From PCT to PCV in ten weeks

On Thursday I'll be officially sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Immediately after the swearing-in, I'll head to the eastern city of San Miguel along with the rest of my training group, where we'll spend the night and meet our new community guides in the morning for a half-day orientation. On Friday afternoon, I'll head for the first time to my community of Caserío Toreras with my community guides Carmen, the director of the school in my site, and Crisanto, the president of Toreras' ADESCO (in whose house I'll be living).

Wearing hats with my host siblings 

I'll miss my host family here in Nuevo Cuscatlán, but I'll be back at the end of November for two additional weeks of training, and I plan to come back a couple times after that to visit them. Fancying myself a pretty distant person, I didn't expect to develop any kind of emotional connection to a host family in just ten weeks, but they're such sweet people that it's definitely going to be hard to tell them goodbye on Thursday morning. Just this afternoon my host parents took me out thrift shopping in Santa Tecla to buy warm clothes (my site is way up in the mountains -- who knew I'd have to buy thermal long-sleeve tees in El Salvador?), and then my host mom taught me how to wash them (this of course elicited laughter all around, as men in El Salvador never wash clothes). Laundry without machines is as labor-intensive as you would expect.

Yesterday I experienced my first "Fiesta Rosa" (Quinciñera)

I don't know the exact nature of my internet situation in my site, but it'll likely be less ideal than here in my training community, where I've had internet access every day through a USB modem for only $15 a month. Peace Corps staff told me that there is an internet connection at Carmen's house, which is a 45-minute walk away from mine. Hopefully it's wifi, so I can connect my own devices to it, but I'm not getting my hopes up too high. In any event, I'm going to try to put up at least one blog post a week, and do my best to keep up with the news, which falls somewhere between food and shelter on my list of needs.

Speaking of which, for anyone getting bogged down by article after article about Congressional dysfunction, I invite you to read this Nicholas Kristof op-ed about some human achievements we can be proud of. Also on the topic of achievements, this week health care exchanges open throughout the U.S. to offer low-cost, often subsidized plans to Americans who lack coverage. Kudos to those who have worked so hard to pass, preserve, implement the Affordable Care Act.

In case you're wondering about Peace Corps and the potential government shutdown

According to Peace Corps' contingency plan, PCVs and PCTs will likely not be affected significantly in the event of a federal government shutdown. I confirmed this with my training coordinator, who told me that indeed our living stipends would continue to flow and in-country staff would continue to work during a funding haitus, as staff and stipends are considered essential for volunteer health and safety. A significant amount of headquarters staff would be furloughed during the hiatus, but this would not have a substantial effect on PCVs (assuming the shutdown is brief).

Hopefully Congress can get its act together and avoid inflicting undue damage on the U.S. economy, but if the shutdown does ensue, PCVs at the very least will retain access to the support they need to stay safe.

One week and two years to go...

Hi all –

Not too much new news to report. I have exactly one week until my swearing-in, immediately after which I'll head to the east of the country to begin my two years of service in Caserío Toreras. In training we're mostly wrapping up—turning in final essays, giving final presentations, and preparing ourselves for our first couple months in site, during which we'll be conducting community censuses and some other assessment activities, getting to know the people in our sites, and adjusting to our new environments.

For lack of anything of else interest to share, here are some pictures from the past few weeks:

My host brother about to march in the
Independence Day parade

The main square in Suchitoto, in Cuscatlan department. My
training group tagged along on an Embassy trip there.

Waterfall in Suchitoto

A lake in Suchitoto. El Salvador has huge tourism potential,
 but its security situation is holding back the industry.

A few days ago some of the trainees helped translate for
some chiropractor students from the Bay Area who came
to give free bone evaluations to Salvadorans through an
NGO called Spinal Missions.

My site assignment

My training group right after receiving our site
assignments. The map on the right is La Unión
department, and the lonely pink arrow on it
represents my site. (Photo credit: Catherine Lampi)

Yesterday was site assignment day, so now I know where I'll be dispatched for the next two years starting October 4. My community is Caserío Toreras, Cantón Lajitas, Municipalidad Polorós, which is located in northern La Unión department, just below the Honduran border. I'll be the only Peace Corps Volunteer in La Unión for six months, until the next batch of PCVs is sworn in. The other fourteen people in my training group are being sent to nearby Morazán department (9) and San Miguel department (5).

The tentative details I offered in my last post, before I knew the name and location of my site, still stand: it's isolated and mountainous; it has a population of about 230, with around 50 households; it has a school that goes up to sixth grade, a somewhat functional ADESCO, and has undertaken some projects recently with Engineers Without Borders. The community's economy is based mainly on subsistence agriculture and cattle raising, though the ADESCO recently funded the construction of three tilapia tanks, and the community is working to monetize this project. About 50% of the community lacks running water. The alcaldía (municipal government) of Polorós, to which the caserío of Toreras belongs, does not support Toreras due to some tension between the mayor and Toreras residents (I'm sure I'll mention this in future posts once I have gained a better understanding). Two Peace Corps volunteers have served in Toreras in recent years (one from 2008-2010 and the next from 2010-2012), and both have said the community is extremely safe.

I'll be living in the home of the ADESCO president and his wife, whose house is located in the middle of the community. I'll have my own room and access to running water and electricity. I should be able to access the internet at the home of the school director, who will be one of my Community Guides and someone I'll likely work closely with during my service. The nearest towns where I can buy groceries and access other basic services are Polorós and Nueva Esparta. To access these places I'll need to hike about forty minutes to the neighboring cantón, where the bus stop is located, then take the bus about forty-five minutes south.

Those are about all the details I have of my community at the moment. In about a month, once I've spent some time there, I'll be able to offer more than a superficial description. Feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions.