Goodbye Newton delegation!

Friday, 2-25-11

The Newton delegation was leaving today around noon so we were able to spend the morning together. We enjoyed a breakfast of plantains, beans, eggs, and bread. Linda read from her book as part of our morning reading. After the reading Warren, Linda, Jenny, and I took off to walk the market and say hi to a few people. The first stop we made was to see a woman named Haydee who sells pupusas and hot chocolate and her daughter Mily. We saw them and Linda and Warren were able to get caught up. Haydee was holding her little granddaughter, Natalia, who was about 8 months old. She handed her to me so I could hold her. She is adorable with lots of dark hair! And as usual Haydee wouldn’t let us leave without giving us some of her hot chocolate mix. It is absolutely delicious and I savor every drink.

We said goodbye to them and moved on see more people. The next lady Warren wanted to talk to was in the “meat market” area. The meat market is looking a lot better than it did before the area was completely redone about a year ago. The walls have been repainted and the floor has been re-tiled. There aren’t as many flies buzzing around and the smell isn’t what it used to be. That all being said it still isn’t a place I ever visit. There are always stray dogs in there searching for scraps of meat on the ground. Looking around at all the pieces of meat hanging from rusty bars and sitting in metal pans makes me a little nauseous. Plus no one wears gloves and don’t count on people washing your food before they sell it to you. But that’s a part of life here. If you want meat that’s one of the places you’d go (although I have been told that the Pastoral Team does not buy their meat there).

While they went on to see another person I went back to have a look at some tank tops I’d seen near Haydee’s store. I was hoping to get a few more that were a little stretchy so they don’t stretch out too much when I wash them. Does that sentence make sense? The shirts that are more elastic retain their shape better than ones that aren’t elastic/stretchy. And since there are no dryers here to shrink them back to normal size I need ones that will stay the same size. That’s a pretty bad explanation but I’m not sure how to describe what I’m trying to say (Help me, Colleen!)

We made it back in time for a light lunch. We had fresh grapes, pineapple, apples, and watermelon for lunch. They ladies also made a Salvadoran version of grilled cheese sandwiches. I say Salvadoran version because the cheese is different. It’s labeled as “American cheese” and can only be bought in bigger cities, but I don’t really care for the taste. It tastes like an artificial yellow cheese and was a bit to soggy in the sandwiches for my liking so I only had half. I much prefer the Salvadoran styles of cheese they make. Now that is some delicious cheese.

Linda liked the sandwich and decided she’d have a little ketchup with it. Jenny found some on the table for her that was labeled Ketchup Picante (spicy ketchup). She shook it up for her mom to mix up the ingredients. When Linda went to open the ketchup we all heard a loud “pop” sound. We looked over and the ketchup had exploded all over Linda. We instantly started to laugh at the site of her. Linda was laughing hard as well. There was ketchup on her shirt, face, the food on her plate, and on the wall. By the time Jenny said, “We need a camera” I had already gone to my room to get one. I got a couple good pictures and Linda even posed with the ketchup bottle in one of them.

Holding little Natalia

(Haydee's granddaughter, Mily's niece)

She's pretty cute

If this doesn't make you a vegetarian

then nothing will

Warren and one of his friends

What happened, Linda?! You have ketchup all over!

Holding up the culprit

Ketchup with bread, pineapple, watermelon, & grapes.

Mmm Mmm good!

It got all over the wall as well!

Alfredo, the man who drives the microbus, showed up around 11:15am and soon it was time to say goodbye to another delegation. It’s sad to see people leave. I feel as if I had just started to get to know everyone. Time seems to move at a different pace down here. I’m especially going to miss Jenny since she and I are closer in age than most delegates. Actually, it’s been really hard to say goodbye to both the delegations. I had fun with the Trinity and Newton delegation. Everyone was wonderful and special in their own way. And together they made the trip a little more fun. I’m looking forward to the Heartland group’s arrival on Tuesday.

It’s been cool the whole day and it even started to rain a little when Idalia and Blanca took off at 4:30pm. I thought I heard thunder at one point. Well, I’m pretty sure it was thunder but I’m not 100% sure. I really don’t hear thunder that often here during the dry season. The electricity has gone off and on for a couple seconds several times today. Shortly after I heard the thunder it started to pour down rain which also seemed unusual. It’s rained probably 4 times since I’ve been here (about 3 weeks). Last year when I was here it rained maybe once in 6 weeks. But again, I don’t have a really good idea of what the weather is like here on a long term basis. Good thing I’m here for 10 months so I can figure out the weather.

It’s just Cecilia and I here tonight and Barbara the duck, of course. When delegations aren’t here Blanca and Idalia go home for the night. Cecilia is here almost every day of the week. She goes home to Alejandría on Saturday nights to spend time with her family. Tonight we had a simple dinner: a grilled tortilla with cheese inside. It was the good, Salvadoran style cheese. I spent time after dinner talking to my parents and Matt on Skype and then it was off to bed. I need to catch up on my sleep!