it's like thunder, LIGHTNING

today there was a giant storm, a biblical storm, a storm that temporarily cut off the electricity! i got wet and i was inside. ok just damp, not wet, but the winds were quite strong. our bathroom was strewn with tiny sticks and leaves. my curtain rod got ripped off the wall. ok, maybe not ripped, as it normally tenuously rests against the wall, but it did fall down, or at least half of it did. some of the thunder and lightning surprised/alarmed me to the degree that i screamed involuntarily. the lightning was so close that it wasn't just bright, it was purple bright. here's the best transition i've ever made - the word for lightning in spanish is relampago, which is also what you call an eclair. ah crap, upon googling, it appears that eclair means lightning in french too. BUT in french it can also mean zipper or whistle stop. lucky for you, i just googled "eclair lightning pastry why." here are a few findings:

"Éclair" is French for "lightning," though the connection is obscure." (wikipedia)
great, thanks for the information

"Eclair in french literally means "flash". So eclair has been created since the beginning to be eaten in a flash - at lightning speed." (author of paris sweets)
ew no, if there's one thing on earth you shouldn't eat at lightning speed it is a custard log

"Eclair is the French word for “lightning” and thought to be a nod to the bright reflection one gets from its chocolate glaze." (michael nagrant, some dude who writes about food)
there's no way this is correct, michael nagrant

eclair

1861, from Fr. éclair, lit. "lightning," from O.Fr. esclair, from esclairare "to light up, make shine," ult. from L. exclarare "light up, illumine," from ex- "out" + clarus "clear." The sense is perhaps the "lightness" of the confection. (online etymology dictionary)
lightness of the confection? have you ever eaten an eclair? it's like 9 pounds

here's my guess. when eclairs were first made, there were tiny fireworks inside every 100th eclair. if you bit into it, it exploded in your face in a FLASH of custard guts, simulating the experience of being struck by creamy, pudding lightning. could be wrong, but i'm probably right. at least more right than michael nagrant.

here's another great transition, thinking about the cream inside of eclairs. i made yogurt two days ago and it is good, nay, fabulous! i hazily followed these instructions. i didn't use a double boiler or a cold water bath. for the incubation, i put the container in a pot of warm water as our oven is unreliable. i am delighted and impressed by how simple it was. for all of you who have been dreaming of converting milk to yogurt, please, follow your dream. i followed your dream and it's delicious and tangy!

orchid creatures

what a wonderous trash pile! what is that yellow thing? can it be my pet? is it sick?

i went to an orchid show

this guy also went to the orchid show
his hair is so black and his beard is so white!

looks like david had some spelling trouble
also, the stick figures in the middle - one has a tail?

this is a swanky mall

i stepped into the mall to enjoy some air conditioning. and what did i find? a wedding fair. cheapion TREASURE TROVE. oh i was elated. i was overjoyed. what generous cake samples! yes! sure! i am getting married and i need to find a cake help! some blender demonstration resulted in smoothie! i don't think i was particularly convincing with my fake wedding information, but i did remove my orange baseball cap before entering. "enchanting brides," as the fair was called, don't wear baseball caps, obviously.

radisson hotel lady: hi! are you getting married?
me: yes of course
rl: congratulations! when is your date?
me: eh... in december (my lying imagination does not extend beyond this year apparently)
rl: do you have a location?
me: why yes
rl: where?
me: oh, we're not sure yet. what is that?
rl: it's a spinach empanada, try it.
me: yes mmm it is good (it was not good)
(we stare at each other)
me: uh does the radisson have a pool?
rl: yes.
me: ah, good. what is that?
rl: filet mignon with peanut butter sauce.
me: aha! (it was also not good)
rl: would you like some information?
me: no thanks

i went back to the cake place and said, you know, we're really thinking about a chocolate cake, you don't have any samples of that, do you? oh but they did! i had seen them hidden in the back earlier so i knew. mmm it was fudgy and with almonds and coffee flavored and also jelly, probably overkill, yall. but good! you made it worth entering the mall, mister cakes.

oh, the thoughts provoked

the community in which we work has about 2700 people and 600 homes. the furthest you'd have to walk to get between two houses might be 40 minutes. i admire the way this small community feels, maybe because i grew up in a town of 70,000 people. why am i surprised that everyone knows each other? kids walk to and from school in packs or take short bus rides. there are a few tiny stores that sell tortillas, candy, soda, etc, but no market. it is not a self-sufficient community by any means as many people work outside of it, in factories or elsewhere.

