| quick update |
[Jul. 3rd, 2008|12:56 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | work | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  happy | ] |
| [ | music |
| | kids playing soccer | ] |
wow...it's really been a long time. Quick update on Megan's life, for anyone who still reads this (and if you do, let me know):
life: still living in El Salvador. love it, hate it, it's life. and it's going well.
work: technically still a volunteer with Crispaz, but have been hired (pending funding) as a youth educator with Fe y Alegría (where i've been doing my volunteer work). a lot of responsibility (i'm in charge, with the help of 1 other person) for all the youths, ages 12-17 at the center, so about 80 kids. and hopefully we'll get the grant so i should be getting paid starting in october. and then i'll be staying here all next year.
romance: manolo sucks and things ended REALLY badly with him when i got back from the US in january. he's asshole #1 in my book, and probably will always be. so that didn't work out to well. but i have had many months to get over it, and i have. i'm still pissed about everything when i think about it, but i don't think about it often which is good. plus i have moved on. For the past 2 months i've been dating a guy named Alex, who's a bartended at the bar that i always go to (it figures, right?) but things are REALLY chill and going REALLY well with him, so i'm happy :-)
Family: sadly, my grandma died at the end of March at the age of 82. i went back to the US for her funeral and stayed for a week. it was good to be with all the family but it was very sad and i was a wreck for the whole week and for awhile after. On a happier note, my mom is coming to visit me in 3 weeks, so that's exciting. i'm really looking forward to showing her my life her, and for her to bring me lots of goodies from the US, hehe.
that about sums it up. questions...comments??? |
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| and more books |
[Dec. 14th, 2007|01:53 pm] |
8. Bitter Fruit, The Story of the America Coup in Guatemala- by Stephen Schlesinger and Stephen Kinzer-
Really good, informative book on the 1954 coup of Jacobo Arbenz. moral of the story: The US sucks.
9. In the Name of Salomé- by Julia Alvarez-
very interesting novel about a Dominican Poet and her Daughter. for those who like Latin American fiction, I highly recommend.
10. I'm a Stranger Here Myself- by Bill Bryson
cute, funny annecdotes about US culture. Enjoyable
11. The Poisonwood Bible- by Barbara Kingsolver-
SUCH a good book. i think i'm really getting into Post-colonial lit now, and this book is just amazing. |
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| triste |
[Dec. 14th, 2007|01:39 pm] |
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so wow, it's been awhile since i last posted. in the past 2 months i fell in love with a great guy. but about 3 weeks ago manolo started a new job, and he honestly has no time to do anything except work. he doesn't even have time to do his laundry yet alone maintain a relationship. so basically, things are over. last week he told me he needed space. he said we weren't over, but honestly, right now i'm not sure. i'm leaving the country on sunday and i'm gonna be gone for a month, and yet he doesn't even seem willing to spend my last night in the country with me. so i'm really sad. we'll see how things end up. we're having lunch tomorrow (because he doesn't even seem capable of having a decent dinner with me on my last night). i'm just ready to have some closure on this and move on with my life. if he wants me in his life, i'd love to be in it, but if he doesn't have the time or effort, i cannot wait around for him. i've been moping around for him the last week, in a crappy limbo. but now i realize i juat have to move on. i need to stop crying. there's plenty of cute salvadoran (and non- salvadoran) boys out there. |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 28th, 2007|12:11 pm] |
4. How to Be Good. Nick Hornby
quick read. pretty good. didn't think it was as funny as it should have been
5. The Kite Runner. Khaled Hosseini
One of the best novels i've read in a long time. I was in tears for half the book. It does a really good job of balancing the story but with the history and culture of Afghanistan. soooo good.
6. My Sister's Keeper. Jodi Picoult
very interesting novel. attacks issues rarely discussed in fiction. and of course i was crying at the end.
other than reading a lot, i moved 2 days ago. it's my 4th move since coming to El Sal, but hopefully this one will stick. Me and my friend Sally decided to move out of the big house we were living in and trying to rent the rooms in, and just rent a small 3 bedroom house nearby. so it's me, sally, and sally's girlfriend Ada (unofficially). i will take pictures as soon as we get things like a couch, dinner table, shelves, etc. we're lacking a lot right now, but it's coming together bit by bit.
i've also started going to a yoga class, and i've decided that it's going to be one of the things that i keep up with here no matter what. a) i need to do yoga. i haven't done it for years and i really love it. b) it's great for mental clarity, or at least really good for my sanity, which at times in this country is questionable. c) it's in a different part of town (the nice part of town), so i get a change of scenery twice a week. plus i'm taking the class with my friend Helene, so it's nice to hang out before/after class.
