Greetings from rainy El Salvador!

This past month has been pretty busy, but I have finally had a chance to update my blog! Last Tuesday (wow, was that really a week ago??) was my last day of Spanish classes at CASAS. I am very grateful for the connections and friendships I made there, and the improvements in my Spanish skills. Wednesday morning at 7:15 am I was all packed and ready to head to El Salvador to start the next part of my journey! Arriving on Guatemalan time, Antony (the MCC rep/my boss) picked me up at my host family’s house around 8, but we couldn’t leave quite yet because his wife Irma was dropping their daughter off at school! Finally at 9:30 am (yes, one and a half hours later…) we left the city, but…to make a long story short…it has been raining pretty much non-stop in most of Central America since last Monday, which has created floods as well as some mudslides, making many roads impassable. Although some roads were still ok, we had to drive slower due to the rain/mud. We drove past a few accidents, as well as many flooded rivers and houses, which was very sad to see. It’s always the poorest and most vulnerable families who have their homes built in flood-prone areas. We were within 30 minutes from the border to El Salvador when we came across a line of traffic. A bridge up ahead had collapsed, and since all other routes to the border were closed due to the tropical storm, we had to return back to the city. So at 4pm, 7 hours after saying goodbye to Guatemala City and my host family, we were back in the city once again. To make things worse, since we were driving a pick-up truck, my suitcases had to go in the back – we wrapped them in garbage bags and tarps, but that wasn’t enough for this Guatemalan rain! Half my clothes got soaking wet, so I had to hang them up around the MCC apartment where I stayed the night, since they don’t have a dryer.

The next morning, I packed up my wet clothes back into my suitcases and we attempted the trek to El Salvador again. This time, we made it! Thursday the rain had stopped, and most of the roads had improved, so our journey went much quicker, and we finally arrived in the afternoon, to the ANADES headquarters, just on the outskirts of San Salvador. I had a bit of an orientation with the director of ANADES, the director of the 5 pre-school programs in the country, and the woman in charge of the pre-school I will be working at, called Centro Hogar. I found out that my work will be as a “collaborator” with the other teachers/educators in the “Materno 1” class – with kids ages 18 months to 3 years. Not exactly sure what the job of a collaborator entails – but I guess I’ll find out soon!

Friday morning I started my first day of work at ANADES. School was closed due to the storm, but I met all the teachers/educators in the pre-school system, and we had a First Aid workshop. It was a little bit boring, since I knew most of the stuff already, but it was good to practice my Spanish – the El Salvador accent is a lot more difficult to understand, than the Guatemalan accent! The rain started back up again in the morning, and it poured all morning and afternoon. At 2:00 we were sent home early, because of the rain and the risk of more mudslides. Since Friday afternoon, El Salvador has been in a state of emergency.

Since I haven’t had internet access since arriving in El Salvador, I will continue my blogpost!

Today is Saturday, and the rain continues…

This week I am staying in San Salvador with two older women who work at ANADES. One is a woman from El Salvador, who is one of the co-founders of ANADES. The other is a woman from Spain, who has been living and working with different NGOs in El Salvador for the past 25 years. Next week I will move in with my permanent host family.

Sunday – More rain…

Monday – The rain has seemed to slow down a bit today…but this also happened on Thursday, and then things got worse again…so who knows!

Tuesday – The rain has stopped (in the city, at least!) The sun was out all afternoon, and my wet clothes from a week ago are finally dry!! And I finally have internet access to post this blog! J

Unfortunately, schools are still closed, so I haven’t been doing much this past week. I’m hoping that by Thursday or Friday I will be able to start my work at the pre-school, but who knows!

I don’t think the tropical storms in Central America have made it into Canadian newspapers, so here’s an article from the BBC.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-15331290

Thousands of people have been evacuated from their communities, and many homes and crops have been destroyed. Many rural communities where ANADES works have been greatly affected, so once the road conditions improve and bridges are fixed, the ANADES community development workers will have lots to do! Please send your thoughts and prayers to the people of El Salvador and Central America. Hopefully the rain has stopped for good, so that the situation doesn’t continue to get worse, and so that roads can improve so that help can arrive to the most desperate communities.