San Francisco

The teachers of all my classes were at school today so all my classes were held. Yay! There were no problems and the kids all behaved themselves pretty well. The scheduled class times were off more than usual. By the end of the day I figured we were off by at least twenty minutes. While teaching my fourth period class I actually thought they’d forgot to ring the bell to signal the end of class. But sure enough it went off at 11:25 (class usually ends at 11:05). But this is El Salvador, and things move at a different pace here.

During my third period class someone came in to tell us that it was time for food. I guess this mid-morning snack is a daily happening. The sixth grade teacher, Carmenita, whose class I was in invited me to eat with her and the kids today. We walked behind the main building of the school to the “kitchen” area. There were 5 women making pupusas and serving up juice. I was given two pupusas and some juice in a bag. The pupusas were tasty but different than I’d had before. Carmenita explained that they had rice in them, which I later realized meant the dough was made from rice flour. I wasn’t for sure if the juice was made from pure water so I took it home to ask the ladies at the house if it was safe to drink.

Around 1:40pm today Kathy, Miguel, and I left the house to walk to Westminster’s sister community of San Francisco. I’ve been to San Francisco several times before but had never walked. When Kathy suggested yesterday that we walk to San Francisco I leapt at the opportunity. I love walking around the community and understanding what it feels like to walk to a canton. This walk was especially important to me because of San Francisco’s relationship with Westminster. I wanted to know what the walk was like when people came to Berlín from San Francisco.

The walk was 2 miles and took us about 40 minutes. We went at a pretty leisurely pace and although the terrain was rugged at some points it wasn’t too steep. From one point on our walk we could see Berlín in the distance. Miguel also pointed out a road below us leading to Alejandría, where several members of the team live. Since it is the dry season everything is covered in a thick layer of dust. From far away everything looks lush and green, but from up close things look brown.

I recognized the cross by the side of the road the second we got to San Francisco. Up the hill a short ways was the church. And as luck would have it, my friend, Maria, had just begun to make her way back home from getting water. I immediately ran to her and gave her a big hug. It was great to see her again!! We were able to catch up a bit before my meeting in the church. She is a wonderful and beautiful person. Seeing her is always a highlight of my trip to El Salvador.

Maria and I are close to the same age; she recently turned twenty-six. She has two boys, Noah, who is 6, and Christian, who is 4. Upon seeing her I noticed right away that she was pregnant. She told me she was due later this month. Imagine that: 8 months pregnant and she had walked over two miles to get water from a “river” to take back home. This is the water she and her family will use for cooking, cleaning, bathing, and drinking. She will carry the water in a cántaro on her head the whole way home. Remember, the cántaro is the large jug that I attempted to hold on my head in Alejandría (see my Alejandría blog for a description of my complete failure to move once I had the cántaro on my head).

We talked a little longer and then I had to leave to meet with a youth group. I thanked God for the timing of our arrival. A few minutes later and we would have missed her completely. I am excited to see her again when I return to San Francisco with Westminster. It will be good to spend more time with her, and hopefully I can visit her house on my next trip.

Kathy, Miguel, and I then went into the church to meet with the church youth group. The leader of the group, Niwman Oswaldo Cruz Hernandez, created the group a year and a half ago. It started out small, with 11 members, and has grown to 30 adolescents and young adults. 21 members of the youth group were present today. Niwman had each member introduce themselves and tell us how long they’d been with the group. The group members range from 10-29 years old, though most of them were teenagers. Some of the youth had been members from the time the group was formed and it was the first time for one boy.

As I watched Niwman interact with his peers I could tell he was a natural born leader. He saw a need in his community and designed a group that would help fulfill the need. The church youth group has study sessions, holds discussions of certain issues, and has themed get-togethers. The underlying purpose of the group is to be a support system for one another. It is a place where they can turn during struggles and joys in their lives. What is even more amazing is that it is a Christian youth group. It is wonderful to see these young people brought together through their love of God and their community.

