a month and a half later...

What seems like both the longest and shortest month and a half, I have definitely lived a lot. El Salvador has tried to take me down physically as I was deported the first time coming here, my eyes swelled shut a few days before Easter, I have an itchy rash from an unknown plant source?? and I frequently have to shake out the sheets from the family of ants that like to crawl around there. Although this may sound like hell on earth, I try to have the perspective of a perpetual camping trip. With camping comes lots of bugs, but also the beauty of being outside constantly.

Here, I often tell the people that they are so much closer to God. Every where you go there is an abundance of life in the forms of luscious fruit trees, flowers, birds singing, and bustling human noise. For every hardship I face, there seems to be ten blessings in its place--sometimes I have to search harder to appreciate them. One of the biggest being mangos. I spend every free chance I get scoping out the ripened fruit on the ground. There's nothing more satisfying then finding a mango, peeling it, and immediately enjoying the juicy sweetness. The people here both admire my love for mangos & also think I'm crazy.

Although my Spanish is far from perfect, I am learning. My motto here has been, "poco a poco - little by little." I have made quite a few friends here and they all are such incredible people. I may not fully understand them, but if there's one thing for sure, it's that we laugh in the same language. They have taught me El Salvadoran street terms, inspired me to drink wine at the top of a mountain during hiking trips, showed me it's okay to get dirty, how to play the double bass, how to surf, and most importantly, encouraging to learn more about myself.

In the pictures below are some of the highlights & pictures to coordinate with some of the things I briefly mentioned above. However, I do actually work a lot. I've had a few people ask me if I am just vacationing....to that I laugh and say there's a lot going on behind the scenes. Here at Centro Arte para la Paz, I have helped advanced english classes with having conversations, taken lot's of pictures of various classes, and am helping teach violin on Sunday's. Every day seems to hold some kind of surprise--and I love it. For the future, I will be instructing photography workshops and am even coordinating a community garden project. Both of these are quite big tasks and need much planning. I also need to become a bit more fluent before teaching classes.

Thank you to everyone for the continued prayers and snail mail! I can feel everyone's love here and I hope you know I am giving you the biggest hug and smile from sunny Suchitoto! Although I cannot send mail internationally because of COVID, I can receive. I always love reading letters and will send some back the first chance I get. Just message me for an address if interested!

best,

claire

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