Stories to Tell, Part 1

As we close, practically speaking, the first half of our adventure here in Central America, there’s a few funny nuggets that have been edited out from our writing productions thus far. For your enjoyment, we hope to submit them to you as we remember them, in hind sight, so that, like a good wine, they have had some time to breathe, before they’re drunk-in. Here's the first of a few stories to tell. Enjoy!

The soundtrack of our lives

Dick Clark has said: “music is the soundtrack of our lives.” Thus, he planted in many of us the feeling that the music we listen to is as important as the food we eat, the company that we keep, and the landscapes and sceneries we choose to immerse ourselves in.

When we left the U.S. we were really intentional about two things in this regard: a-) the amount of music we brought with us, and b-) the actual selection of music we brought as well. Fearful that we might lose our bigger, more expensive iPod in our travels through Nicaragua, we only brought Kat’s Nano, which can hold up to 1,000 songs, as opposed to the staggering number of jams the bigger one can hold. Needless to say, we were pretty satisfied with the music we had selected, and we felt that we were going to be just fine for the duration of our adventure. To give you an image of how we felt, just imagine Jason & the Argonauts without the thunderous backdrops of all those mad and megalomaniac gods and demigods playing their ominous jams before trying to trap him. Yeah, now you get it…

Just like it happens in all ancient Greek tragedies, chance would play a role in toying with our plans. What we had not factored-in in all this rigging of fate was Ario’s teenage nieces and nephews who were eager to both listen to the music we brought with us, and of course, they were just as eager to share their music with us… by attempting to download their tunes onto Kat’s iPod. Oh! Gods of the musical Hades!

It turns out that in one of our first weekly visits with Ario, Jenny’s first born, he asked his uncle Ario to lend him the iPod because he was really enjoying the selection of music in it. Of course, uncle Ario being such a music lover himself, gave his nephew the iPod and laconically said: “don’t do anything with it, other than listen.”  In a now forgotten aphorism Oscar Wilde says: “I can resist anything, except temptation.” Ario, the nephew, was the weak prey of this feeling, and since a new, flashy computer had been brought to his house, he decided to test the waters, and ERASED ALL THE MUSIC in our iPod in one single blow, irretrievably… forever.

It was of course a mistake, and one for which he was truly regretful, but one that couldn’t be fixed no matter what. He did not know that iPods are only formatted in the computer in which they’re first plugged in to recharge and be altered. At first we were pretty upset about it, because honestly we had forgotten the actual songs we had in there, but we knew we had jewels in there like Silvio Rodriguez’s albums, lots of Bob Dylan, and a whole bunch of mixes with a bit of everything to tickle both our fancies.

In an attempt at being Buddhist about it, we had let go of the music, and felt like we were doomed to remain without a “soundtrack to our lives,” for the rest of our stay… we’re speaking of mid-October here people. Don’t let the dismal dimension of the feeling be lost on you. But, just as we were absorbing the hit, Lo! And behold! Jim and Jan’s care package from the U.S. arrived to our home, and with it came a CD-DVR burner and player… the burner, along with the amazing collection of CD’s (both albums and mixes) that Ario had brought home with him in a span of over 10 years saved the day, and harmony was restored in the Universe…

Ario’s mom brought the collection to us, and it was refreshing and rewarding to find out that some of the same mixes that Ario had made to drive through the street of San Francisco, or mixes that held a great deal of meaning in the development of our relationship, like “Kat Woman,” or “Flamenco Kat,” were here.

A true collaboration between Jim’s foresight and Betty’s thoughtful care of her own collection saved us from a life underpinned by endless Youtube downloads whose quality was just going to frustrate us, Time After Time, no pun intended. Well, maybe a little.     

The Congress of Emotions... via Giving Thanks

The Congress of Emotions… via Giving Thanks

“A Road whose very Preparation scared
The Traveller who yet must be prepared.
Who then this Travel to Result would bring
Needs both a Lion's Heart beneath the Wing,
And even more, a Spirit purified
Of Worldly Passion, Malice, Lust, and Pride.”

