After returning from Guatemala we had a lot of work to get done! We painted two murals, and had a cultural event with two dance performances. One was a traditional Salvadorian dance group that is in the high school near where we live, and the other was by a more hip hop dance group that is led by one of Jess and Sandra's students!

These are some pictures of the murals (more to come). The little boy is Alfredo, and he is our next door neighbor. I included that goat because that old fart would walk into our house (on more than one occasion) and eat our tortillas... or our bread.. really anything edible we had left out.

TIKAL!

Tikal is a really famous site for Mayan Ruins. It is a relatively small area with larger than life structures. The view off of the ruins is absolutely spectacular, and the forest is filled with life. We saw monkeys and toucans. Apparently there are also jaguars that live there, but we didn't actually see one. The steps you see are the most intense I have ever been on. More like a ladder and really bad for people with a fear of heights... And! I made a friend! Apparently he made his clothing, and was very nice to me! Hooray for interesting outfits!

So, in Guatemala! Well, we hiked up an active volcano... I told you how I poked LAVA... but now you can actually see the lava and how close we were to it.. pretty cool. It rained both on the way up and down.. It got soooooo cold! It was funny though, because the volcano acted like an oven and dried off all of our clothes.. only for them to become completely drenched again on the way down.. The smoking mountain you see is actually Pacaya, the very volcano we hiked! Next we have a really beautiful cathedral in Antigua, and there is a huuuuuuge fountain attached to it!

Back hooooome!

Ok! I am back in Richmond, Virginia! Here are some photos that I have yet to post because of not having a computer.. :)! The first one is me in my hammock, it is a pretty nice view of the room I stayed in. The one that is above is all the kids making pinatas in Sonia's class. They all turned out really beautifully! Next two were taken at this beautiful look out, and the land you see is Nicaragua. Pretty cool. Last but not least is a demonstration that I did do work! You can see me taking Alfredo's blood pressure. Hooray for nursing skills!

Hooooray!

Yo! I leave Guatemala tonight and will arrive in San Salvador sometime tomorrow afternoon! In Guatemala we climbed an active volcano named Pacaya, (where I poked red hot lava with a stick), I went to see the most famous Mayan ruins in Tical, where I took some sweet photos, climbed on ruins, saw monkeys, tucans, and a guy dressed in indigenous wear... We also went around a colonial town, did some shopping, I got the most beautiful quilt!

There is supposed to be the Saint's day festivals going on in San Salvador when we arrive! So excited!

So, when I was in Tikal I did a random rubbing from the Mayan Calender and apparently it is the sign that represents me. Weird. .. does this sound like me?


http://www.xzone.com.au/maya/personality.php?YEAR=1987&MONTH=9&DAY=22

GUATEMALA

Next weeek = Guatemala! We are going to colonial towns and ruins.... pretty exciting!

Okie dokie, well! We have been working, traveling, and having a lot of fun.




Sandra put make up on me.. then I took glamor shots. .... after deciding that my face looked way too fancy to be wearing shorts and a tee shirt, so I changed to my fancy dress. :)









We went to this really beautiful place up in a mountain which had an amazing view. El Salvador is yet very touristy so.. there aren't parks and places like that to hang out in. We were on top of a water storage place... it rocked.

The woman you see above made her house out of plastic bottles. The floors are all bottle caps. We stopped by her house on our way to pick up Mike and Sonia. at the airport, and she invited us in and talked to us for a couple of minutes. Pretty sweet.

Mike and Sonia are from Houston. Awesome people, Sonia is teaching Spanish and English and Mike is helping her and Oscar. More soon!

HOORAY!

So! things are going really well, I am working in the clinic three days a week, one day in the labratory, doing blood draws and helping out wherever I can, the other two giving injections and respiratory therapy treatments.. it is really interesting.

We have been doing a lot of little trips here and there. To get our food we go to Santa Rosa, which is about 20 minutes away. We went to a friends house, and they live close to the ocean and make salt.. that was really interesting. They are extremely hospitible but also extremely poor, I took a lot of pictures, you´ll see.

Sorry this is so short and non-informative. next one will be better, rest assured!

...last thing today

OMG I START WORK AT THE CLINIC TOMORROW!!!!! I met with them today and they seem really excited to have me around... I am soooo soooo sooooo excited! Can you tell????

But wait! There's more!

This is where I am staying, it is known as "la casa de dos pisos." (the house of two floors) because it is the only house in the village that has 2 floors. There are murals on the walls from a couple of years back, but one of our goals is to freshen them up. These that you see are all nicknames of people who live in El Polvo.

Here is a close up of the murals! All the nicknames have good stories!

We made Compost! Another one of our goals is to plant a garden. One of the women from the village has told us she will help (and she has an awesome garden!). The compost was a group effort. We are hoping it works out well!!

Did you wonder what bird was on Cion's head? It is Pipi. He is a baby... how adorable. The only bad thing is he has the habbit of pooping on people.. not so adorable. Cion is brave!

I really like this picture. It is also on the ride from San Salvador to El Polvo.

