Gratitude and Generosity
When you are student in Public Health and plan to make it your career these words are bound to cross your path and mind often. You can’t enter the field of Public Health with aspirations to realistically “save the world” as I often tell people when they just can’t grasp what the field is. I often find myself saying “no I am not a doctor” or “I don’t give people medical care” or “I work with communities”. While my PH people know that we will not save the world simply by working in the field, we also know that in order to enter into this field you really have to care about people and their well-being, and if you’re at all like me you probably care too much. You also find yourself in these situations that remind just how grateful you are for what you have and where you are from; and are often astounded by the generosity of people who have so much less than you. Each day I am here I experience both of these feelings. The kindness of the community around me helps me remain conscious of all that I have been blessed with. While I have my moments of complaining or whining or crankiness, I also remember that I am still thankful for what I have though feeling these things is normal and okay. In the words of 2 of my besties “Everything is not always sunshine and rainbows” and it shouldn’t have to be, but keeping the good in perspective with the difficult is equally important.
On Wednesday evening we drove into San Salvador from Santa Clara for an event the following day. On the way Leonel offered to take us to the beach!!!! My dream come true!! As I have said many times before he is the nicest man on the planet. He goes above and beyond any expectations and always does really nice things for us! I must add that he is really interesting to talk to. He has so much knowledge about the people here and the country’s rich history that is missed in google searches online. I learn so much from our conversations on history, religion, politics and am so grateful to be able to talk to him. Sadly he is leaving for the US next week and will not return until after we leave, but that’s for another time. So we arrive at Costa del Sol!!! The road that leads to the beach is lined with private residences and hotels that have large gates covering their entrances. So we drove until we found a small local fishing entrance. They offered a deal on parking, a table, and changing facilities so we took it!!! And the best part is that it’s on the beach and we supported a local fishing industry! I love helping local businesses no matter where I go. The sand was black, the water bluish-gray, and the tide was rolling in causing never-ending waves to crash onto the shore. Can you think of better scenery? Ah to be there again! Kayla and I swam; aka dodged waves, frolicked, and tried to stay afloat, for the better part of an hour. Then we went back to the table and had beer and water with Leonel and one of our wonderful and insightful conversations. From there we sat for a long time just relaxing, gazing out over the water until close to 6pm when the fishing boats returned from a long day at sea. After Leonel purchased some snapper from the fisherman, we headed off to have papusas and hot chocolate for dinner. YUM Picture piping hot corn papusas overflowing with gooey cheese, beans, and spicy meat. Happiness!
On our way from the restaurant to Leonel’s home we took the Autopista Camalapa. This is the main highway from the airport to San Salvador. As we were driving down this road I thought back to exactly 5 weeks earlier when we were driving along the same road around 8pm when we first entered El Salvador. At that time I was full of excitement about being in a new place, anxiety about the unknown of the country, and readiness to begin a new adventure that will help enhance my public health experience and help define my career intentions. Now as I was driving on the same road I had thoughts of how comfortable I am here, how much I am enjoying meeting and getting to know the people who I have, and how things are not always as clear as they seem or as you think they should be. A lot has happened in 5 weeks…it will be interesting to see what is to come for the final 4.
Thursday was for relaxing and catching up on work we could not do without internet. In the evening we drove into the city center for the event in honor of Romero’s death. Oscar Anulfo Romero was assassinated in 1980. He was a religious leader in the country who aspired to unite the people of El Salvador encouraging peace, unity, kindness, humility, and other such qualities so much so that the people refer to him as a martyr. The celebration was one of peace and joy. Local religious leaders from all types of churches gathered and spoke to the crowd and local bands played songs to honor the evening. The night was very moving. I really enjoyed standing in front of the National Cathedral among hundreds of people listening to the outpours of love for a man whose life impacts the lives of Salvadorans 31 years after his death. Throughout the crowd were several reporters from the news stations around town. This is how I became famous. One of the reporters approached Kayla first and asked her “You speak Spanish?” She said no as she did not want to be on TV at the moment. Then he moves over to me with the same question. Well little did I know that the camera was rolling at this point. So I also did not want to be on TV so I said “NO” as well but in order to emphasize my response I bulged my eyes out, opened them wide and shook my head “no”. HAHAHA I bet I looked hilarious. Well people saw me doing this that I know! Luisa, one of the promotoras talked to us about seeing me on TV on Thursday when she saw us this morning. Oh well...my advice to you is if you want to be “famous” just look ridiculous and it’s in the bag!.
After our night with Romero, Leonel took us to a taco place for dinner. Let me tell you this place blows Surfside and all other taco places out of the water. Taqueria Tapatio was AMAZING so much so we want and plan to go back at least one more time before leaving the country! Leonel taught us cute nicknames that girls give their guys here (melon) and then in return the guy refers to the girl as (bon bon). I wanted to share because they’re just so cute and funny. Friday we made plans to go out with the girls. During the day we worked and then saw The Black Swan in the afternoon…trippy. We got ready and felt girly again (YAY) and grabbed dinner. Karla and Marce picked us up just after 9pm and we headed to their friend’s house for a pre-dancing party. The condo we went to was gorgeous! It’s owned by a diplomat and was so nice. We sat on the balcony, overlooking the city and chatted. I almost felt like I was with my best girl friends drinking wine on a night before going out. We had wine, beer, snacks, cute clothes, music, and lots of talk about guys. The only difference from my nights with friends was the Spanish and Spanglish language we were chatting in. Otherwise you had 7 girls getting ready to go out on the town! It was so chevere (cool). Around 12 we headed out to the disco and danced for a few hours before coming home. It was so much fun!
The farm life has returned…
Coley
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