Pics from the free weekend...

Eduardo, my guitar buddy and partner in crime...

 in the pool at playa san diego...

Tyler, Ashley, Elsa, Tricia and me...

Dan the man...

Free Weekend: Playa San Diego

Buenos dias, Just enjoying a lovely morning in Playa San Diego after a fun filled day on the beach with the trainees. We rented out a house for the weekend and took a 1.5 hour van ride to a paradise on the coast.  We played frisbee, messed around in the pool, went bodysurfing, and enjoyed the finest cerveza El Salvador has to offer. It was a perfect escape from the tiring routine of training.  I am about 3.5 weeks to being sworn in as a volunteer. 2.5 weeks from my Spanish interview and finding out my site. 1.5 weeks from having tea at the embassy with the US ambassador.

Its getting down to the wire and I am so excited to find out where I will be going for the next 2 years. But right now I am going to get 7 eggs for $1 and make myself breakfast because I am struggling. I will post pictures later. Adios amigos.

New Address

Quick update on the address, not sure where the previous address is sent but it might be directly to the office. This new address is more reliable. Sorry mom but hopefully the package makes it to me still.

PCT: Cory Lyle
Cuerpo De Paz
Apartado Postal 1947
Correo Nacional
Centro de Gobierno
San Salvador, El Salvador.

Send me letters, padded envelopes filled with goodies, whatever you want. If you write religious books on the envelope it will make it through untouched. Or Something about Dios.

Anyways, on Thursday I am heading out for my immersion day. Dont know where I am going yet but it will be 3 nights out in the campo by myself with another volunteer. Should be pretty exciting and different from my villa in San Esteban.  I will be sure to update once I make it through the next 5 days.

Chus

La gun a

Just getting off a 3 day weekend where we were supposed to do a cultural investigation about our cantone and its culture regarding the festivals and how they are celebrated, natural disasters that have affected the town and the towns origin.  On Saturday all the trainees got together and made the trek to Apostopeque to visit the laguna and center of tourism.  It was a much needed vacation with my fellow Americans.  We spoke Spanish only when needed while fulfilling our quota for English that week.  All us gringos bared all and showed our pearly white skin off to the locals in attendance.  I think I speak for everyone when I say we got some sun that day.  We made the most of what the small 'center of tourism' had to offer.  Jumping off the dock, playing on the giant floating concrete block and being serenaded by the wandering mariachi band.  We were in paradise. 

great scenary at the lagoon...

 jumping off the dock...

 ...

 fun with a concrete block...

 catching some rays...

The rest of the weekend I spent reading in my hammock, studying a little Spanish, playing lots of basketball, and chatting it up with Yolanda.  I really feel comfortable talking Spanish with her and am not afraid to mess up.  She understands what I am getting at.  Her hobby is making earrings and bracelets out of beads and other knick-knacks. She goes twice a week to the market to sell them.  Yesterday she pulled out a Hemp braiding booklet that was all in English.  A former trainee she housed left it behind for her, but she can't understand it so I told her that if she finds some hemp or some string I will teach her out of the book how to fashion her own braided jewelry that she can then go sell with her earrings.  She seems pretty excited about the though and I cant wait to start teaching her.  The tough part is going to be finding rolls of hemp line.  Sooooo if your in the states wondering what you can do for me, I would love it if you found a couple rolls of hemp (natural color and red, green, black, blue if you can find them) and send them to me at the Peace Corps office. That would be AWESOME! And Yolanda would be super pumped.

The address is:

Oficina de Cuerpo de Paz

PCT: Cory Lyle

Avenida Las Dalias, No. 3

Condominio Petaluma

Col. San Francisco, San Salvador

Send it through the US Postal Service and try to fit it in a padded envelope.  It will have a better chance of making it down here in a reasonable time in one piece.  If needed, unravel the roll of hemp line and stuff it in the envelope.  Also, cool beads would be much appreciated as well.  Thanks so much to anyone who considers this.  You can also use that address to send letters and what not until I get my permanent address at site.

Thanks again for reading and keeping up with Jesus himself.  I appreciate the comments so much and have been slowly calling people with my new cell phone I got.  If you get a call from a sketchy number answer it, cause it might be me, or someone who stole me phone.

Paz

Jesus Austin Lyle

Casa de Yolanda

This is a post just to show you where I live and my sweet setup I have.  My shower is awesome, better than the one I had at home.  I do have to pump myself up in the morning to jump into the cold downpour.  I was never a morning person, but a cold shower really gets me ready for the day.

Pictures below...

view from my house...

 front of mi casa...

 front of my room...

 my 'living room'...

 bed equipped with net...

 entry to my room from the house...

 bathroom and shower and massive pila...

 Yolanda in the cocina...

 entry way to my house...

 patio/where i hang out the most...

Site Visit

Todo suave here in El salvador. A lot has happened since my last blog post, hopefully I can cram it into the next few posts.  Last weekend we visited a current volunteer in San 'something' Caminas.  He had quite a few kids show up to the soccer cancha and we played all sorts of games with the kids. After the small stuff we played a game of boys vs. girls soccer.  It was the first workout for me in El Salvador and it felt great.  I've been trying to keep at it since.  Playing basketball or hiking the cerro, anything counts, and it's so hot that a 15 minute workout feels like a 45 minute workout.  After playing with the kids and enjoying a handful of pupusas we went over to the volunteers house to check out his living situation.  His room was ¼ the size of mine and his door was a bed sheet, but he only had the best things to say about his living arrangements.  Visiting his site got me soo pumped to go to mine, once my spanish is better of course.  Everyone in the cantone loved him and it seemed like he really integrated and has become part of the community despite his struggle to work with the school director.

Here are some pictures at the volunteer site...

all the trainees and Dave the volunteer...

caballo...

 what you looking at...

 pan dulce, on my way to Cordito...

This last week was filled with spanish class and visits to the local ADESCO (local community board) and witch doctor/curandera.  I had the first 2 of 3 basketball games in the local tournament.  We won the first one and lost the second one.  It is pretty difficult training to play a team sport in a second language but i'm getting the hang of it.  Aqui! Tira! Cola! Centro! Afuera! That's all you need to know. During the week we also went to the open air market in San Vicente.  Pretty intense experience.  Slabs of meat hanging out, buckets of fish at your feet, and any type of fruit or vegetable you desire.  Not to mention a plethora of machetes and hammocks.  You have people running in and out of the crowd selling the same things for a dollar, it's like a dollar store that finds you. 

Jesus