things are good. i'm just so freaking tired lately i can hardly pull myself out of bed. so hopefully yoga will help with that, and just getting into a rhythm, as i havent quite got that down yet. |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 17th, 2007|12:00 pm] |
3. Che Guevara: a Revolutionary Life Jon Lee Anderson
The definitive biography on Che. really long (750 pages), but really good. i can honestly say that I now understand Che more completely, and admire him more. His legacy is obviously still very prominent in Latin America today, and to many he is very controversial. but he's also very misunderstood. I may not agree with his vision one hundred percent, but he represents a desire and a way of change for the repressed peoples of America and the world. and the author did an AMAZING job of not just including details of Che's life, but also about what was going on in the countries/world at the time, so it gives a very good context to understand everything more completely.
in other news, ever since i've been back in El Salvador, it seems that i've been sick almost constantly with one thing or another. first it was stomach issues, then more stomach issues, and now i have a cold that won't go away. arg. i can't stop coughing, and it's been like that for a week. i want to be healthy, i don't want to feel like i need to sleep all the time! this is very irksome.
i also really need to talk to my boss at Fe y Alegria and tell her that i'm staying another year and ask her if i can be more involved in the community work that the center does instead of just teaching English. i'll probably still teach english next year, but not as much, and i really want to be more involved in the youth and the community work, especially because there aren't any women who work in the communities from the center, and i know i can be helpful in that respect, because many women just won't say certain things to men, so if i'm there, hopefully that can help. but we'll see. AND i need to make my thursday lesson really awesome because the crispaz coordinator and new volunteer coordinator are coming to observe me. eek. way to make me feel nervous. |
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| restarting the 50 book challenge |
[Sep. 8th, 2007|03:18 pm] |
since i started off well last year, but then didn't read much for months, starting over...now:
1. Upside Down by Eduardo Galeano
REALLY good book. it's written in kind of a "through the looking glass...this is how the world is, like a farse, except wait! it's actually happening" kinda way.
2. Dancing with Cuba by Alma Guillermoprieto
Memoirs of her year spent as a dance teacher in Cuba in 1970. very interesting insight into the Revolution 10 years on. and also slightly paralleling my life here in El Sal.
and now i'm currently tackling the Che biography. it is soo good. but i won't post it until it's finished. only about 500 more pages to go. |
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| it's been awhile |
[Sep. 4th, 2007|03:22 pm] |
yes, it's been awhile since I updated. I had a great time in the US, and really loved catching up with everyone. although I know that i definitely did a little too much running around. hopefully when i go back next time (in december) i'll be able to relax more. but now i'm back in El Sal. it's freaking hot, there's a hurricane coming, and i think i have amoebas (to be determined in 2 hours when i get my test results back). but other than that, things are great! haha. i moved, again, and i love the new place. and the best part about it (well, maybe not the best part, but a really good part) is that Luis is not there. I really just got so freaking sick of my old housemate Luis, not to mention the fact that he spread intimite details of my personal life, as well as downright lies, to the rest of our friends. basically, he's a maldito PENDEJO!
but i love my new house, i have a hammock on a balcony that overlooks the city. it's beautiful. pictures forthcoming once i take them. and i'm back working again. when i went in for the first time after being back, all the kids ran up to me, gave me huge hugs, and bombarded me with questions about the US. they're so freaking adorable. so things are good. |
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| casi |
[Jul. 30th, 2007|12:59 pm] |
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i'm going to be in the United States on thursday. holy crap. it's been so long, i'm quite worried, actually. and i've been homesick for so long (like, 2 months) that it feels so strange that i'm within 3 days of being home. i get to see so many people (and if you are reading this, i would like to see you!) and just relax for a month. yeay! |
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| confianza |
[Jul. 6th, 2007|02:10 pm] |
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i really need to be home with the people i know and trust. while i do have friends here, i have very few people in this country that i can actually spill my guts to. too much shit has happened recently and i just need a break from it all. ugh. but at least i do have the few people here i can trust. if it weren't for Samuel and Juan i'd go insane. |
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| update |
[Jul. 1st, 2007|04:13 pm] |
just felt the need to update. no particular reason. rambing begins now:
this weekend was fun and unexpected. met a cute guy named Benjamin. didn't give him my phone number, but he's always around the places I frequent, so i'm sure i'll see him again. just hope something might be able to come of it.
