Who needs a hair dryer when you have a pica?

It has been one week since I moved in with my host family in San Esteban Catarina.  I absolutely love them!  My family consists of my abuelita, Graciela, her three daughters: Veronica, Lillian, and Daniella, and two grandsons, Joaquin and Ricardo.  I've learned so much and I feel like I'm really close to my family already.  Joaquin took a liking to me instantly and the other day Veronica taught me how to make papas rellenas.  I think by the end of my eight weeks here I won't want to leave.  It's also interesting because my family has wifi and television, but an outside shower and toilet that doesn't flush, and a latrine.  Apparently I'm being spoiled here and my permanent site won't be anywhere near this nice (definitely no wifi!)  It will also probably be in a much more rural area.

(Lillian, Veronica, and Graciela)

Right now I'm only a 15 minute pica ride to San Vicente, where the Peace Corps training site is located.  A pica is just a pick-up (hence the name pica, which I just put together today) with a tarp where everyone stands and holds on to get to town.  It's 30 cents to get to San Vicente from here and it's usually super crowded and I have to hold on for dear life.  The view is amazing though.  I live in the mountains and there's also a volcano close by called "Chicontepec."  Since it's the rainy season, everything is lusciously green.  I wish I could take a photo but I'm afraid my camera would get snatched so you'll just have to take my word for it.  Every single time I travel back and forth I am in awe and I think how lucky I am to be in such a beautiful place.

Today I tried pan dulce, or sweetbreads.  Cuerpo de Paz treated us since several of us had/have birthdays coming up.  I had the pineapple flavored and it was absolutely delicious.  Supposedly, the place where the make it is one of the best panaderias in all of El Salvador.

Spanish classes are pretty intense and sometimes last all day long but my Spanish is rapidly improving.  My family tells me my Spanish skills are great, but I think that's only because they've never had an "aspirante" that spoke the language upon arrival before.  I really enjoy learning and being able to practice with all of the kids in the neighborhood.  They're all so nice and curious, always asking me what certain things mean in English and telling me how to say things in Spanish.  One of my neighbors, a little girl named Nicole, even brought me elote (corn on the cob) that her family had prepared this evening.  This weekend we are traveling to another volunteer's site to do activities with a group of kids.  I'm excited to get to play outside with kids all day but I'm going to have to make sure I bring my sunblock!

My busted arm from traveling and vaccinations.  Everyone keeps asking me how I got such a big bruise and Veronica even asked me if it was from domestic violence!