i suppose what i'm mostly admiring is the social structure. perhaps it is partly a result of families sleeping together in close quarters and houses being close together. the idea of privacy is different here. as laura notes in her china blog, inside and outside spaces are more fluid. (there's also no cruel winter, that helps). neighbors hang out, lend each other money, protect each other's chickens, etc. one woman i know leaves her house keys at her neighbor's house when she leaves. strangers are welcomed, assisted, offered food, given directions. sure, salvadorans are reknowned for their friendliness and hospitality, but cultural norms apart, the people in this community take care of each other with great warmth and generosity. there are animosities, there are problems, obviously. but there's a lot of strong relationships and networks here that i just haven't seen in cherry hill or in other places i've lived. it's not a transient place. that is also bad, as people don't have enough money to "get out" and pursue further education and all that comes with it. i'm not trying to make this community sound idyllic. plenty of serious problems here. but my thoughts are being provoked.

it's exciting to be getting to know this community and it makes me think a lot about family. i'm also reading julia alvarez's book of essays "something to declare" which deals mostly with her dominican family and extended family. her family is her base community, even though she moved away. people here don't move across the country to advance their careers. unless family members have left to find work in the US because they can't find something equivalent here, families are together, usually in the same community. it makes me think how lucky i am to have such a close extended family in the US when many families are so fragmented across the country. thank you, family.

you don't need wings

check out my desk!!
i finally found a (surprisingly pretty) desktop in someone's trash yesterday
so maybe it is too low to "sit at" and maybe i don't have a "chair"
i see these as advantages for now until i acquire more boxes and can build my cardboard empire

go basil go

i went to a poorly attended film festival tonight which included a film called "heroes: they don't need wings to fly" which was about a man born without arms who is now a dj. awkward title eh. i saw him dj with his feet, use a blender with his feet, make crepes with his feet, you know, french things. the filmmakers asked him really thoughtful questions like "are djs born or are they made?" who cares. he's eating a crepe with his mf toes. here's a better question: is he going to lick his toes when he's done eating? i hope so. fly, little wingless techno dj hero bird, fly.

google can't save me now

what did i do this weekend in el salvador? i saw a german silent film, sunrise, which it turns out i had already seen. this was another french/german sponsored event. the theater was packed - i sat in the aisle and some people stood the whole time. pretty cool to see standing room only for a silent film. it was also free and there was even a musician playing live along with the score and that is always neat.

i went to a dance performance at the national theater today which elaborated the entire history of el salvador, from mayans to democracy. there were dozens of costume changes and fireworks and a shaman ripped some guy's heart out. there was also an orchestra with lovely marimba and drums and a sometimes-excruciating high pitched flute. we convinced the woman at the ticket counter that we forgot our student IDs so it was only $2. i have been attending more official cultural events than ever before because they are listed online. it is good and frustrating to come here and realize that the internet doesn't have all the answers. i have to pick up the phone or show up to places or talk to people, and that is excellent. two pictures from this past week...

visiting a new baby who was born two weeks early

the beach
thats me in the corner
i don't think i was supposed to be in this picture

sign me up!

possibly important news: i found san salvador's craigslist. obviously, the first section i looked at was the free section. the first result is the free friendship of christ. good. please deliver to calle circunvalacion, i'm home after 4. the listings are not particularly current or useful. it seems that most listings involve buying or selling dogs. i also found one listing titled "i am a female english bulldog looking for a boyfriend," and it wasn't some kind of netspeak, it was just a normal lonely lady dog.

two things that have surprised me: 1) hearing the song "kids" play on the radio at 8am on the way to work. kind of mind-boggling. 2) finding pear butter at the store - pear butter made in medford, nj, half an hour from my house and also where i went to summer camp. what are you doing in el salvador, "kids" and pear butter? get on my toast.

today i went hunting around in my greater neighborhood area. i found a curves gym and somehow ended up with an appointment on monday. i found a yoga place but it had a giant cross on the front and was very locked. i saw the word "aikido" and an arrow painted on a curb and i followed it and it led me to nothing but disappointment. upon later googling, the aikido place's address is the same as the yoga place. curious. the building is called "The Great Universal Brotherhood," and it turns out it is part of this organization. sounds like it might be worth an actual visit to determine whether it is cultish and fruity or amusing and fruity. yoga, vegetarianism, and astrology. and aikido? great?

geez this tree is amazing

part one in an ongoing series of dogs sleeping in the sun
these dogs are on the basketball court

independence day, possibly the greatest movie ever made

yesterday was el salvador's independence day! hooray! mister donut has 2 for 1 donuts for the whole month of september to celebrate. 2 for 1 is big here in general. there's a whole ice cream store chain called neveria 2x1, where prices are given in increments of 2. 2 cones for $1.50! too bad the ice cream tastes like plastic.

some parade action downtown

winners of pimp my oxcart 09

ok changing gears here's an actual picture of the clinic

unrelated
mmmm

i love dark clouds

after the parade we went to the beach and found a deserted beach (probably everyone was still at the parade). i went frolicking in the water and then got out and covered myself with black sand and it was beautiful and sparkly. then i was stuck carrying a great deal of sand in the crotch of my bathing suit despite attempting various maneuvers in the ocean, including doing flips. all of the fancy little hotels by the beach were locked and deserted. however, i climbed a large fence and discovered an outdoor shower where the water came over a rock ledge like a waterfall. i had a glorious, secluded shower surrounded by flowers and then snuck out. i cut my foot on the fence but such is the cost of sneaking.

ruta de las flores

i went with volunteers today on the ruta de las flores (route of flowers) through the mountains. some photos. obviously no photos of mountains, of volunteers, or of me.

waiting to get picked up at 6am

ladder to...

why so serious

la laguna verde
con la casita rosada

schlepping about with 11 volunteers was an experience in empathy. more on that at the end of the week. that sounds kind of cryptic. it was fun. but eye-opening.

rollin with ankle

please excuse the double post today. and sorry for that weird font business in the previous post. so i went to the hardware store to get some paint and paintbrushes for the clinic. i saw the giant display of paint sample cards and was too tempted. over a few visits to the display, i took one of each color from the "vibrant" section. they're so beautiful and so free! some guy came up to me with a few paint cards and i thought he might reprimand me, but he said, you look like an artist, what with your paintbrushes, can you tell me what color would go with this brown to paint my house?

so i found the right color and showed him. he asked where i was from and when i said estados unidos he said no. i said, well, yes, i'm from new jersey. he said i didn't look like i was from the united states. yeah thanks. he said his name was ankle. i repeated it. "ankle?" yes, he said. very well.

after i checked out and was leaving, he kind of leapt out from behind a shelf, scaring the crap out of me, and asked if i wanted to get lunch or coffee or something. dammit i thought he just wanted color advice. however, i did get coffee with him because i don't have any friends. and by coffee i mean we went to mister donut and i convinced him not to get any coffee because i didn't want to buy coffee and i didn't want him to buy me coffee. he was jolly, studies visual basic at university, he was totally jazzed that i studied film, he loves scarface. he wants to move to montreal where his mother is. it turns out his name is angel, not ankle. that's good because ankle's a weird name. i tried to walk a fine line between "i'm trying to get to know the city" and "i dont know that book but i know my boyfriend liked it." so perhaps i made a friend. perhaps i made a creepo friend. time will tell.

this is what i did with the paint sample cards in my room

because i like contrast

Surfers Are Here! El Salvador Sheds its Image Sept. 13, 2009, New York Times

"Armadas of pelicans buzz the water, and volcanoes rear up in the distance, jagged profiles dramatic and swathed in mist. Their once angry beauty, now serene, encapsulates the long period of unrest that predates this picture of calm."

El Salvador's Slow Recovery Aug. 20, 2009

"The country is plagued with violence, drugs and a stagnant economy -- not to mention the various natural disasters that continually impede development."

Aumentaron 37 por ciento los homicidios (Homicide rate increases by 37%)

Two weeks ago I went to Playa El Tunco that the NYTimes article mentions, and it was indeed how she describes it. Many of the surfing hostels have just popped up within the last few years. I haven't seen any park benches stained with blood yet, but I haven't been to any parks as they are quite far from my house.

Security is a lot more visible here. Instead of a camera watching an ATM, there is a dude with a rifle. Most businesses, even little taco joints, employ such dudes. I am thinking of doing a photo portrait project of them. They look so, so bored. Nearly all houses in the city are walled in, so getting a sense of "neighborhoods" is based on what the walls look like, whether they include barbed wire on top, ivies, how high they are, etc. now, here are some pictures of my house. they are crappy pictures. sorry.

my room
i need to make some colorful things to put on the walls

the big ol living room

my street, calle circunvalacion

more street
its gon rain
can't say i'm surprised

the lil kitchen

the exterior

ours is the bottom right one
so pretty!

mimes in love

tonight we went to a short film festival at the museum of anthropology. the films were made by college students in an intermediate video production course. strangely, this event was co-sponsored by the french and german embassies, and the ambassadors were there and of course made remarks. we were very underdressed but the ushers motioned us to the front row, maybe because we are more gringo looking. the actual films were pretty normal student films (all 6 were about love) but it seems the students were also required to integrate french and german characters or influences. the winning film involved two mimes arriving in el salvador, one wearing a german flag on his shirt and one wearing a french flag. the film detailed their wacky tourism antics with their beautiful salvadoran host. the overall program was half watching films and half congratulating the students who made them.
afterwards they gave out free sandwiches filled with some kind of potato salad. it was too dark outside to identify the actual contents, but mayonnaise was a determining factor. dinner and a movie for free with a side of weird intercultural exchange. ideal. plus there was fanta, nectar of the gods.
it got me thinking about film projects i could do here. i will probably make a promotional video for FIMRC while we have a big group of volunteers this week. my goal is to avoid doing a voiceover because no one likes them.
additionally, what's with 2-in-1 shampoo/conditioner? what a lie, a dirty lie. more like 0-in-1. it's indecent and immoral.

hold your baby like a football

at work i read a selection of breastfeeding manuals and learned about "latch-on" and proper suction and how to breastfeed using the "football hold." they often note that breastfeeding is economical - a point not lost on this cheapion. how crazy is it that you can produce food that can completely sustain another (tiny) person? what a clever system. rather more elegant than just regurgitating food into your baby's mouth. i also read lots of general "omfg there's an infant nestled amongst your guts" and "omfg an infant emerged from you, what now" booklets so i will know what's going on when we do prenatal/postpartum house visits. we visited a new baby and her 16 year old mother. she lives with the baby's father and they are "companions" but not married, and that is fine here. however, he just fell under a bus and that is putting a damper on his ability to work, so she's hanging out at her parents' a bit more.

we also do house visits to see if people are using their water filters correctly, keeping their houses and children clean, etc. it's kind of confusing from a feminist perspective to be reprimanding women for not keeping their houses clean. however, if they aren't being careful, then flies land on poop and then land on their food and things don't go to a happy place from there. nearly all of the kids in the community have parasites, some have more than 3 kinds.

i'm trying to figure out ways to get more involved in san salvador. i'm investigating art/music classes, but the whole dark at 6:30 and dangerous after dark thing is a bit of an impediment. what i need is a friend with a car, or the parts and a few select youtube videos to build a car. potential care package senders take note - i'm jonesing for a sturdy chassis.

food festival and waterfalls

we went to a wee little mountain village called juayua which has a food festival every weekend. it also has a trio of waterfalls a ways out of town. two policemen took us there. here are some photos. yeah, there are too many photos. ah well.

it's just plastic chairs don't get excited

live your life with coffee
from womb to tomb

i liked this

i really liked this sign, which seemed unrelated to anything around it
"zorro doesnt meet the world, the world meets zorro"

waterfallllls
we swam in this. very clear, kinda chilly

more more

ok bear with me on this one. it's a tree stump, i know

mooooore

oh yeah and some food

i'm also learning to play the guitar

today a guy came in to the clinic with his wife and daughter. he is starting a cooperative down the road that will take in ex-convicts and parolees and give them a place to live and teach them skills. apparently, when you are out on parole, you are barred from regular employment or something. his project isn't off the ground yet, but he works at a call center for AT&T, speaks good english, seems determined. they came to the clinic because his daughter had a few scratches on her face and it slowly came out that her mother had been hitting her with a stick. hitting your kids is normal here, but i think the stick is not. they also brought in a one month old siberian husky puppy named tricia with lil blue eyes and she was all fluffy and she ran across the yard and fell in a hole and i scooped her out.
this morning about 500 soldiers marched past the clinic and no one knew why, but most guessed "exercise." the soldiers were coming down the hill in two columns on the street about 20 feet apart. a woman with a red umbrella and her little daughter with a little yellow umbrella were walking up the hill between the columns and i thought it was very beautiful. the soldiers were very casual, smiling, laughing, twirling their rifles all about.
last night we went salsa dancing. the band was called salsalvador, get it, salsa, san salvador, i love this stuff. it was a ginormous band and quite a posh scene. friday nights at this bar are "high heel nights" where ladies with high heels drink for free. needless to say, i wore chacos. next time i will bring a man in high heels and see how they feel. i talked a bit with a korean-brasilian karate instructor who was in san salvador because his students were in an international karate tournament here. i did a bit of dancing, but the caliber of dancing was quite high and the gentlemen dancers were not as tolerant of my whimsical moves as they are in dc.
as far as work, i've been helping to give some talks about dengue fever to different sectors of the community. this month is budgeting month in the micro health insurance program YAY!! i am confident that i can spread my passion for hoarding money to the women in the program. we're also going to plan some talks on HIV/AIDS and sex ed for young people because their mothers are asking for it ("not sexuality, just, you know, information"). most people marry the first person they have sex with. 95% of women in our community have their first child between the ages of 14-19. WHOA HEY.

luscious cheese piles

pupusas. look at that cheese. look at that plate

waiting room at the clinic
i am helping a woman fill out a survey for the micro health insurance program

this guy is the most reputable burritomonger of all.
and a giants fan it seems
look at that cheese
what you can't see is the beans jumping all about

some buses
fierce

i beasted these kids at ladrones y policia (cops and robbers)

this stunning portrait was taken by the kid with his tongue out in the picture above

these photos courtesy of brandy, joyce, and helen. thank you.