since I moved into my current house in april, i have been much happier in ES. i now actually have a social life. however, i'm worried that my work is suffering. it really isn't, because i have been working a ton, but it definitely has the potential to get bad if i'm not on top of things. and this weekend i definitely slacked. i was supposed to go to the youth group meeting on saturday afternoon...yet, due to the fact that i had slept maybe 5 hours and could hardly move, i didnt feel that i would be the best role model for them that day, so i decided not to go. at least it's easy as a foreigner to feign sickness as stomach problems are the norm.
so, basically, pretty happy social-wise, and work-wise. i'm thinking of staying longer in ES, but that all depends on whether or not i can get a job here. i have 2 options, but i'm not sure i'm qualified for 1, and the other i'm not sure i'll get, as i need to be pretty darn good at translating. but we'll see. my translation skills are getting better. i just need to practise.
but, i'm still homesick. it comes in waves, but basically i really need to be back in the US. i miss the comfortable environment. even though I haven't actually lived in Cleveland for 5 years, i can't wait to go back. and i'll be in Chicago visiting friends for a few days, and i'll be in DC for a weekend. can't wait to see everyone. but most of all, i can't wait to be back with my girlfriends and spill my guts to them, cause i really haven't been able to do that to anyone for months.
así es. no puedo esperar. pero en menos que 5 semanas voy a llegar. y yo sé también que cuando estoy ahí, solo voy a pensar en regresar a el salvador. va. |
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| homesick |
[Jun. 19th, 2007|04:16 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  depressed | ] |
| [ | music |
| | just like always | ] |
not wanting to bitch and moan, but it's needed.
i am really ready to be back in the US. the next 44 days can't go by fast enough. after over 8 months living in ES, i'm just freaking TIRED: tired of always being a foreigner, being looked at, being laughed at. that makes it sound so horrible, and it's really not. but even with my friends here, i don't completely get everything they joke about, there's always a cultural divide, even if it's small. when you're in the US (or wherever you're from), you don't realize how comfortable just being is. i can't just be in ES. i'm ready to be back in my own culture, with people who speak my native language fluently, get my sarcasm, the nuances of my speech, my "your moms", where i dont have to think so hard before speaking, and if i say something that comes off rude, it's just "whatever" and not a cross-cultural problem.
i'm sick of: the pollution, the diesel fumes that spout in my face as a cross the street, the violence, the always looking over my shoulder and never being able to completely relax, the politics, the dealing with other stupid foreigners who are only here for 2 months and speak no spanish, always being an outsider no matter how hard i try.
but i still love: the fact that my spanish has gotten pretty damn good, rice and beans, the san salvador volcano, the bars i frequent by my house, the great friends i have made, water (and every drink) in a bag, driving across the salvadoran countryside, the rich yet disturbing history, pupusas, pilsener.
so basically, i'm just homesick. i'm very ready for my month-long visit in august. i'm very happy that i will be coming back to ES, but i'm ready for a break. |
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| muchas fiestas |
[May. 28th, 2007|12:03 pm] |
it's been a busy few weeks.
2 weeks ago i went to mexico to get my visa renewed with my 2 gringa friends Sue and Chiara. We met up with Ricardo, and we went to a place for drinks. very fun. ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) lec210lec210, you got a good one there. oh, and i have something for you btw...
anyhoo, we were only in Tapachula for one night. then we headed to Antigua, Guatemala. There we met up with our Salvadoran boys (my housemate Luis, and our friends Juancho and Wil). It was sooo much fun. Antigua is beautiful and soo tranquilo. but freaking FULL of foreigners. you don't have to speak a word of spanish to get around that city. but we had fun eating, drinking, walking around, and of course dancing. in guate, all bars close at 1am, so in Antigua to keep the party going they have "after partys" in a different place every night. the second night we were there we went to the afterparty which was amazing, just pure dancing all night. except for the creepy (and SHORT!) guatemalan man who demanded to dance with me. that was akward.
so the visa trip was very fun, but i didn't rest at all (between catching buses at the butt crack of dawn and not sleeping due to drinking). so all last week i was exhausted. this weekend i was supposed to go to the campo with a delegation, but i woke up friday morning when we were supposed to leave and my stomach said otherwise. i thought i might have a parasite (woohoo!), but by saturday i felt pretty much normal. i still think i have parasites, but they aren't affecting me, so i'm not gonna bother right now. i'll go to the doctor before i head back to the US.
but because i was feeling better on saturday, of course i had to go out. particularly because my favorite bar had a costume party. it was not to be missed. i dressed as snow white (although the costume was lacking as i have very few costumy clothes). Juacho dressed as a salvadoran housewife, Luis as a culero (very gay), and our friend Roberto Carlos as a pregnant housewife (i used mjulietm's trick of putting my foam pillow inside his dress for the stomach. hilarious. pictures to be posted pronto on facebook.
