Tommorrow we move in with our families!! Today we found out who we will be living with and a little history about the community. I am really excited, however we move in tommorrow then on Friday we leave for spring break so I won´t have much time to talk with them but I will have five weeks with them after!
Today we went to an indigenous community that has been preserving its history through pottery, so they have a huge pottery artisan market. We had the opportunity to make our own pottery, which was really fun. Then this afternoon we had a speaker about the history of the Atlantic side of Nicaragua. The culture on the east side is completely different than on the Pacific side. It was colonized by the British rather than the Spanish so there are different indigenous ethnicities and also there is a Carribean influence. Its really interesting, I´m hoping we have time to go visit!!

Day numero tres in Nicaragua. The past couple days we have been getting adjusted to Nicaragua. We´ve had class yesterday and today. In addition to classes, Yesterday we had a walking tour of Managua, and a bus tour of the old part of town. Today we listened to a speaker today who gave us the entire history of Nicaragua and talked about the current political situation. Our reading has been pretty interesting. Today we read and had a good discussion about Non Governmental organizations roles in developing countries in terms of citizen participation. How much of a role do they play, how much do they hold back. Because dependency can be generated, then the organization leaves and problems remain. This all ties into sustainable development, its a complicated issue but given the number of NGO´s its an imporant to study this- especially since I hope to work in that field someday!

We have arrived in Nicaragua!! We arrived yesterday afternoon at the CGE house in Managua, the capital of Nicaragua. Nicaragua is gorgeous and really hot. The day before we left for Nicaragua, was the anniversary of Oscar Romero´s death. There were events going on all day. In the morning we went to a church service at the church where he was shot. Then we marched with the people of El Savador from the church to the Cathedral downtown. It was a beautiful march. There was music, people were giving speeches, there was artwork, people were holding signs, and people were chanting Que Vive! which means he lives! During the night they had a concert in Honor of Romero. This night was problably the highlight of El Salvador for me. The bands that played were amazing, and people were dancing and signing, one of my favorite bands from El Salvador played and they were amazing! The concert went all night long, so I did not get any sleep, but it was worth it!
Classes started today- I think these classes are going to be really interesting. I´m taking Topics in history, world history, women´s study class and a political and economic survey of Nicaragua class. Both of the professors seem really cool too, they both have interesting life stories!

Today is my last day in El Salvador! Tommorrow we leave for Nicaragua at 4:30 in the morning! This past week I have been doing alot of school work. We broke up into small groups to work on individual issues that interested us. I worked on environmental issues, so I interviewed the Ministry of the Environment and various NGO environmental organizations. It has been really interesting. El Salvador is the most deforested country in Latin America aside from Haiti. There are only 1.9% of the origonal forests left in the country, which is horrible. On Friday we gave our group presentations, my group presented our information in the form of a news report- it was really cool.
This week I have also been working on my final project for the class, which could be whatever, it just had to portray our knowledge from the class. I did a painting, with various quotes and images. Friday was problably my favorite class of the whole four weeks because there was so much creativity, and it was interesting hearing people talk about how they are digesting all these experiences and information. And last night we went Salsa dancing!! it was really fun- the music scene here is amazing.
Today is the anniversary of Oscar Romero´s death, a liberation theology martyr who died in 1980. He was archbishop who had a strong commitment to helping the poor of El Salvador. This morning I went to a church service in honor of him. Then they had a march in honor of him where we marched all the way from the church he was shot to the cathedral downtown. It was great though, people were giving speeches, signing music, there was so much passion and hope there it was a beautiful thing to see. There must of been a thousand or so people there. Tonight theres a candle light vigil, concert and candle march which is usually attended by thousands of people. I think I will go if I get all my stuff packed! I am gonna miss El Salvador- but I am excited for Nicaragua!!

This weekend we went to Suchitoto. It was a beautiful town, similar to Antigua but less touristy. The architecture is colonial style, so the houses and churches are gorgeous. The first night we stayed in a hotel. Then on Saturday we took a boat ride on the lake, and visited different communities. Saturday night we stayed with another host family, which was fun as usual. This morning we had discussions about the books we read. It was a great discussion. I complained a little this week about the large amount of things we had to read, but I learned alot from those books!!

This past week has been pretty intense. We´ve had alot of class work. Right now I am reading Economic Hitman for class, which is a great book, I recommend it. We also had class on Wednesday and Thurday, then had meetings in the afternoons. On Wednesday we met with the Bishop of the Lutheran Church here, and apparently he was just named the Bishop of all Central America. He was really fun to listen to, quite a contrast from the other Bishop we met with. His church is vary active in liberation theology, so he spoke alot about how his church is active.
This morning we went to the United States embassy and spoke with a couple representatives. It went alot better than I had thought it would. The people we spoke with seemed to know the Salvadoran culture and people fairly well. Which is surprising given the context of the embassy. The embassy is the third largest embassy in the world, and it has tennis courts and a movie theatre, its really ridiculous. The people we spoke with even said that some people there have no clue about the culture here and speak no spanish. They spoke about a number of issues, gang activity and the war in Iraq because El Salvador has troops in Iraq. The also spoke about immigration. The do interviews for a number of visas there. To get an interview in costs 100 dollars and its a three minute interview! We also talked about the amount of Salvadoran immigrants in the United States. 500 Salvadorans leave for the United States a day! Right now ten percent of El Salvador lives in the U.S. and remittances are large part of the national income. It is predicted that if the FMLN doesn´t win in the elections in 2009, the number going to the US illegally will double to 1000 a day! Its a hard issue, and I see both sides of it. But being here and living with families and seeing how hard it is to make money, I can understand the desire to go. The minimum wage here is 3.50 (US currency, they have US dollars here) a day, which is not vary much. But thats enough rambling. For dinner we are going to an art gallery!!

