I am back home in the states now and all I can think about is El Salvador! I loved being there and it has been quite a shock being back home in real life! I will be honest, it is nice to have hot showers and a car to drive but I have noticed some changes in my habits.

I find myself ALWAYS wearing my chaos for fear I might catch something from walking around barefoot.

I can't sleep at night because my bed is to soft

I get scared that I am going to burn myself right before I get in the warm shower

I miss the chicken buses and the time it took to get places.

The first radio station I turn to is the Spanish station (even though I don't understand half of what they are saying)

I can't go anywhere without my backpack, water bottle, and something to eat during the day.

I hoard all the change I can find...Hey that's a bus ride home!!

I feel naked with out my bracelets

I have to think twice before I speak now or instinctively I will use what little Spanish I know instead of English.

It's been quite the adventure coming back to reality but I can tell you that I do not miss the dang bichos!! (bugs) One day I counted and I had 26 bug bites on just one of my legs (and that was below the knee)


Gross Huh?

It has been wonderful to get emails from my English student in El Salvador. Today I was wishing that my boys from CISNA had internet access because I want so badly to have a way to tell them how much I miss them. I made so many wonderful friends while I was there!

There is the Tin Lady who made her living selling tin pans she made.



My hippie friend Luis



Or who could forget Running Carlos?



Some times I wish I could have brought them all home with me. But then again I when I think about them I am imediately taken back to the day the tin lady would not stop throwing tin in my bag, or the day Luis was trying to talk me into the idea I would rather be a tree, and it is like they are here with me.

Memories from CISNA

The boys at CISNA are a ton of fun also. I love how as soon as we walk in the gates they come running yelling “Tia, Tia, Tia!!!” It is sometimes pretty frustrating to not be able to speak with them and tell them how much I care about them but at the same time it is great just to be there with them and have fun kicking the futbul around (which always turns into keep away from “Devora”. That’s me for those of you who do not understand English spoken with the crazy thick accent) I love it when they come to me with a new bracelet they have made for me or when they try to teach me English. It is fun to play with these boys who have spent their lives up to that point on the streets begging for money or stealing to eat. There are a few boys at CISNA who do have parents and are there because their parents can’t afford to keep them at home. They send them to CISNA so they can at least be fed. It is pretty hard on those boys. I will always remember the day I really got to know Edwardo. (one of the boys who has parents.) It was my second time there and I was still pretty timid around the boys and with my Spanish. I would mostly just sit there and smile. I came over to another volunteer who spoke Spanish and who was sitting with one of the boys. I looked down at his arm and remembered hearing about this boy before I came that day. He and his two younger brothers Henry and Diego are there because their parents could not afford to keep them. This is really hard for Edwardo and yet it doesn’t seem to phase the two younger boys. Just the day before he carved his parents initials into his arm because he was so upset about it that day. The other volunteer was called away leaving Edwardo and I alone together. He seemed rather down that day and he put his head down in the volunteer’s back pack that she had left behind for him to hold and started to cry. There really was much I could do because I couldn’t speak to him and he didn’t want to talk anyway. I will always remember the day I met Edwardo and held him while he cried about missing his parents.

The CISNA boys are such a trip though. Now that I am comfortable with them and they feel the same with me, Edwardo will come and do my hair or bite me on the neck (which is really weird) or Henry will come and poke me until I chase him around. One day I chased him and he ran up a tree that was kind on slanted and once he got to the top he was to scared to come down. Or there is oscar or Juan who will sit with me all day and follow me where ever I go and are so patient as I try to learn Spanish. I love being with those boys.

Special needs

Today in the special ed room. Hollan and I finished the preparations for painting that we had begun the day before. It got to the point where it was only a one person job and Hollan was that one person. This left me with a ton of free time on my hands. I have never considered myself….how can I put this the best. I guess the best way would to say that I do not have much experience with mental disabilities and so have not thought myself to be very good with people who suffer from them. But over the last few days my mind has started to be opened and as I find myself interacting with these children I can’t help but fall madly in love with theirs smiles and laughs and warm greetings. I sat today and played with tonito. I am not quite sure what his disability is but I had the best time with him. This is going to sound weird but he would reach out his hand and touch mine and I would pull it away and gasp! We did this over and over and that is because when I did that he would laugh and laugh and laugh. I wish I had a recording of his laugh. It was one of the most beautiful sounds I have ever heard. I bet I could bottle it up and sell it as liquid happiness and make a fortune! I love making these kids smile. It is so amazing to me how they lay in their cribs all day and most of them have no ability to move because of their cerebral palsy and yet they are so optimistic and excited about life. You can see in their eyes how much they love to be touched and talked to and visited. Every time I walk in the door they are always smiling and happy and I know that they were that way before I came in.

I love the little boys at the orphanages where we work. This last week we have been focusing on painting murals on the barren walls of the preschool and special Ed rooms. These rooms are rather dull and drab and have very old wallpaper as a boarder falling off the walls. We started on the preschool room which is actually a big room with a ton of beds, a few cribs, and no toys. As we began cleaning the walls the curious preschoolers would come in and question what we gringos were doing and why all of the beds were in the middle of the room. They were so excited to help and we discovered that, Christopher, a 6 year old there has an amazing talent. He can sing like it is nobody’s business. I have a video of him singing his heart out as we finished the mural of a barnyard in the preschool. The mural turned out wonderful and we are all pretty proud of ourselves. I am especially proud of the pig because that was that first thing I have ever drawn in my life and it looks really good.