                    From the Mantiqu ‘t-Tayr by Farid ud-Din Attar

It is delightful and fulfilling to verify that some of our notions regarding time, and the relationship between culture, and actual people, are nothing but fallacies once you are in the midst of community, as defined by Martin Buber, that is, when community is decidedly “the overcoming of otherness through living unity.”

No doubt, Kat & I have experienced a great deal of intensity in both sensation and emotions, in a good way, since we first landed in Managua, five months ago. At first, it might seem that living intensely, or what we commonly regard as intensely, is in fact overwhelming. To further explain this point, we shall make use of the following example: One of the many, perhaps apocryphal anecdotes about Gautama, the Buddha, tells us that a certain follower approached him and asked him: “Master: what is the chief characteristic of the most spiritual being?” to which Gautama only replied: “the day has many hours, and those hours are made of smaller chunks of time, and so on and so forth ad infinitum.” And fell back on his silence. The master spoke, closed his eyes, and dismissed the neophyte.

What we can infer from the aforementioned anecdote is that the most spiritual being is that who is perpetually aware and sentient of all that is happening around. This is in fact what we have been experiencing since we first landed over here: an endless chain of good people, meaningful words, situations, events, discoveries, celebrations, travels, food, change of sceneries, etc.

Basically, our universe has been as shifting as your eyes right now, going from one word to the next as you read this note. For helping us attain this depth in existence we can only be grateful to each one of you, since it is because of your love and support (in one way or another), that we have managed to experience life so fully, and in such a fashion as to feel like the most fortunate and happy of all newlyweds. To further exemplify, here are a few updates since we last spoke to one another through these forum of our diaries:  

-While Ario has been working to improve the academic skills of Chico (one of the youngest nephews), and working on his novel, Kat has been volunteering at the Preschool run by Yeca, and even gave some English classes to the enthusiastic munchkins there. Unfortunately the last two weeks of the school year Kat got pink eye and therefore wasn’t able to see the kids till the very end, but we did attend their end of the year celebration. The school year in El Salvador begins again in mid-January.

Chico's Volcano school project

Maternal (2 year olds) class getting ready to perform at the end of the year celebration

- Kat’s visa renewal- Since the most that Kat can be in El Salvador is 90 days (and the neighboring countries, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua all have a deal which makes it so that we have to leave not only El Salvador, but go past these countries as well to be able to reenter and get a new visa) we decided to request a visa renewal in October. Arriving with rose-colored glasses at the last minute, we were disappointed when we had to bring back the next day passport pictures, our marriage certificate (which of course we didn’t have and so instead had to provide the authorities with an affidavit certifying that in fact we are married –oh! Bureaucracy, you have the same face everywhere…), copies of Ario’s ids, and bank statements to strengthen the application. After all sorts of last minute travails and tribulations, luckily Kat did get a visa renewal, although for only 60 days, so next week we will be visiting Belize for a few days so that Kat can return to El Salvador and get another 90 days visa. Life is giving us lemons, and we are headed to a beach in Belize where lemonade under the palm trees can only mean bliss. (As a side note we must add that, in preparation for failure on this one task, we were ready to transform Kat into Katalina, and we were going to pretend that she was from Chalatenango, one of the provinces where people with features similar to hers come from in the country. Since the province was heavily affected by the war, many city halls were destroyed , and thus records lost (providing us with the perfect alibi for Katalina’s lost papers, if she failed to produce them). Fortunately, we did not need to forge Kat a new identity as Katalina Macazar (a hybrid between McAvoy & Salazar).

