Mi Casa

yo yo yo, i just finished pooing into a cup in San Vicente. I have had mad doo doo for the last 4 days but I wont let that keep me down. I got picked up last night to get checked out at the hospital, and trying to explain what is wrong with you to a doctor in spanish is really hard. I think i managed it pretty well, and the Peace Corps responded swiftly.  It was really comforting knowing the peace corps will have my back through thick and thin. anyways enough with the gross stuff.  im sitting in the office waiting for my poo results to come back, so i swooped a computer and decided to upload some pics and vids. if there is anything you guys want to know about my experience that im failing to write about please leave comments with questions. it is hard to cram all the stuff into a blog post.

an hour later...

we got evacuated from the building because someone on the block got dengue fever and they had to fumigate the building.  within that time i got my results back from the lab and i have a bacterial infection in my stomach. i already picked up my antibiotics from the farmacia and am on my way to recovery.

everything has been going great in San Esteban, the people are jsut soo nice and i have been more and more guys that speak a little english.  I am beginning to really mesh with my host mom and it makes the host family experience so much more enjoyable.  i try to keep occupied so my mind doesnt wander back to the states and get lonely. i play guitar for Yolanda, i read, watch her cook, sketch, play in the park, hike, all good stuff. We are starting to get into the normal schedule of training with Mon, Wed, Fri in our community with our spanish teacher doing 8 hours of spenish lessons and Tues Thurs are in the training center in San Vicente listening to charlas and more enomicas (ice breaking games that are good for youth groups). 
I sat down the other night with Yolanda and went through my photo album i brought. she said my family is beautiful and my friends are guapos.  She enjoyed seeing pics of me with long hair. We came across a picture of my dad in the shower with long hair and a beard and she almost fell out of her chair because she thought it was Jesuchristo.  I didnt deny it.  anyways thats pretty much it.

view from the cerro (big hill) in San Esteban...

 streets of San Esteban

 studying...

again, please leave me questions if you have any burning questions or jsut want to know some more details about specific things.

adios,

Jesus

Cory is a girls name

hello everyone in los estados unidos. i finally got a chance to get on the internet in my community at a ciber cafe.  I am in a small cantone (smaller than a pueblo) called San Esteban, about 30 minute ride in the bed of a truck with 15 other people smashed together like sardines. We got dropped off with our spanish teachers and 2 other volunteers and walked the cantone to each house we are staying in. The town is very seguro and everyone is very friendly and outgoing. especially the ninos. It was a humbling experience getting dropped off in my host family{s house. i live with a mother and her daughter, on the weekends her brothers stay in the house because during the week they work in san salvador. san esteban is very tranquilo. i am able to understand more and more each day and my spanish is coming along poco a poco. Before being dropped in the community we stayed in a hotel in San vicente where we had running water and meals cooked for us. The training was all day err day about medical and security issues as well as survival spanish and homestay etiquitte. The first weekend is a peace corps initiation, today we walked the town with a couple kids and drew a mapa of all the tiendas and important spots. after the kids took us on a hike up the cerro (large hill) it overlooked other cantones and then we watched a local futbol match.  My host mom Yolanda is soo nice and cooks me the best meals, avocado, carne, arroz, frijoles, juevos, jugo, coca cola, tortillas and fruit on the side. im so fat.  the house im staying in is soo nice and my room is double the size of my room in carlsbad or any room in davis.  it is seperate from the house and the communal bathroom has a shower and flushing toilet, estoy suerte. Before coming to the community i was pulled aside by one of the youth development leaders and he told me that i have a girls name and should think about changing it to avoid any unwanted attention and being the joke of the cantone.  so after much consideration i decided to be JESUS. pero, im thinking i want to have a nickname along the lines of Chuy because Jesus is too formal and its a lot to live up to.  Tomorrow is a free day where i can work on mi tarea and study some spanish or possibly hang in the parque and meet some ninos. I am going to ask Yolanda to teach me how to handwash my clothes and see if there are other chores i can do besides play my guitar.  Monday i am suppposed to follow a family member around for the whole day so i am going to be shadowing Yolanda todo el dia. There are no men of the house during the week so Yolanda and i are going to become best amigos.  There is are so many projects to be done during training and it is kind of discouraging with all the language i need to pick up but i am going to take it day by day and gain the confianza of my community.  Tuesday begins our normal schedule and i will be having spanish lessons with the other volunteers at my house every monday, wednesday friday and tues and thursday will be spent in San vicente at the training center doing other cosas.  I have lots of pictures and videos that hopefully i will be able to upload sometime next week.  besides that i am just trying to stay cool and keep a  good attitude.  the rain hits soo hard around 5 every day and is sooo intense. also people drive around in their trucks every night yelling stuff. hopefully ill understand it soon.  anyways, until next time PEACE

Departing for El Salvador

Waiting for the airport to open...