Two nights ago we went to a service for one of the town residents who died. What do you call it, a wake? After the funeral. This picture Sandra took of me.. and I liked it. The church music is pretty funny here, it is all on cheesy keyboard and really up beat but with all the singers extremely off key! DEAR TOOLES: you are needed urgently down here to teach the keyboards and teach singing lessons! thanks!

We have a lot of people (especially kids) come around to chill! it is so awesome!

I love this place!

Well, I haven't added images for a while! So! The first night Jess and I were in El Salvador we stayed at Oscar and Sandra's aunt's house, here is a picture of their back yard and some plants in it! It is a super nice place! They have some of the most beautiful plants I have ever seen! 

The auntie was taking care of Oscars pet Amazon Parrot named Laurie and here she and I are, we are now BFFs.

NOW! I want yall to be introduced to who I am with in this grand adventure! This is Sandra Cornejo! She and her brother Oscar were born in Northern Virginia and their parents were born in El Salvador. Their mom grew up in the town we are staying in. It seem

s like they are related to almost everyone, everytime someone comes over they are like, oh, this is my aunt, or she is married to my uncle! PS. Sandra is a painter!

The next lovely lady on this trip is Jess. She is also a painter and we are BFFs. We work together and have known eachother for like 7 or 8 years because of climbing!

Oscar! He has the most experience in El Salvador than us girls and is very helpful! He has been working tirelessly to make this experience possible and fun. 

One person I have yet to mention is Cion (pronounced chaun, it is a shortening of a nickname Acencion). He is Oscar's and Sandra's uncle. He is from grew up in El Polvo and knows all the people there. He helps us with our goals and also helps us with knowing what is safe and unsafe, what is considered rude, and anything we don't know or don't know how to do. When we went to the market to buy my hammock he came to make sure we got a fair price. Super nice. The quiet type!

All these photos have been from the ride from San Salvador to El Polve (except for Cion's). 

but as you can tell, we are already making friends!

In EL POLVO!!!

Well, well, well!!! I am in Pasaquina right now which is the adjoining town to El Polvo. It is so so nice. I just purchased a hammock to sleep in (did i mention we dont sleep in beds we sleep on hammocks... super cool!!!). Last night I tried pupusas for the first time (pupusas are really traditional El Salvadorian food), and they were delicious. Sandra and Oscar´s aunt made them. I also met some of the community there and they were super nice and welcoming.

I am going to the Community Clinic tomorrow to talk to the practitioners there and see what kind of a help I can be. I might follow around a ¨comadrona¨which is a midwife... and also something I am extremely interested in! I might help do a census to figure out if there is need for a clinic in El Polvo.

In the community I am in, everyone has a nickname. Oscar´s nickname is ¨Quemaranchos¨which means ¨he who burns ranches¨because when he was really young he accidently set fire to his aunts house... or something like that. I hope I get a nickname... but I also hope that it isn´t too brutal... aparently they have some mean ones too.. :)

I cannot wait to post pictures.. I want yall to see Sandra and Oscar, and the birds!!! I forgot my chord to connect my camera to the computer! soooooryyy! but look forward to more pictures of El Salvador soooooon!!!!

Leaving for EL POLVO!

So today we are leaving for the small town where we are going to be working in. I am super excited about meeting the people and seeing where I am going to stay. Aparently there is a baby parrot there! So excited! Well, I am unsure of the next time I will have internet access.. but rest assured there will be pictures then!

IN EL SALVADOR!

Well, longest day ever but I am finally in EL SALVADOR. Sandra and Oscar picked Jess and I up and now we are at Sandra and Oscar's aunt's house for the night. Then off to EL POLVO to get started on our individual projects.


So Dennis dropped Jess and I to DCA.. I was getting stressed because of traffic, but if you know Dennis you would never doubt him getting us to the airport with time to spare!
This is the grapefruit that Jess and I ate inbetween flights... so delicious

So the first flight went flawlessly and the second was AWFUL. We had to wait foreverr
So.. needless to say, Jess and I were bored.. we read.. a lot.
and yawned a lot.. and then one and a half hours later after being in the airplane we took off! I also noticed that my hands are super dry... ew!

Now I am all homey and safe and happy! I will definitely post soooooooonish.. hope yall are well.. feel free to email me at alex.mritchie@gmail.com

hooray for arriving at my destination safely... sorry if this entry is not very coherent... I am tired.

Wait just a minute!

Might yall wanna know what the heck I am doing down in EL SALVADOR? Well, I am going with a community arts program called LA CAP which is short for Latin American Community Arts Project. http://www.lacapacidad.org/

I will hook up with the adjoining town's community health clinic and do some of my own functions as a community health nurse... does that explain it? If I think of anything else to add I will post it laterz.

BAGGAGE!

So now I am all ready to go... think I packed enough stuff???
(the flamingo will stay in Richmond)

I am gonna try my best to maintain this janx while I am in EL SALVADOR... don't hate if I am a lazy updater..

Rockin out with my man Joe, getting stuff prepared for my trip. He snapped this priceless pic of me... thanks.

(if you were wondering what my bf looks like..)