The group recently held an event in San Francisco and invited kids from the 16 other cantons in the Berlín municipality to join them. 175 youth showed up for the event. These kinds of gatherings are held so the youth of different cantons can get to know each other and form connections. The youth group was extremely grateful to the Westminster senior high kids who donated $350 from their Christmas wreath sales so they could hold their get-together. The contact with this group was originally made in September of 2009 by Michael Sinklier during Westminster’s yearly visit to El Salvador. Lacking funds to hold an event in San Francisco, Niwman made the initial request for money on behalf of his group, and within a few months the money was wired to El Salvador. A photograph of the senior highs at Westminster is hanging in the church in San Francisco.

Some of the kids from the youth group have generously offered to walk with me to the cross in Berlín on Saturday. I am told it is a very strenuous, hour-long walk up the mountain, but the view is supposed to be spectacular. Only a few of the kids have been to the cross before. It will be a new experience for most of us. Hopefully those of us who haven’t gone won’t struggle too much on the way up. We’ll be meeting here at the house around 9am on Saturday.

After about an hour of talking and taking pictures, it was time to return to Berlín. Kathy, Miguel, Wiliam (a member of the youth group), and I began the walk to the house. It was a pleasant walk back with not too much sun. I saw a couple of piggy friends along the way and we were also able to go past the cemetery in Berlín. It is beautifully decorated and filled with colors; very different than most US cemeteries.

Upon returning home we all sat around the table and talked. There is rarely a lack of topics for conversation in this house. After a while everyone busied themselves with other things. While Miguel was watching a Spanish soap opera with the ladies I stayed at the table and talked to Wiliam. It was nice to get to know a member of the youth group, and, as always, a good opportunity for me to practice my Spanish. Eventually Miguel came back in the room and the three of us sat around chatting for forty five minutes. We talked about San Francisco, the church, the youth group, traveling, family, and a few other things. It was fun to have bonding time with some people from San Francisco.


“Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some people move our souls to dance. They awaken us to the new understanding with the passing whisper of their wisdom. Some people make the sky more beautiful to gaze upon. They stay in our lives for a while, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never ever the same" ~Flavia Weedn




Kathy and Miguel on the trail to San Francisco


Walking on the road for a while


Dust covers everything here


This is actually a green plant


We're getting closer


There's Berlín


The valley below


The road to Alejandría is down there


Miguel!


On horseback with water


The cross at San Francisco


Hugging Maria


Catching up


Hola Lynn!!


Friendship across the miles


Picture of the Westminster senior high kids hanging in the church


Miguel, Reina, and Daniel


Members of the youth group present at today's meeting


Niwman talking to the group


A great group of kids


The front of the church


Outside of the church


Where the retaining wall will go


Heading back to Berlín


A pretty nice walk


There I go


Ankle deep in dust


The road home


The cemetery in Berlín


So many colors and flowers


There is much love here


Mmmm, tasty


Almost there...



Check out Kathy’s blog for a great description of today’s events!!
http://www.oursisterparish.org/blog/

Ups and Downs

There are a lot of ups and down at school with some days better than others. I sometimes have a hard time with one of my sixth grade classes. They seem to have a very short attention span and like to talk during class. I have developed new tactics to get them to pay more attention. I spend more time quizzing them on what they’re learning than the other classes and often go individually to kids who don’t seem to be paying attention to quiz them. I try to make the pace of the class is a little faster but I do a lot of reviewing what we’ve learned. If I think they’re really getting wild I’ll speak to them only in English. They stare at my with this blank expression and then it quiets down pretty quickly.

Now, I know there are immersion classes in the states to get kids to learn Spanish and in many other countries English classes are taught mostly in English. My sister is in Japan right now teaching English and most of her teaching is in English. I would someday love to have my (future) children enrolled in a Spanish immersion class. I think it would be successful and they would learn a ton. But for some reason, I don’t see an English immersion class working very well here. The rhythm and learning style of school is so different than in the US. I could be wrong, but it’s something I’d want to research before attempting to implement it.