so now it's back to work. blah. i love my kids but they have been a handful lately. |
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| birthday weekend madness |
[May. 15th, 2007|02:56 pm] |
| [ | music |
| | vamos a tequila señorita bonita... | ] |
my birthday weekend was freaking awesome. thursday i had to work, but my coworkers decorated my desk, sang to me, and there was cake. i did however have to share the day with all the salvadoran mothers (may 10th is always mothers day in ES). but it was a good day of celebration for everyone then. thursday night i went to my favorite bar with Juancho (my new best friend), Luis (my housemate), and ended up meeting up with some other friends as well. it was fun, i got a bit tipsy, nothing drastic, but it was just a great time.
friday, however, was a huge shit-show. we decided to have a house party. there's 5 of us who live in the house: me, Luis (salvadoran, it's his mom's house, but she lives in LA so he rents out the rooms), Noah (a stupid gringo from washington state), and Emily and Trey (a couple from North Carolina). the other 3 gringos all work at the same language school, so they invited all their friends/coworkers/students from there. I invited a fair few of my friends, and Luis invited a bunch of his friends. between all of these people, there was a constant wave of people in our house, it was full from 9pm-2am. it was awesome. Juancho, Chiara, and I had previously decided that the party would be a tequila party, at least for us. so we got on that the minute we all were there...and somehow a bottle and a half of tequila divided by 5 people...well...it got a bit insane. but it was amazing! i haven't drunk like that since the college days (oh so long ago). i woke up with a TERRIBLE hangover, but it was worth it.
then saturday was Kate's despedida. Kate has been my best friend in ES: She's a 47 year old woman from England who is a volunteer with Crispaz. we just connected so well, that for the last 7 months she has been my confidant, my source of laughter, and my drinking partner. so of course the Crispaz girls threw her a going away party...and naturally it turned into a dance party. so much fun. i left around midnight and hit up the local bars with Luis, Juancho, and Wil. and for some reason I let my friend Cristian buy me a double tequila shot. but hangover gone, and Juancho, who was supposed to protect me from the evils of tequila, pushed me up to the bar to take the drink. so what's a girl to do. but thank goodness sunday was hangover free.
and the birthday celebrations/fun is just gonna keep going this week. Tomorrow i'm leaving for Tapachula, Mexico to renew my visa with my friends Sue and Chiara. and thanks to lec210 i'm gonna meet up with Ricardo instead of just bumming around the plaza for the night. don't worry lauren, i'll make him speak english and i'll take pictures for you! Then thursday we're heading to Antigua, Guatemala for a few days, where we'll meet up with Juancho, Wil, and possibly others, so it'll be another ridiculous time. so very excited. |
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| fin de semana |
[Apr. 25th, 2007|02:31 pm] |
so this weekend was really fun. friday afternoon i chilled with the potential boy. saturday i went to the beach with a group of the teenagers from Fe y Alegría (where I work). altough I had to wake up at 5am bleh, it was soo much fun. about 23 of them came, plus 4 chaperones (i was a chaperone...hahaha). anyhoo, we did some relfexion stuff in the morning, but then after 11, it was all just fun in the sun. man the ocean is amazing, yet can be really dangerous. the waves were pretty strong, but not terrible, and none of the kids drowned (gracias a dios). and i got to spend a little more private time with the boy, so that was fun.
sunday i literally slept ALL DAY. i was awake for maybe 7 hours, but between naps and sleeping at night. it was glorious.
so now i've just been "working." i do work, i teach classes 3 days a week. but i feel that most of my time is spent just hanging out with the kids...which i'm definitely not complaining about. i love the kids i work with, and especially with the older ones, we actually can talk/joke around/be friends, etc. it's slightly sad when my best friends here are between the ages of 15-18 years old. but oh well, it's fun.
oh, and yesterday, at one of the schools the kids go to (San Alfonso), it was the director's birthday, so a few of the 9th grade boys decided to make up a dance. I went with the dance teacher to go watch, and OMG, it was freaking hilarious. they did it drag style, and pranced around at this wonderfully conservative private catholic salvadoran school. priceless. photos wouldn't upload, but i'm putting them on my webshots and facebook. |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 15th, 2007|01:46 pm] |
The player of this "game" starts with the topic "6 weird habits/things about yourself" and people who get tagged need to write a journal about their 6 weird habits/things as well as stating the rules clearly. In the end, you need to choose the next 6 people to be tagged and list their names.