-Birthday celebrations! We celebrated Betti’s (Ario’s Mom) with a surprise lunch at our house. Needless to say, Ario’s mom was beside herself seeing that all those who love her confabulated with the master confabulator (that is, Ario) to provide her with such delight.  Yessenita (Edenilson’s daughter) turned 10 years old, and we celebrated at World Games (a kid-like Gameworld), Vanessa (niece) turned 14 years old and we celebrated with a lunch for her (she enjoyed her fried chicken from Pollo Campero) and a cake made by Kat. Kat’s birthday was specially marked by a love for BEING TAKEN CARE OF, at the famous Royal Decameron, a posh and luxurious resort with Edenilson’s family. Thank you everyone for your lovely birthday wishes, cards, and gifts. Today, as you read this post, Ario’s birthday celebrations are under way, and although siding on the mellow, reflective side of things, it promises to be yet another excuse for friends and family to get together and enjoy good food prepared by Betti and desserts by Kat.

Beti enjoying her cake on her face with some of the family surrounding her

Kat hanging out with the clown at Yessenita's Angry Birds themed birthday!

Vanessa's bday

-On November 18^th Kat went with Yeca and her kids to visit Yeca’s (and Kat’s) alma mater, the UCA (The Salvadoran Jesuit College par excellence), to attend the Anniversary of the Jesuit Martyrs who were killed in ’89 during the civil war. The traditional celebration includes a candle lit vigil preceded by a sand and salt mandala making contest representing an aspect of the martyrs’ character, faith, vision for the future, or contribution towards the making of a more modern and just El Salvador. As you can see from the pictures, people still feel very deeply about the magnicide committed by government troops twenty three years ago. Kat was also able to say hi to the directors of the Casa program which she studied through in El Salvador and a couple Salvadoran friends. 

-Salvadoran Thanksgiving: Ario and I hosted our very first Thanksgiving for 30 people. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, veggies, pasta salad, sweet potato pie, apple pie and peach crisp filled the plates of family and friends. Betti made a ridiculously delicious gravy sauce and we put out Raspberry jam (in place of cranberry sauce, since it could not be found anywhere). The night concluded with people exteriorizing before one another the multiple blessings in their lives for which they are grateful, and, of course, Salvadoran style (and we suspect Nonna would approve), with lots and lots of singing fueled by wine drinking peoples…  umm huh!!

Showing off Beti's Gravy!

Beti, Ario & Kike enjoying the evening

Chico, Kat & Mima serving the masses

Kat enjoying Sangria and Pie

-Besides the writing of a few chapters of his book, Ario has been giving poetry her due as well. Here’s an example of one of the latest poems that have stemmed from his pen, please bear with him:

“Seré un sol diezmado, atónito.

Beberé de tu sonrisa

La flor extensa, fluida,

La única madera que me queda

Por devorar.

Beberé salvajemente

Cada trino de ave ancestral

Acunado en tu vientre.

Seré la gleba seca, íngrima

Que descreía de las historias

Del diluvio universal.

Seré sorprendido

Por el clima fluvial

De tu cabellera

Entre mis manos/

Beberé de tu estrella matutina

Y el coágulo de luz

Que yo había eternizado para mí

Será tuyo, como el instante,

Y no quedará en el aire

Ningún testigo, ningún repente,

Ni la sombra, ni la noción del tiempo.

Diezmado, atónito,

Anquilosado en las fauces

De lo indeciblemente ubérrimo

Un sol herido

Voy a ser.”

Approximated translation…

"I'll be a stunned, decimated sun.

From your smile I’ll drink

The vast, fluid flower:

The only wood left for me

To devour.

Wildly I will drink

Every chirping of every ancestral bird

Cradled in your womb.

I will be the dry, lonely clod

That disbelieved the stories

Of the universal flood.

I will be surprised

By the fluvial climate

Of your hair

Between my hands /

I'll drink your morning star

And the clot of light

I had immortalized for myself

Will be yours, as yours will be that moment,

And there won’t be in the air

Any witnesses, nor any regrets/

Neither the shadow

nor the notion of time.

Decimated, stunned,

Stuck in the jaws

Of all that’s indescribably fertile

A wounded sun

I will be.”