My third grade class definitely needs more one-on-one attention than my other classes mainly because they’re younger and some of them write much slower than the others. I don’t want to go too fast for the kids who take more time to write things, but I also don’t want a majority of other kids waiting around for the next topic. This is something that’s a struggle in all my classes. Like everything else in life there are inevitably one or two people that catch on quicker than the others. I do my best to go at a pace that works for the entire class. I walk around to personally help the kids who are struggling and create little challenges for those who work faster. This isn’t always easy to do because most of my classes have 35 or 40 kids, but I like to try.

I love all the kids regardless of where they are in their learning process. Growing up I was never the “smart kid” or “teacher’s pet” so I work hard to pay attention to every child: the class clown, the quiet kid sitting at the back of the room, the smart kid, the bully, the kid who walks in late, everyone. Positive reinforcement is very successful when it is used. I like to be sure I tell them all what a good job they are doing and smile at each child at least once during the class. To me, all children are gifted and talented.

I never know what to expect when I walk into the school. Each day is a new and different adventure. The fourth grade teach wasn’t there today so I left after my fourth period class. However, the seventh grade teacher was there in the afternoon today. I have to admit that I wasn’t thrilled about working with the older kids at first. I’ve never been particularly fond of middle school kids even when I was that age. They often seem to have an attitude problem so I was hesitant to work with them here. But it’s worked out better than I could have hoped. They are quiet, listen well, show respect, and are a pretty fun class. For that I am very grateful.

I had an out of the ordinary and somewhat disturbing experience during my other sixth grade class. Before the bell rang the teacher walked into the classroom and went over to some kid’s desks. She had them open their notebooks and look inside them. I saw some kind of drawing and writing in them. At first I thought it was something the kids had drawn for her or me because she was looking at me and tore the pages out of the notebooks. Then she looked in some more kid’s notebooks. She finally came over to me and showed me the four pages she’d torn out. It was an oración (prayer) that was very dark. From what I could understand it talked about harming themselves and committing suicide. As soon as I read it I thought about a girl here in town who committed suicide a week ago.

The teacher, Maria, was understandably upset. I don’t know if the kids wrote this seriously or if it was something they wrote just for the heck of it. Either way, it was scary. After class Maria reiterated to me that what they were doing was very bad and she would be talking to their parents. I think this is demonstrates that kids of the ages all over the world struggle with problems. The same situation could have and has happened in the US. I pray they did not mean what they wrote and that nothing bad will happen to them.

After school was out I walked around the market a little. I like being out in the town and walking helps to clear my head. On one street there were several additional vendors set up selling fruit and vegetables which was unusual because it was not a big market day today. I saw a kind of mango that I’d never had before so I bought it. I looked through some things thinking about what I might like to get my students before I leave as a little treat.

I walked by one little girl who couldn’t have been more than a two years old. She was dirty and barefoot and looked up at me when I walked by. She said “ratón” to me and pointed down beside her. There was a little dead mouse in a box next to her. At the moment everything stopped and it seemed like the whole world was sad. It has been a hard day.

I found this prayer for children and thought I’d share it here:

We pray for the children
who sneak popsicles before supper,
who erase holes in math workbooks,
who can never find their shoes.

And we pray for those
who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire,
who can't bound down the street in a new pair of sneakers,
who never "counted potatoes,"
who are born in places where we wouldn't be caught dead,
who never go to the circus,
who live in an X-rated world.

We pray for the children
who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions,
who hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money.

And we pray for those
who never get dessert,
who have no safe blanket to drag behind them,
who watch their parents watch them die,
who can't find bread to steal,
who don't have rooms to clean up,
whose pictures aren't on anybody's dresser,
whose monsters are real.

We Pray for the Children
who spend their allowance before Tuesday,
who throw tantrums in the grocery store and pick at their food,
who like ghost stories,
who shove dirty clothes under the bed,
who never rinse out the tub,
who get visits from the tooth fairy,
who don't like to be kissed in front of the carpool,
who squirm in church and scream in the phone,
whose tears we sometimes laugh at and
whose smiles can make us cry.