So yesterday we went to the beach!! It was beautiful, we had the opportunity to surf, but as a beginner the waves were too big so I opted to wait. It was a little surf community, and there were a ton of surfers from California. These are the first people I have seen in El Salvador from the U.S. We chilled at the beach all day then came back to San Salvador, where we went out to eat for Erin´s brithday. This was my first time having sushi and it was amazing! Then we all came back to the house, chilled and listened to salsa music. There is some really good music here, and in Guatemala too. Today we went to Tipo De Maiz, which holds workshops for youth and adults and then I continued to read The Weight of All Things. It is a book about a boy who gets separated from his grandfather during the war, and has many adventures along the way. I have to read one more book this week and write reflections before Friday! Tomorrow we have class again, which I always look forward too, then we are meeting with the Bishop, which is also something to look forward too!

These past four days we have been living in a rural community. The community, Nueva Esparansa, was formed during the civil war and has a really interesting history. The community started to form in Nicaragua, where people were living as refugees of the El Salvadoran war. When they came back to the US, they came together with Salvadoran refugees also from Honduras and Panama. They started an agricultural cooperative to sustain themselves, and still have the coop today. They grow sugar cane, coconuts, and cashew nuts. The community is set up in a completely democratic form. The entire community makes decisions together. The community also has cow herds that they use for milk, Its funny to see how many cows were roaming the streets.
We all stayed with individual host families. The family I lived with was fairly large, most of their family unit eigther lived in my house or in the houses next door.
While we were there we had to opportunity to visit their coconut fields, sugar cane and cashew fields. We got to drink coconut milk and eat raw sugar cane, which was pretty cool. The cashew trees are wierd, cashews grow from the bottom of a fruit, its kinda funny lookin. We also visited other communities who shared their history. It is interesting how these communities for because, alot of them have ex-guerilla and ex-military men from the war in them. But because they all live in poverty, they are able to get along because of their common bond. Its fascinating!
There is also a vary strong sense of community and sense of identity. They all care for each other and work together to over come difficulties. Liberation theology is also vary alive there. Many of them talk about verses from the bible such as Exodus and the Beatitudes and relate the stories to their life and live through them. I feel I am learning so much about the Christian faith by talking to all these people that truely live our their faith, its amazing!

This week I have been studying liberation theology with sister Peggy here in El Salvador. Peggy is an amazing person and so inspiring! On Monday we had a day off so we all went to the beach and rode the waves. The waves were huge! I got caught in the under toe quite a few times. But it was really nice to have a break.
Also this week Erin and I have been working on our campaign for Student Body President and Vice President. It has been kind of frustrating for me because this is something that I really am passionate about and I have to campaign thousands of miles away. But I feel study abroad experiences is something that is important in the college experience. I feel like I have learned so much here, not only about the global community but also about myself.. so I just remind my self that when I am getting frustrated!
In class we have been learning about the history of liberation theology. Also as part of my class I am reading War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning by Chris Hedges. It is vary interesting. The author talks about how when we go to war our construct for whats right and wrong changes. The more I thought about it the more it made sense. When we are at war, our definition of what is moral changes, I mean we literally kill people and its ok. Its interesting to think about.

San Ramon

So the past couple days I was at a rural stay. I stayed in the community of San Ramon. It was amazing!! My host family was so nice and so interested in talking about my life! They were also really open about their lives and experiences they have had. San Ramon is a base Christian community, they are vary alive in their liberation theology. Friday I had the opportunity to talk to members of the community, and hear their stories and talk about history and politics. On Saturday we went to a memorial service for those who died in March during the war. It was such a powerful celebration. It was a celebration of their lives and there was music and people talked about how the lives of Oscar Romero and Rutilio Grande still influence their lives today. On Sunday I went to their church service- It is amazng to witness such cheerful and active faith. People are so hopeful, and their community is so strong its absolutely amazing. Sister Anita, who helps organize with the community is one of the most independent women I have met. She basically helped this community organize and start social programs that help people in the community but also those outside of the community. Oscar Romero once said, When I die let these people be my microphones, and this community was a strong example of this.
This weekend I also got the opportunity to make soy milk! At a soy restaurant that is run by this community. It was a great weekend, I was sad to leave!!

We are in El Salvdor!!! We arrived in San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador! We are all staying together in a house right in the heart of the capital. And the food is awsome! It is also alot hotter here!! El Salvador is not as mountainous as Guatemala but it is equally gorgeous!
We are taking a liberation theology class here with Peggy, a sister of the church. So far class has been amazing! Peggy is so funny and so intelligent, and everything about the class is interesting! Weve also been learning about the history of El Salvador and the politics of the region. We have also learned alot about how involved the US is in Salvadoran politics. During the civil war the US sent over a million dollars a day to pay for the military here! El Salvador is also the only Latin American country with troops in Iraq and El Salvador has the third biggest US embassy next to Israel and Iraq. We got to drive by in and soon we will meet with the ambassador but its absolutely huge! and for what? This week has definately made me question the US in terms of political decisions in the past.. and now. Today we visited the area where 4 jesuit priests were murdered by the military. It was emotionally intense, actually this whole week has been reallly intense, but still really fun. Tommorrow we leave for rural home stays, which will be a great experience!!