May the Spirit of Giving Thanks carry You All nicely into the Spirit of the Holidays, and may those timeless spirits bring to you all the warmth, joy, unity, laughter and goodness that your hearts can store in the company of those who cherishing us allow us to cherish them back.

Welcome to December Family & Friends!!!

As always: Lots and lots and lots of Love from down South.

The Passion Fruits.    

 

Back in ES; Rooting ourselves

After the week at Ario’s Mom’s house we headed back to stay at Edenilson’s house, partly to have a little respite (kids are a lot of work!) and to see if there were any housing opportunities around where they lived, in Santa Tecla. Ario had visited one house in Apaneca (I was supposed to go too but I had an extremely unsettled stomach that day). Apaneca is a mountain town about 20 minutes by car from Chalchuapa that was very nice but too expensive for us ($500 a month, fully furnished). It’s strange for me to think that that’s expensive for us after we paid $1500 a month in rent in SF! So while hanging out in San Salvador we put out feelers out there, and in Chalchuapa, with people to try and look for a home. We went and checked out one unfurnished home in Chalchuapa but it didn’t seem to be in the best condition so we didn’t pursue it.  Unfortunately that Wednesday night the runs took a hold of my intestines, and they hit me hard again. That night I had the chills and woke up Thursday with a fever (I haven’t had a fever since I was a child!). From Thursday through the weekend I barely ate and even the smell of food made me nauseous. All I did was sleep hoping my stomach would get better. By Saturday night Ario wasn’t looking so good either. Here’s a picture of him suffering:

Monday afternoon I learned that I had parasites and was so excited to hear that and that there was a medicine that was going to make me feel better.  Ario got the medicine too because he was convinced he had them too. It took over a week for my body to return completely to normal and a little bit less for Ario. We think we got them somewhere in our travels, through unfiltered water we drank somewhere in Nicaragua. L

My reward I gave myself for surviving the parasites was a haircut! Yeka, Ario’s Mom, Bety and I headed to the salon for a girls’ outing. Yeka re-colored her hair:

Bety got a pedicure:

And I chopped 10 inches off my hair! Whoever comes first from the US will be taking my pony tails back to send to Locks of Love! (My goal had been to wait longer to cut my hair but I just couldn’t wait with the heat!):

Adding to our list of good happenings (first one being the killing of each and every one of our Entamoeba Histolityca invaders), we found a house on Avenida Dos de Abril Norte, in Chalchuapa and signed a lease for six month beginning September 1^st.

The house is spacious, it has a huge living room, kitchen and dining room, plus, two rooms that each has their own bathroom. The house is in the historical and bohemian part of town. To top it all, we live across the way from a beautiful restaurant where local bands and songwriters play and sing every weekend. The name of the place is La Rinconchita, and is home of some of the best pupusas in town, but we have to admit, the search is still going on. During our first night at the house (September 1^st, also being our 4 year anniversary), we enjoyed a yummy dinner of pupusas and later enjoyed a bottle of wine with a couple of newly found friends, the Chalchuapan poets Kike Zepeda, and William Morales, originally Edenilson’s friends, but now officially part of our peeps here in this lovely land…

We hope people won’t be too disappointed that we decided to change plans, and gave up Nicaragua…. Here are some pics of our place (and the furniture that we bought and borrowed):

Our living room set that we bought used from our landlord's friends

Our new fridge!

Our mini stove/oven with which we received a two frying pans and a set of dishes

The Master Bedroom :)

So… now six weeks into living in our new home, we are settled and still parasite free!!  Hooray!! We hope you’ll come visit soon!!! (we have tons and tons of filtered water, we swear)

P.S. We appreciate the blog followers we still have (Thanks Mom and Dad!) and hope to be better at updating now that we've gotten some routine in our lives. Stay tuned for stories of locking ourselves in and out of the house, fiestas, and visa renewing!