Hello Hello,
After a long day of staging we have arrived at Ronald Reagan Airport to begin our trek down to El Salvador. We checked out of the hotel around 2:30 am and it is currently 5:49 am and our flight departs at 7:15 am.  I decided to take advantage of this free wi-fi to fill everyone in on the staging event.  After turning in our paperwork and receiving government issued ATM cards everyone gathered around and began the ice breaker worksheet they provided. Pretty typical ice breaker, for example: find someone who only checked one bag...find someone brought a musical instrument...someone who is an only child...etc.  From there on it was a walk through of the Peace Corps expectations and procedures we will be experiencing in the next few days.  We reflected on our aspirations, anxieties, and our commitment to this life changing experience.  We had special guests stop in to listen and give some words of encouragement, President Barack Obama.........just kidding! That would have been pretty awesome. The Regional Director for our region which covers all of Latin America, the Pacific Islands and some other remote islands spoke to us about some of the recent changes the Peace Corps has gone through for safety and security reasons. He was joined by a couple other RPCVS (returned peace corps volunteers) from El Salvador.  It was very refreshing and reassuring to listen to these men express their love for the country and the Salvadoran people.  I also took the opportunity to speak with two people after the event that were listening in the back.  One of them is also an RPCV from El Salvador and the other lived in El Salvador has a diplomats wife.  They gave me some great intel on the country and were really encouraging and excited for me. Other things covered in the staging event were safety concerns and how we can avoid getting into sketchy situations. I found out that I will probably be able to grow a mustache, so today is day 1 of operation mustachio bashio.  After the staging event the whole group, 9 girls 6 guys (1 married couple), headed out to Dupont circle to grab some grub. The married couple, the Smiths, my roommate Tyler and another  volunteer decided to grab some Thai food.  I got pineapple fried rice, large hot saki and a cold beer.  I was very satisfied after that meal and just wanted to roll over in my air conditioned room.  Unfortunately we had to walk back in the 94 degree heat, which warranted another cold beer upon our arrival to the hotel.  After sufficiently lubricating myself I had to pack up and get a couple hours of sleep.

I may not be able to blog in the next week or so, our training schedule is very controlled and packed with meetings and more orientations.  Hopefully I will be getting a cell phone next week, so I will be trying to get a couple calls out. If you get a funky number calling you, answer it.

I am one step closer to getting the biggest culture shock of my life and I can't wait.  There are so many things that I am going to miss back home, but in the bigger scheme of things 2 years is not that long and I am kinda looking forward to finding out the things that I miss the most.

I'm getting a little burnt out on this post, I guess you have to wait until my next post. It will be a much more exciting post, I promise you.

Paz y amor

Coast to Coast

Just finished having a nice cup of tea with the Obama family, I thought I would drop a quick post on my action packed Monday.  Mom and Dad dropped me off at the airport far too early this morning, I mean I was on time for my flight, but I'm really not a morning person.  After transferring planes in Chicago, we sat on the tarmac for over 45 mins due to a storm crossing our path to DC.  The American Airlines jet we were boarded on was an older model that had a sub-par air conditioning unit and the jet soon turned into a giant hot dog that just came off the BBQ.  Everyone was a little on edge after baking on the runway.  Finally I arrived in DC strapped with my bags I flagged down a taxi.  The cab driver wove to me, popped the trunk and watched me load my bags by myself, I guess he didn't want a tip that bad.  I get all checked in to my room around 6:45 pm and decide to trek it to the White House while there was still daylight.  Its about 92 degrees here and a lot more humid than Carlsbad.  I was strapped with a backpack containing some essentials; map, water, camera, SURFER magazine.  Before making the 6 blocks to the White House my back already began to drip sweat and by the time I got to the Lincoln Memorial the back of my shirt had soaked through the padding on my backpack.  I ended up seeing the Washington Monument, White House, Lincoln Memorial, WWII memorial, Vietnam memorial, and a couple other cool looking buildings. I took the time to sit down and read through Lincolns speeches that were plastered on the interior walls of the giant structure. Feeling pretty inspired and damn proud to be an American.
On the cab drive to the hotel I was glued to the window peering out at the buzzing streets, DC is like no city I have ever been too. I was very excited to be able to cruise around at my own will and explore its sights and sounds. Here are some pictures of my scenic tour:

WWII memorial...

Looking across the WWII memorial at the Washington monument...

Honest Abe winning the staring contest with all the tourists...

Casa Blanca...

Liquid Aloha Festival

Whats up dudes and dudettes. One week away from departure and the days are starting to blend together. My brother Chris and his lady friend Lindsey came down for the weekend and we went to the Liquid Aloha Festival in Point Loma.  The headliner was The Dirty Heads with opening acts Sand Section and One Drop.  The festival was sponsored by Kona Brewing who had a awesome beer mobile that was cranking out pints of liquid aloha all day. $5 a pint and tons of booths with other free stuff. Chris, Dad and I all got free t-shirts at the Zinka stand for putting Zinc on our faces. I'm alright with free stuff. The festival was super mellow with some great music and beverages. My super hip parents came with us and thoroughly enjoyed the good vibes and quality family time.

Mom and Dad enjoying the irie vibes...

Liquid Aloha in hand...

Plane flying over the festival...America!

Dad double fisting Red Rock Pale Ale...

Sand Section on stage...