Not saying that you´re fea....

"I just need for you to be a little more pretty..." said Milena. "You have a iron for your hair, and lots of cute shoes... but you're always in flipflops and your hair is always pulled back"

This coming from a woman whose hair I haven`t seen down more than twice, who never wears makeup and who also only ever wears flipflops.

"I live in a humid, sweaty climate, with dirt or mud roads, and I bathe with a bowl. I don´t think I am game for traipsing around with my hair down in high heels," I told her. "Besides, who cares?"

Apparently, she sure does. I embrace my role as la gringa despeinada. Dirty feet, unpainted fingernails and all. Though, I do wish I could wear my hair down a little more often.

At least I have someone here telling me la verdad!

Thankfully I have had some minor victories to bouy my spirits against such blows.

My first women´s business group meeting had a fantastic turnout of 25 women. The second meeting had 20. We made our shampoo, and it is pretty decent. All the women are excited to make some minor changes, and then a little money.

With a little luck and a modest request, I was able to win a small grant to fund our training and a few batches of experimental soap and shampoo as well as some hardware. Thanks US embassy. Though it is only a little money, the women seem to encouraged by it, and it has definitely encouraged me, too.

The last few days of August will be as jam packed as the rest of this month has been, and September, so far, is looking pretty busy. Thank god.

I can´t believe August is almost over. How time flies in the developing world.

Other tidbits:

1. I am now accepting donations to add to my personal bank account. My Cause? Coming home at some point. My plan had been for Christmas and New Years, but things have been working against me. If you would like to make a donation, please let me know. haha.
2. After a very awkward conversation with the Birdman, my questions have been answered, and all is well in El Salvador. We will continue "caminando juntos" for the time being. I´m glad for it.
3. I learned a lot of good shit during a three day in-service training session in Ataco with all my favorite PCVs. It´s days like those I feel the full impact of my great luck in knowing such chivo people.
4. My veggie garden is coming in full force. I expanded my beds and will be moving around my tomato plants. I´m nerdily excited about it, and my neighbors are impressed that I know how to dig holes and plant seeds. Cultural bridges. White girls also get their hands dirty.
5. My nephew will be turning 7 on the Fifth day of September. He is really cool. Here´s a shoutout to my riot of a sobrino, Connor.

Future Butterfly, attached to my plastic chair

He waits

My Wall of Recuerdos. Thanks to Kelsey for amping

up my photo collection with a recent package.
My Salvi friends consider you a great photo artist.
As do I, of course.

Daily blossoms

Making Shampoo

Making Shampoo, still.

The day I stop being amazed by ants....

Ugh.

SUPER UGH

They eat mosquitos, so I´ve been told. I like them even more now.

Gotta get me a Buzz

The view across Lago Cojutepeque,
where I spent a great night kicking damn near full bottles of rum into
the great depths, making merry with The Hinkle duo and Alex,
and, less fortunately, contracting a horrendo enfermedad.

A Family of worms, eating the leaves off my jocote tree.

Lil´bichos out in front of Niña Carmen´s house at La Barra de Santiago

Look how cuuuteee, and smaller than the word picturesque....
Nothing like a little Jane Austen.

On Tuesday, I witnessed the fall of my best US import. My french press slipped from my soapy hands and landed on the rocks next to my pila. It was a rough moment. But I gathered up the peices, consoling myself with the fact that I still have my big coffee machine that I inherited from the previous PCV. Not all was lost.

At 5:30 a.m. Friday, as I stumbled out to my pila with chelitos in my eyes, I reached out, glass coffee pot in hand, and hit the corner of the cement lavadora just right with the edge of the carafe, and crack. Done for.

El Salvador is major coffee producing country, and you can get some gooooood java in this place, if you have the means to brew it yourself.

Despite the coffee production, no one here uses real coffee. All the best stuff is exported, the next best stuff is bought by those who can afford it, and the rest of the population use Cafe Listo.

To me, instant is not an option. I need that early morning hit that only 2-10 cups of real, black coffee can give. In fact, along with having electricity and not having dengue, the switch from crap coffee to real coffee was a huge factor in the move from my old house to my own house. So now I begin my seach for a new coffee pot.

Upcoming events: Tomorrow we're making shampoo! Really excited to see how it goes. Tomorrow morning I'll also be hosting the Bird for a cup of coffee, and hopefully get a few interesting responses to a few scandalous questions. Wednesday is the start of IST. Very excited to see all my fellow COED and Muni PCVs in the fresco clima of Ataco.

Bus Lag

Roller Coaster. Thats what I imagined during my 4 am trip this morning. The inevitable snoozing Salvadorans crammed into a microbus on a windy mountain hill. They´re dreaming of rollercoasters.

I had my own rollercoaster thoughts bouncing around in my brains. After spending a weekend traveling across the country (Perquin, Morazan with my Pato followed shortly by some time in Atiqizaya, Ahuachapan with the other feathered enigma) I felt like I had been going in ridiculous circles.

What the hell am I doing in El Salvador, anyway? Do I have my priorities in order? Shouldn´t I have been in my site all weekend, instead of crossing the country, dancing in the mountains and then going to a western pueblo, where I felt like I was running into big cultural and language barriers, over and over again. I don´t know.

Ok, so...

Here´s the thing about the bird.

Initially: Curious to see what this loon was all about, at least for the sake of knowing. Nothing to worry about.

A little later: Could be something to worry about. I´m going to throw out some cliche, but more or less accurate words to clear it up - kind, respectable, magnetic and hilarious.

Now... For this visit, all those nice adjectives were in full force for the duration of day one. BUT, Day two... well, I felt pretty lame. Like an idiot, like a pain, like I should have gone home much, much sooner.

So, if I had to guess what the next step would be, my guess will be a mutual fizzle, because I don´t like feeling like an idiot and he doesn´t seem to like listening to me speak so much. haha. Which is kind of a problem for both of us. Maybe it was just a blip, but either way, I´m not going to worry about it.

All I know is that I feel good back in my house, where the pan is integral and the coffee is black. I am super excited for a week full of useful work. A women´s business group, an ecocina demonstration, and an Asamblea General? BLAMMO!

Now I just have to write a damn grant... without my computer. Wish me luck

With love!
Jessica