And we pray for those
Whose nightmares come in the daytime,
Who will eat anything,
Who have never seen dentist,
Who aren't spoiled by anybody,
Who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep,
Who live and move, but have no being

We pray for the children
Who want to be carried and for those who must,
Who we never give up on and for those who don't get a second chance.

We pray for those we smother and for those who will grab the hand of
anybody kind enough to offer it.

Picture day

Another full day of classes today. As I walked to my first class I noticed the door was opened but the teacher wasn’t there yet. The bell rang and she hadn’t shown up yet. By now that doesn’t concern or surprise me. I got my things ready to begin teaching and she came in a few minutes later. As with my classes yesterday, I gave my sixth grade classes today a little piece of paper. On it I had them write any word in Spanish that they wanted to know in English. I had a hard time reading some and had to ask Alejandro, Cecilia's brother, for help.

Some of the words I got today from my sixth grade classes were “ardilla” (squirrel), “ciego” (blind), “cadena” (chain), and “ballena” (whale). Two kids in the same class wrote “zancudo” and “mosquito”, which both mean mosquito in English. One piece of paper read “mi cariño, mi tesoro, Sandra” (my darling, my treasure, Sandra). I will probably teach them how to say treasure but not darling. Another paper read “dame un beso en la boca mi amor” (Give me a kiss on the mouth my love). Needless to say, I will not be translating that one for the class. It’s not what I’d consider school appropriate.

In the afternoon when I went to teach my seventh grade class the teacher was not there early like she usually is. The bell rang and the kids filed into the classroom. I began my lesson thinking she’d show up shortly. But she never did show up. Not sure where she was or when she’ll be back. I just taught class as usual and when I left all the other kids did too; there’s no teacher so there is no point in staying. Again, this doesn’t concern or surprise me anymore. If she isn’t there tomorrow I’ll just teach and then kids can go home early again.

I also gave my seventh graders pieces of paper on which to write a word in Spanish that they wanted to know in English. Some of the words I got from them were “valiente” (courageous), “paisaje” (landscape), “aviadoro” (pilot), and “compromiso” (commitment). Surprisingly, this class didn’t write down any names or words about love. I was pretty impressed. I was expecting the seventh graders more so than the younger kids to ask me inappropriate words. Though one of the kids did ask to see my sunglasses when class was over, and after putting them on asked me “guapo, no?” (handsome, no?). I just gave him the look.

I figured out how many kids were in my two sixth grade and seventh grade classes today. There are 34 kids in my sixth grade class A between the ages of 11 and 16. My sixth grade class B has 40 kids between the ages of 11 to 16. My seventh grade class has 33 kids between the ages of 12 to 17. I added up the kids in each of my classes (3A, 4A, 5A, 5B, 6A, 6B, 7C) and realized that I was teaching 250 kids. Wow! That was more than I realized. Amazingly, I do recognize a lot of their faces when I see them in town or at church. I always try to say something in English to them. Just because you’re not in school doesn’t mean you stop practicing!

I brought my camera to school today to take some more pictures. I will not be doing this every day because I don’t want to distract them too much. But I had fun taking pictures of the kids. And the kids had a great time posing for them. It only takes a couple minutes of having my camera out before they all want their picture taken. Afterwards I show them the picture I took. Then they all laugh and prepare for another pose.




The play area next to the younger kid's classrooms


One of my third grade students


There's one of the classrooms where I teach


Running around in between classes


Goofing off


Physical play is very common


They've seen the camera and are prepared to pose


My third grade "escorts" to my next class. They are so helpful!


Bunny ears!


Now more kids have joined in


This kind of roughhousing is acceptable at school


The kids asked me to take a picture of the plants


I often see kids sprawled on the ground


Wonderful shot!


