Duck

Yes, this is a picture of a dead duck. It was alive about 1 minute before this picture was taken. So one afternoon my friends Brian and Karl bought a duck for $2.00 from a friend. This was a pretty fat little duck they got. Anyways, so the boys killed the duck. I couldn't watch all of it, but I had to document it. I have never witness an animal being killed, chopped up, cooked and then eaten. Also, I'm in El Salvador..people do this stuff all the time here but I'm usually too much of a baby to witness the killing part. It was something that I felt I had to do while being here.

SO the boys killed it, cleaned it (what a bitch it was to get the feathers off), cooked in and then made a gumbo. It was delicious!

*Now, I know at home and even here I try not to eat that much meat, nor do I really like meat. But if I'm going to eat it, I like it fresh and local...I couldn't have gotten it much more fresh or local.

Teacher Taller

The past two weeks three other volunteers and I did a teacher workshop in and around San Miguel. We taught them these lessons called APA- Actividades Participativas Ambientales or basically Participatory Environment Activities. They are a series of Science lessons that gets kids active, thinking, experimenting and then reflecting on the activity. We gave and taught 21 teachers some of these activies and brought them on field trips to show how you can teach outside the classroom. It was awesome and I think the teachers really appreciated it and learned a lot. Here, most teachers just teach by dictating to studies or having them copy down information. Hnads on, analysis and reflection aren't incorporated that much, but hopefully some of these teachers will now start to include these techniques.... Actually 2 of my teachers that went last week asked me yesterday if we can go on a mini field trip to a river and do one of the activities that we taught them in the workshop!

3 de marzo

The other day I step out of my house and my vecina, the landlord, la senora (lots of names for her) anyways she is outside my house and we start talking. She tells me how good it was that I had visitors and that I must feel lonely now...yeah thanks for the reminder. Anyways, she has 2 daughters in the US that see misses a lot, and one is a citizen/has papers. So anyways we start talking about why she and her husband don´t want to go to the US. The Conversation goes something like:

La senora: Here, I can be outside all the time. The doors are open. I can feel the breeze and fresh air, but there you are closed in all the time. It´s cold. Theres snow and hail. I´d die.

Me: Ah, yeah it is cold there. ANd it is nice here. I like that its warm all year round and I can be outside a lot.

La senora: yes, yes exactly. My husband was going to go to the US too, but you know what?

Me: What?

La senora: People live in small apartments in Washington (aka DC). You can´t hang a hammack. And its cold so you can´t sleep in a hammack either.

Me: Yeah, apartments are small and hammacks aren´t that common there but you could hang one up.

La senora: Oh no. My husband he told me he could never leave here. He can´t sleep anywhere but his hammack. He said he would rather be here swinging in his hammack all afternoon then be in el norte (US).

......moral of the story is that well hammacks are pretty great. I can´t lie, but to sleep in everynight, nah. haha i thought it was funny that the reason why her husband didn´t want to go to the US was his love for his hammack!

Love and miss you all!