Back in ES

Returning to El Salvador to Yeka and Edenilson's home felt like we were coming home. Maybe it’s because we had stayed with Yeka and Edenilson the last time we came to El Salvador and so we felt that much more comfortable staying with them. And maybe because we also knew that we were going to be staying with them at least a week and that sounded really nice after moving around so much. I was surprised at how excited their kids were to see us (Yesenita, 9 yrs old & Ede, 11 yrs old) so that made it that much more fun being there because they felt really comfortable with us.

Ede is a video game aficionado and he immediately wanted to have a Wii tournament. When we finally did have our tournament a couple days after arriving he of course won (Ario placed 2nd!). See below for some action shots of the tournament!:

Yesenita's scoreboard

Yeka hitting hard

Yesenita ready to hit a home run

Ario staying hydrated

Ede and Yeka battling it out

Top Players

Our week with them was really relaxing. One of the afternoons I went with Yeka to the San Miguelito Market where she was shopping around for the best prices for tiaras and batons for the upcoming Independence Day parade on September 15^th. There you can get everything for a birthday party, wedding, fresh produce, clothes, flowers and much more. I quite enjoyed all of the excitement!

I also went and spent a morning with Yeka at her daycare/preschool in Chalchuapa (the town where Ario is from which is about an hour from San Salvador (where Yeka and Edenilson live)) and had fun hanging out with the two years old class.

At the end of the week we headed to Chalchuapa to stay with Ario’s Mom and family. So that you will be able to follow who I’m talking about I’ll give you the run down on the fam now: Betty (Ario’s Mom), Diego (Ario’s half brother, 21yrs old), & Sonia (Ario’s half sister, 13 years old). Then there’s Ario’s sister Jenny who has four kids who also live at the house as Jenny works in San Salvador and only comes home every two weeks. They are: Ario (16 yrs old), Vanessa (13 yrs old), Francisco (12 years old) and Lili (3 yrs old). In a separate apartment connected to the house lives Ario’s other sister Jacqueline with her two daughters: Karen (15 yrs old) and Karla (22 yrs old).  So with the fam, we took the bus into town to spend the day enjoying the Patron Saint Festival which was taking place. We saw a little parade where witches came and scared us (by us I mean Sonia and Lili):

The Parade (one of many that took place during the festival days)

Sonia hiding from the witches

Diego keeping it real

Santiago Apostol, Patron Saint of Chalchuapa

And we enjoyed some frozen fruit and coffee drinks in the park:

Vanessa, Francisco & Sonia after enjoying their frozen drinks

Lili, til' the last drip!

Vanesas, Kat, Betty, Francisco, Sonia, Lili, Diego at the fountain in the park

Then came a HUGE downpour where we were forced to wait at a pizza stand undercover and enjoyed gaseosas aka sodas. To entertain ourselves we took pictures and my hat became quite the statement piece:

Finally the rain let up so we were able to bus home and we spent the rest of the afternoon playing a soccer/foosball type game, checkers, Loteria (bingo) and Jacks:

On Thursday the kids didn’t have school so we took advantage and went to the Jicaro Pools in a neighboring town with Ario’s Mom’s friend Lily. Ario’s sister in-law, Ana was also able to join us. We all had so much fun that we didn’t take any pictures. We all got sunburnt (me of course the most) and I still have quite the suntan line to prove it. I’ll probably where a t-shirt next time to protect my skin.

We also did a bit of home improvement and painted Ario, Vanessa, Francisco, & Lili’s room a lovely Mango and green color. Here we are in action:

Lili is also just so damn cute that I couldn’t help taking a few extra of her:

I really enjoyed being back in El Salvador and I especially enjoyed being able to spend time with Edenilson and his family, Ario’s Mom, siblings, nieces and nephews. I told him that I wanted to stay in El Salvador and after the long trip from Nicaragua to El Salvador we both knew it wasn’t going to be as easy going back and forth like we thought. So we began the search for a place to live, hoping something would work out for us in El Salvador!