Love, Hate, & Chambre

26.04.10

The thunder is beginning to roll in, bringing with it a rare refreshing breeze and the feeling of settling in. When I return to my town, I almost feel like I am coming home. I am coming home to chickens and ducks in my kitchen, a dirty 6-year-old brother, and heat that doesn't quit, but it is home none the less. 

Things I love

Tortillas, Red Beans

The view of my lake from my bedroom window 

The way the older women in my town sing when they talk

My ridiculous 40min hike to the pueblo

The three young adults in my town who are attending the university (Technological Institute)

Meeting up with friends in San Sal 

Things I can live with

Guajada (A type of cheese my host mom makes every day)

Chickens (In my room, in the kitchen, in the bathroom, in the pila)

Dirty feet and constant sweat 

Constantly buying Saldo (Minutes for my Cell Phone)

Bucket Baths

Things I hate

Congas (Horrible green flies that bite really hard followed by bites that itch for two weeks)

Aceite (Vegetable Oil), Manteca (Lard), & Salt

Instant Coffee

Poor evangelicals who aren't allowed to use birth control (God doesn't want you to starve your children)

When women only eat dry cheese, chocolate, and tortillas after giving birth. (All of those things are delicious, but are contributing to the high infant mortality rate and poor maternal health.

Being so far away from my best friends, boyfriend, and family

The new chambre (gossip) in the pueblo is that the gringa (me) uses counterfeit money. Apparently I gave a women a false $10 bill on friday. The tienda lady then used that bill to pay the Tigo vender. Two hours later the Tigo vender returned from Chalatenango and told the lady that the bill was false. When I returned from San Salvador on Sunday my host mom was very concerned when she told me that the money I gave the tienda lady was fake. (Which by the way means that the whole pueblo probably knows that I carry counterfeit money...I really hope the other tiendas don't hold that against me). So while I may be out $10 dollars at the end of this, the security office assured me that I am not going to jail. (The origin of the bill is still unknown, as far as I know I pulled that $10 out of the CitiBank ATM)

Love Chels