Older boys trying to work up the nerve to have their picture taken


The teacher in my fourth grade class, Milagro


The snack stand inside the school that is always open for the kids to buy food


Inside one of the classrooms


Some of my fourth graders


Map of the world painted on the wall


The center "atrium" area inside the school


Between class snacks


Big smiles!


The "stage" in the atrium area


Playing like this isn't malicious, it's the way kids have fun


A pickup game of fútbol with a plastic bottle


So many sweet faces


I had to include this pic for the crazy poses


Picture on the stage



After lunch I did some lesson planning for my classes tomorrow and then read for a while. I’m currently reading “The Massacre at El Mozote” by Mark Danner. It tells the story of the massacre that occurred in El Mozote in 1981 during the civil war in El Salvador. Included in the book is historical information about the civil war, events leading up to the massacre, the mentality and plans of the government soldiers, the day of the massacre, reports from El Salvador about the massacre, US involvement in the war, and unearthing the truth about what happened there.

It is not a long book or academically difficult to read, but it takes an emotional toll. Reading witness accounts, testimonies from former Salvadoran army officers, and stories of guerillas about people being tortured and slaughtered is not something I can handle in large doses.

Testimony from a “guide” of the Salvadoran army:
“It was so terrible that we had to jump over the dead so as not to step on them. There were dogs and cows and other animals, and people of all ages, from newborn to very old. I saw them shoot an old woman, and they had to hold her up to shot her. I was filled with pity. I wished we had gone out and fought guerillas, because to see all those dead children filled me with sadness.” (Danner, 1993, pg. 81).

That may seem extreme to include in a blog, but that is the cold, harsh reality of what was happening here less than 10 years ago (the Peace Accords were signed in 1992). There are other parts of the book that are much more graphic that I decided not to include here because it makes me feel physically sick and for some reason, it wouldn’t feel right sharing those stories here.

Reading this book reminds me of a psychology class I took as an undergrad called “Ethnopolitical Conflict and Peace”. We spent the entire semester discussing the intimate details of genocide, the psychosocial mentality behind that kind of terrorism, and read about eight books relating to the topic. By the end of the semester I was worn out. Reading about the atrocities is bad enough. I cannot imagine what it must be like to live one of those books.

When reading about the United States involvement in the war and how they basically funded what I consider terrorism I kept wanting to smack myself in the head with the book. As if somehow this would explain WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE!!! Even though I’ve heard much of the information before it still aggravates me every time I hear it. I feel great shame that my country would continue pouring money into a war and training soldiers even though they knew about the human rights violations by the Salvadoran government.

In reference to death squads and US knowledge:
“Some civilians were certainly involved, particularly on the funding end, but there can be no doubt that the ‘dirty war’ was basically organized and directed by Salvadoran Army officers—and no doubt, either, that the American Embassy was well aware of it. ‘There was no secret about who was doing the killing,’ Howard Lane, the public affairs officer in the Embassy from 1980 to 1982 told me in an interview. ‘I mean, you formed that view within forty-eight hours after arriving in the country and there was no secret at all about it—except maybe, in the White House.’ (Danner, 1993, pg. 27).

If you don’t believe this or think that the US couldn’t possibly have funded a war knowing that people were being tortured and killed, I will gladly point you in the direction of numerous documents supporting this truth.

This book is a must read for anyone interested in El Salvador. It provides great insight about the war and the current state of the country. To read about the El Mozote massacre that occurred in 1981 and my experiences visiting the site go to my blog from 2-15-10 entitled El Mozote & Perquin. It is a powerful story.

"Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal" ~Martin Luther King

The excitement of school

I did not read my book before bed last night. I wisely decided that I needed to get to sleep. When I woke up this morning I heard Cecilia’s sons out in the dining room area. I thought about how they’d already walked 2 miles uphill this morning to get here and would be on their way to school around 7am. It was a humbling reminder of how fortunate I am. I remembered how I struggled to get up the hill, and after making it to the top I was covered in sweat. It was definitely an experience to remember.

Since today Monday and I didn’t have class till 8:25 I got a warm breakfast: beans, eggs, and bread. I’m not tired of the food yet. I love beans as much as the day I got here. And I think they love me too. As I was walking to school I saw the same little girl I’d seen last Friday. I recognized her right away and gave her a big hug. It was a great start to the morning.

At the beginning of all of my classes today I gave each of the kids a little piece of paper. On it I had them write any word in Spanish that they wanted to know in English. I told them every day I would translate one word for them. They were all pretty excited about picking whatever word they wanted. I looked at the pieces of paper when I got back to the house.

It was hard to decipher a few of the words and phrases they used. They weren’t always spelled correctly or were grammatically correct. But hey, I know some of the Spanish (and English) I use isn’t grammatically correct, so I’m definitely not judging them. Confusing the letters “B” and “V” in their words like in the word “bicicleta” (bicycle) is common because the letters sound pretty similar in Spanish. Also, leaving out an “H”, such as in the word “horno” (oven) is common because the h is silent.

A couple phrases I received were “Te regalo mi corazón” (I give you my heart) written by a third grader, and “Regaleme un beso” (Give me a kiss) written by a fifth grader. The boy who wrote the latter had originally written “Te amo mucho” (I love you a lot), but had crossed it out. I definitely got a kick reading those phrases.

Some of the more interesting requests for words in English I received were esqueleto (skeleton), payaso (clown), corazón (heart), aplauso (applause), and cartel (poster). The words televisor (television), árbol (tree), amigo (friend), and flor (flower) were often written down. One boy put a sticker on his piece of paper next to his word and another drew a little heart. One kid wrote a word in caliche (Salvadoran slang) that I just happened to know because I’ve been studying words in caliche from a list I compiled. The word was “cuche”, which means pig.

I got a more accurate count of how many students are in each of my classes. In my third grade class there are 37 kids ranging from 8-10 years old. In my fourth grade class there are 36 kids ranging from 9-11 years old. In my fifth grade class A there are 38 kids from 10-15 years old. In my fifth grade class B there are 32 kids from 10-15 years old. I’m going to do a count tomorrow in my two sixth grade classes and my seventh grade class.

During my second class today I realized that there were some people who’d set up a table in the middle of the school. Then a lady came around and said it was my class’s turn for food. I wasn’t exactly for sure what was going on, but I figured it was a mid-morning snack of some sort. Several of the boys had brought bowls or cups with them. They left the room and returned with atole, which is a think, masa-based food/drink. It can be made several different ways with different ingredients. The kind they had was atol de elote, which is made from corn, water, sugar, and a little salt. It kind of reminded me of watery gruel or porridge.

The people who were helping to hand out food were the reason I had a harder time concentrating today during two of my classes. Class 4A and 5A face toward the middle of the school (the atrium part) which included the table with food. The people who were handing out the food were older teenage boys. Need I say more?! During most of my fourth grade class they were whistling and hooting at me, and saying things like “I love you” and “gringa”. None of it was done to be mean, just to get my attention. Basically cat calls. The calls and whistles are not threatening to me, just annoying. When people do things like that to me on the street here I typically ignore them. Even though I’ve often thought of smart alec or sarcastic responses, I don’t dignify their behavior with acknowledgement. That would not be a good idea.

*Note: Remember that not all kids here start school at the same age. Kids in high school may range from 15-20 years old. At 25, I’m not a whole lot older.

During my first fifth grade class several of the guys sat on the steps and watched as I taught. They weren’t making too many noises this time, just blatantly staring at me. I did my best to avoid eye contact. I think of it as a similar situation to walking by perfume counters in the mall: you don’t make eye contact with those people because then they’ll try to spray you with perfume.

Toward the end of my last fifth grade class a few high school boys in uniforms approached the classroom. Thinking they were going to come in to say something to the class (very common) I motioned for them to come in. Their eyes kind of went wide and they shook their heads no. I must have caught them off guard. I guess they were just there to stare at the gringa.

My last class today absolutely cracked me up. We were talking about money and they kept asking for examples. Ejemplo! Ejemplo! I used some real money as examples about what I was teaching. After each example I gave they applauded me. A few times after they applauded I did a bow or a curtsy which made them laugh hysterically. Then toward the end of the class the teacher tried to get them to sing the ABC song but it didn’t work out too well. So instead they all sang a song about mi corazón (my heart). It was a great way to end the school day.

Something I have noticed is that during class I’ll occasionally say or write something in Spanish that I meant to say or write in English. It’s like my brain is starting to think more in Spanish. I’ve had to stop and think about how to spell a few words in English after writing them numerous times in Spanish. “Pronunciation” was one of those words. I write and say “pronunciación” so often during class that went I go to write it in English in my notes or lesson plan that I temporarily can’t remember how it’s spelled. I had the same problem today with education (en español: educación). One of the kids wrote the word “educación” on their paper I’d given them to write any word they wanted to know in English. I went to write the word in English in my notes and wrote couldn’t remember if it was spelled –tion or –cion. I’ve also found myself saying certain words in English using Spanish pronunciation. It’s certainly been interesting.

On the subject of school, my mom asked me a question last night about the cost of going to school here. I was pretty sure school was free but wanted to double check with Kathy and get information from her. There is tuition for Catholic school here because is private. Other than that, school itself is free. Now, that isn’t saying much considering the cost of uniforms, shoes, books, notebooks, calculators, pens, and pencils. Fabric for the uniforms is about $15 and the shirt to go along with it is $8. Shoes are around $20 and socks $2. Five notebooks are around $5 with pencils and pen adding a couple more dollars. Also something to take into consideration is how quickly you have to replace school materials. Shoes will need to be replaced about every 6 months and notebooks around every 3 months.

It may not seem like a lot of money, but when you’re making $150 a month (if you’re lucky) it can really add up. Example: A person working here in Berlín as a waiter may make $140 a month. A person in Berlín selling candy on the street makes around $60 a month. Farmers in the cantons may only make $25-125 a year (see Kathy’s blog about farming: http://www.oursisterparish.org/blog/). The answer to the question about how much people here make on average is complicated. Factors such as whether people live in the city or canton, their profession, what food they have to buy, and what they grow themselves can make a big difference.

High school students have to wear uniforms while Kindergarten through 9th grade does not require uniforms. New this year throughout the country was the promise of uniforms, one pair of shoes, notebooks, and a few other supplies for grades K-9 from the government. After making the promise of these school materials many more kids enrolled in school (the ones who couldn’t afford it before). However, the government didn’t anticipate the influx of students and many schools have yet to receive uniforms and shoes. Some kids hadn’t received their other school supplies when classes started so the parents had to front the cost themselves.

In the late afternoon I started feeling a little weird. I felt like my vision was off. Kind of like I was slightly intoxicated which of course I wasn’t. I was pretty hungry too so I thought maybe I just needed some food. Sometimes my body does weird things when I’m hungry, including feeling a little light headed. To remedy this I went for ice cream. After returning to the house I still felt like my vision was hazy. As I was checking my email I realized why. It was the malaria medication I was taking. To double check I got the information sheet given to me by the pharmacist and sure enough the most common side effect was blurry vision.

I didn’t think about the medication right away because this is the sixth time I’d taken it and never had problems before. You take it every week beginning two weeks before your trip, during your trip, and 4 weeks afterward. I admit that I got the medication more out of curiosity than fear of malaria (an odd reason, I know). Not sure if I’ll be taking it on the next trip. I’m more worried about dengue than malaria (see Kathy’s blog for a good explanation).

Around 5:30pm I made my way up to my niche to do some reading. As dusk was approaching I saw some bats flying around the house. One swooped pretty close which was exciting for me. I love bats. It was relaxing to sit up high watching the sun go down. Kind of like watching a free movie, only more exciting.

"Only as high as I reach can I grow, only as far as I seek can I go, only as deep as I look can I see, only as much as I dream can I be" ~Karen Ravn