san jorge receives it´s first official visitor
are you still reading? or has the blog become tedious and boring? i ask because i called my mom the other day to tell her of something big that occurred at my site and she said "well now you'll have something to write about in your blog." ???? like i've been stumped for writing material these past two years? i mean, i'll admit, lots of stuff probably isn't of the utmost importance to you all up in the states, but if i didn't find it at least a little bit interesting i wouldn't write about it at all. believe me, there are sooooo many things that i DON'T write about. should i cut back? quit the blog altogether? maybe two years of peace corps el salvador stories is enough? maybe that's why it's a two year service, not three....because after two years things are repetitive and boring. i guess i won't know that until i officially enter my third year. plus i never hear from ANYBODY in the states....family or friends! what gives? too busy? have i disappeared into the great el salvador abyss of buses filled with reggaeton and been forgotten? i write letters (which yes, i know is an ancient practice at this point), and i have no idea if any of you have gotten my letters or not. nobody ever tells me one way or the other! well, i hope i haven´t been forgotten, but you never know. it´s highly possible.
anyway, so the other day i got a call from rolando at like 7:30 a.m. asking me if i was in my site and i said yes. he then informed me that the u.s. ambassador to el salvador (charles glazer) wanted to come and visit my site that day. ?????? i acted as if it was no big deal, but hold up....the ambassador? visiting me? in san jorge? what???? that's like the president coming to visit!!! i called antonio and text messaged courtney and frantically told them i was super nervous and then kept getting more phone calls from rolando to coordinate the arrival time and work out the details with all the security guys. after coordinating everything, rolando and i waited outside niña domy's house for what seemed like forever. finally he arrived and rolando and i greeted him and his wife, as well as his compañeros and their wives, and their various bodyguards and other security men. it was quite overwhelming and i found myself struggling with what to say about my school and my work. i mean, i have tons to say about it. just have a look at this blog! they all hadn't visited this area of the country yet (well, ambassador glazer had, but the rest of them hadn't yet) and had loads of questions about the coffee fincas and mountains and the weather (it was super windy that day). i explained about the map project we did, as it's hard to miss because it's the first thing you see when you walk into the school area. they all loved that and got a kick out of being able to see exactly where we were by me pointing it out on the map. we took a bunch of photos and then visited each of the classrooms, while i tried to fill them in on just what it is we do as peace corps volunteers (and then more specifically, what i've done and am doing as a peace corps volunteer) and why we are needed. the kids were so great! they all greeted the group with "good morning!" and we had some photos taken with the kids and some more with the teachers.
have you ever seen that movie bridget jones's diary where she is introducing "mr. fitzherbert" to the crowd at an event that her publisher is putting on. and she keeps thinking that she wants to call him "mr. fitzpervert" because he's a pervert and so before she introduces him she's so afraid she's going to say "mr. fitzpervert" and keeps reciting it over in her head, but ultimately says the right thing? anyway....the ambassador's name is charles glazer, and but i kept wanting to say "charles barclay" because "barclay" is the last name of the former ambassador to el salvador and those two names also fit together well because of the basketball player with that name. and i was so determined not to say charles barclay, because, let's face it, that would be embarrassing and everyone would turn around to see where the six foot ten basketball player was. so i was introducing him and i drew a blank for a minute, and then mumbled his name....correctly. ugh. i'm not good in these pressure situations, let me tell you.
but in any event, the visit went well, and of course, everyone in san jorge is talking about it. nobody like this has ever visited little san jorge and probably won't for some time. but it was nice of the ambassador to stop by and see my site. his wife and the rest of the officials and their wives were all soooo nice and kept commenting on what a nice school we have.....and we do (despite all the problems i've mentioned before). so hopefully they all had good things to say about my site and my work and i educated them a little bit about what peace corps is all about.
the teachers, the ambassador and i
elba talking about the school
with the kindergarteners
second graders (and a few other students that were called into action at the last minute)
rolando, the ambassador and i
anyway, so the other day i got a call from rolando at like 7:30 a.m. asking me if i was in my site and i said yes. he then informed me that the u.s. ambassador to el salvador (charles glazer) wanted to come and visit my site that day. ?????? i acted as if it was no big deal, but hold up....the ambassador? visiting me? in san jorge? what???? that's like the president coming to visit!!! i called antonio and text messaged courtney and frantically told them i was super nervous and then kept getting more phone calls from rolando to coordinate the arrival time and work out the details with all the security guys. after coordinating everything, rolando and i waited outside niña domy's house for what seemed like forever. finally he arrived and rolando and i greeted him and his wife, as well as his compañeros and their wives, and their various bodyguards and other security men. it was quite overwhelming and i found myself struggling with what to say about my school and my work. i mean, i have tons to say about it. just have a look at this blog! they all hadn't visited this area of the country yet (well, ambassador glazer had, but the rest of them hadn't yet) and had loads of questions about the coffee fincas and mountains and the weather (it was super windy that day). i explained about the map project we did, as it's hard to miss because it's the first thing you see when you walk into the school area. they all loved that and got a kick out of being able to see exactly where we were by me pointing it out on the map. we took a bunch of photos and then visited each of the classrooms, while i tried to fill them in on just what it is we do as peace corps volunteers (and then more specifically, what i've done and am doing as a peace corps volunteer) and why we are needed. the kids were so great! they all greeted the group with "good morning!" and we had some photos taken with the kids and some more with the teachers.
have you ever seen that movie bridget jones's diary where she is introducing "mr. fitzherbert" to the crowd at an event that her publisher is putting on. and she keeps thinking that she wants to call him "mr. fitzpervert" because he's a pervert and so before she introduces him she's so afraid she's going to say "mr. fitzpervert" and keeps reciting it over in her head, but ultimately says the right thing? anyway....the ambassador's name is charles glazer, and but i kept wanting to say "charles barclay" because "barclay" is the last name of the former ambassador to el salvador and those two names also fit together well because of the basketball player with that name. and i was so determined not to say charles barclay, because, let's face it, that would be embarrassing and everyone would turn around to see where the six foot ten basketball player was. so i was introducing him and i drew a blank for a minute, and then mumbled his name....correctly. ugh. i'm not good in these pressure situations, let me tell you.
but in any event, the visit went well, and of course, everyone in san jorge is talking about it. nobody like this has ever visited little san jorge and probably won't for some time. but it was nice of the ambassador to stop by and see my site. his wife and the rest of the officials and their wives were all soooo nice and kept commenting on what a nice school we have.....and we do (despite all the problems i've mentioned before). so hopefully they all had good things to say about my site and my work and i educated them a little bit about what peace corps is all about.
the teachers, the ambassador and i
elba talking about the school
with the kindergarteners
second graders (and a few other students that were called into action at the last minute)
rolando, the ambassador and i
posted by laura v. at 7:03 PM
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