead of being shuttled from boring class to meaningless workshop. I can improve my Spanish and do community work at my own (more efficient) pace.
• Doing actual work and feeling like I'm making a difference
• Having my own little place and cooking my own (much smaller portions of) food

Speaking of Spanish, my Spanish exit interview was also today and my level is apparently "advanced," finally. It's not yet fluent but I still have 2 more years to go!

Here is the picture of me and my host family that I am about to get framed and give as a gift:
And here by popular demand is Will, in my hammock, as always because his family doesn't have one. (Sad! Everyone has them here and I am certainly getting one if there isn't already one in my La Paz house.)

Fergie is on the radio here. It figures. Paz y amor.