Day 8: My Team Wins!

Saturday September 5, 2009

Vocabulary

atol: hot, sweet beverage made from corn and served at breakfast

guajada: soft, wet, fresh cheese made into single-serving little bricks

salpicón: ground beef with onions and spices

Photos

Food and Cooking

Nature

Animals

So the big news today is that El Salvador played the US (in soccer, the only sport that matters around here), and the US won!  I tried not to rub it into Luis' face too much (doesn't he look sad?), but it was fun to "win."  El Salvador will play Costa Rica in a few days, and if they don't win that game they are out of the running for the World Cup.  We're going to be sure to watch that game, and Luis and I will be rooting for the same team this time.


I brought a few books with me in case I needed to entertain myself, and the last few days I've had more time to read.  I recently was reading a book about neurology (in the same vein as Oliver Sachs' books) called "Phantoms in the Brain," and Alfredo asked me if it was the Bible.  Reading is not a popular past time around here.  


Today I started a book of short stories in Spanish that I borrowed (I promise I'll give it back...) from Dad.  It's a text book, so there are introductions in English and footnotes with translations of selected vocabulary.  That's very helpful.  I also get fewer questions and strange looks if I'm at least reading a book that's in Spanish.  And the stories are good.  A step up from Ralph and his motorcycle.


I'm usually the last to wake up in the house, around 7 am, but today I was up at 6 am, before Ester and Luis, mostly because I spent a lot of yesterday sleeping since I was sick.  Going to bed at 8 pm and getting up at 4 am is not unusual here (from what I hear tell; it's not like I've ever been up at 4 am to check).  This morning at 7:30 AM Alfredo was blasting music from a loudspeaker that can be heard throughout the neighborhood.  I'm glad I was awake anyway.


A lady came by today selling clothes.  You can ask her to find something specific and she'll bring it next time she comes, which seems like a pretty good deal to me.  Dona Hilda had asked for a shirt to match a skirt she has.  My clothing is definitely on the casual side (I brought mostly shorts and tee shirts) here.  Women and girls pretty much always wear skirts and blouses.  I asked Carolina if she had any pants or shorts, and she said she had one pair one time but she grew out of them and hasn't had any since.  I don't think I own any clothing that would fit in, since my clothes that are nice enough would be too hot for the weather.  People also change, and reuse, clothes a lot here.  Someone might change clothes two or three times throughout the day depending on what they're doing and then wear at least one of those outfits again the next day.

Today's vocabulary is again food-related, as is the first photo album (it includes a picture of pupusas for those who are wondering what they look like).  There is a lot of food here, most of it quite good.  The only problem is that everyone is always trying to get me to eat more, and to eat between meals.  I want to try everything and not be rude, but it's a little much.  My newest trick is to accept the extra food and then offer most of it to the ubiquitous children.  This is pretty win-win.  Today Hilda made guajada, a soft cheese, from milk from their cows (sorry I don't have a picture).  Every few days I have atol with my breakfast, and I like it a lot.  Salpicon was yet another new food for me, and it's also really good.


Dad would not like the structure (or lack thereof) of meals here.  The whole family never sits down to eat together, even though I wouldn't call what they do grazing, because Hilda makes a meal that everyone eats, just not at exactly the same time or in the same place (Alfredo likes to eat outside while others prefer eating inside).  I now see where Manuel gets his aversion to sitting down together to eat (you wouldn't think it'd be too hard, since there are only two of us...).

I expected to eat a lot of rice and beans, but I haven't eaten a single bean, and there is not rice at every meal.  There is actually more variety than what Manuel and I normally eat (which includes rice and beans at almost every meal).  I have liked pretty much everything.  I especially like the breakfasts of fried plantains, atol, warm milk with cinnamon, or sweet bread.  They did buy some American breakfas food, corn flakes, specially for me, but they serve all soggy and with hot milk.  I don't like those so much.


As in any hot climate, it's a struggle to drink enough water.  I'm getting a little more used to it now, but the first few days I was always terribly thirsty.  I mostly drink bottled or bagged (drinks often come in bags here--you rip off one corner and then pour it into a glass, or just suck straight from the bag) water, though a few times I have drunk the tap water, which Manuel assures me is safe because it comes from a nearby well.  It may be safe, but it kind of tastes like dirt, so I try to stick with the bottled.

Continuing with today's photo albums, I think the nature photos speak for themselves.  If you don't look at any other albums, please look at this one.  It's so beautiful here.

And the animals.  Most meat, here as in the US, comes from chickens, cows, and pigs, and many families own at least some of those staples (we have chickens and cows).  There are also some more exotic domesticated animals (turkeys, ducks).  The wild animals are mostly insects and birds, though I did manage to get this photo of some bats.  I try to remember to drench myself in insect repellant at every opportunity (the little girls inexplicably love the smell of it), but I still have lots of bug bites.

There has been some kind of epidemic of chicken sickness while I've been here.  At least five chickens have died.  It's really sad, especially when it's one of the little "pollitos" (chicks, literally "little chickens").  You can tell they're sick for a few days (you can see the little chick to the right has its head down and eyes closed if you look close), and they give them medicine, but none have gotten better that I've seen, and after a few days of sickness they die.