1. I hate English speakers who pronounce the "h" sound in spanish when it is silent.
2. when riding in the car, there must be music blasting
3. if i'm in the company of other people, i feel akward if no one is talking
4. i try to get things done asap...and then am bored when i have nothing to do
5. even when i only have 1 beer, i still feel hungover the next day
6. even though i'm out of school, i still check facebook cumpulsively
6 people: Lauren, Juli, Blair, Maeve, Meghan, anyone else who feels like posting
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 1st, 2007|09:42 am] |
3 movies watched over and over
1. The Princess Bride
2. The American President
3. Newsies
3 places I have worked
1. Crispaz
2. Lush
3. GW Anthropology Department
3 places I have lived
1. Washington, DC
2. London, England
3. Cleveland, OH
3 TV shows I love to watch
1. Law and Order: SVU
2. CSI
3. Gery's Anatomy
3 places I've been on vacation
1. Italy
2. Spain
3. Scotland
3 of my favorite foods
1. enchiladas (the salvadoran version)
2. quesadillas (the mexican version)
3. pasta
3 places I'd rather be right now
1. mexico
2. my bed in cleveland
3. DC
3 cars I have owned
1. Honda Accord
2. Toyota Prius
3. Nedly's Microbus (not exactly)
3 people who... (Xwill respondX) pretty much kick ass and take names...(aka people who actually check livejournal anymore)
1. Lauren
2. Kimi
3. Meghan
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| Romero |
[Mar. 26th, 2007|12:48 pm] |
Saturday marked the 27th anniversary of the assasination of Monseñor Oscar Arnulfo Romero. Quite plainly, March 24th is the biggest day in celebration and remembrance, not only of Monseñor Romero, but of all the victims of the Civil conflict. and quite the event it was. the entire week leading up to saturday, school groups and tourists alike visited the crypt in the cathedral where he is buried as well as the chapel where he was killed, which is next to the house where he lived. On friday, the school group i worked with went to the chapel and had a gathering and celebration of Monseñor. it was great to see all my kids in this light. all but a handful were born after the peace accords were signed, but the memory of Monseñor and all the martyrs has been passed along to them.
on saturday, i went with the youth group i work with, and we did the march to the cathedral (along with thousands of others), and then stayed for the mass in the plaza civica, and stayed all night for the vigil, which was more of a concert with many groups, including Guaraguao (a venezualan group that every salvadoran grows up listening to). it was great. tons of cumbia and revolutionary songs, and tons of chanting "que viva Monseñor Romero!" and i especially like the whole thing because, while it wasnt a protest, there were so many leftist elements sometimes it was hard to distinguish it from one. and this one i could actually participate in. we left the centro at 5 am and i proceeded to sleep all day. good times.
then today, when i was trying to find a news article in english about the anniversary (impossible to find), i came across this article about Jon Sobrino- one of the Jesuits at the UCA (the only one who wasnt killed in 1989). Saying that his writings have been condemed by the vatican. that is pura mierda. the vatican now is sooo conservative. calling liberation theology marxist, just because priests actually care about the poor people and want them to help change their situation. bah. |
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 23rd, 2007|01:29 pm] |
1. If you could suddenly speak one language fluently (that you don't currently speak) what would it be?
portuguese
2. If you were to suggest a foreign film, that you really enjoyed, what one would you suggest?
"y tu mama tambien"
3. If you had to call another country home (other than the one you currently live in) what one would you choose?
hmm...usa? haha, no. mexico, definitely. but i gotta say, el salvador is in my heart...however i currently live here
4. If you went out to buy an import music CD, what one would you buy?
anything from cuba
5. If you were to chose an ethnic dinner, what would it be?
indian food, oh how i miss thee |
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| a new place |
[Mar. 13th, 2007|05:06 pm] |
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i found a new place to live in San Salvador! while i don't really want to move out of the house with the familia, i do want my own place. and i'll be able to live in this house probably until I leave. and it's close to pretty much EVERYTHING, or at least all the places i normally go, and all but one of the bars i go to, so that will save me a ton of money in cab fare. it's a shared house, so one guy, Luis, owns it, and then rents out the rooms. and it's completely furnished. only down side, it costs about half of what I make, so there will probably be less outings to said bars that are so close by. but oh well. and i'll have to take the bus to work, but the buses are all super close, so it's ok. i move in about 2 weeks. eek! and now i have to break it to the familia... it'll be sad, but i think work out ok. i'll still see them a bunch as they will be a 15 minute bus ride away. |
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