End of the Year in Pictures

Wow! I can't believe that it has already been a year! In a year a lot can happen. I would guess that each of you learned many new things, made some new friends, and had some fun too! The same things happened to me in El Salvador too!

Here are some pictures to show you some of the things I did this year in El Salvador! I spent my year in El Salvador as a volunteer with the Lutheran Church. I was in charge of a variety of activities throughout you the year. It was fun because no two days were ever the same!


Think about how much you have grown in just one year! I was able to help out at a Lake Project where the church was building a guesthouse. Now, I bring international groups to visit the lake and stay overnight there.

Now the guesthouse is finished! I have stayed
 overnight there a  few times. 

When I first arrived to El Salvador, construction on a
guest house was just getting started! 

Most days in El Salvador were spent in my office. I was in charge of translating many documents, replying to emails, and sending out newsletters. Sometimes there days were a little boring, but they were important too. 

This is my office!

 Throughout the year, I was able to attend many different cultural events. I really enjoyed learning about the different ways people celebrate.

On Independence Day, which happens in September 15 in El Salvador, there are many parades. People were traditional clothing. 

Around Halloween, one town celebrates a special holiday called Calabuiza.  Kids dress up as creatures that are part of Salvadoran myths and have a special parade. It is a little bit spooky, but a lot of fun! 

Right before Easter, streets in the towns are covered with beautiful pictures made out of colored salt. These people are creating their picture, called a "carpet" with stencils.

I was able to visit cultural sites in El Salvador and learn about how the Maya lived. The Maya were one of the indigenous groups of people who lived in El Salvador. There are still some indigenous people who live here today. 

Here is a Maya house that was preserved by volcanic ash. 

These are traditional hats used during special days in a city called Jayaque. 

One of my main jobs while in El Salvador was helping groups who came to visit. Many times I helped groups who came from the United States, but I also helped people from Germany, Finland, and Brazil. When groups were here, I was able to do many different things and visit new places. 

With a group from Washington DC I was able to meet many government officials. Here is our group was  the commissioner for human rights. 

With one group, I helped install solar panels. 

With another group I taught English to children. 

One of my favorite parts of my job was that I was able to help people almost everyday. 

Here I am translating for a group of doctors from Wisconsin. 

The church has a coffee farm, and I was able to help pick the coffee fruit off the tree. (Did you know coffee comes from a fruit? It is not really a bean, but really a seed?) The coffee is sold to help support different projects at the church.  

I was able to help give out donations in all these boxes! It was fun to see people excited to receive school supplies and soap. 

Over the year, I was also able to make many new friends. I am feeling a little sad that I will be leaving them soon, but I am excited to head back to Evergreen soon.

These are my coworkers. We went out to eat for a special lunch for secretary's day. 

I hope you enjoy your summer! See you soon!

Earthquakes

People say that El Salvador is in the valley of the hammocks. If you have ever been in a hammock you know that it swings back and forth. The location of El Salvador is called the valley of the hammocks because earthquakes cause it to move back and forth a lot. Earthquakes happen every day in El Salvador, but most of them are very small that people cannot even feel. However, there are also earthquakes that people can feel about once a month and a big earthquake that happens once or twice a year.

Living in Chicagoland, I had never felt an earthquake before coming to El Salvador. I know that we practice earthquake drills at school, but it is hard to imagine what an earthquake is actually like. The first time I felt an earthquake was a few years ago when I was visiting El Salvador. I was at my friend’s house using the computer when I realized my computer chair was moving. Then, I realized it wasn’t just my chair, but the whole house! I think that earthquake lasted 45 seconds, and it took me 30 seconds to realize what was happening. My friend was washing dishes when the earthquake happened and she told me she thought, “why is the water in that pot moving?” when she realized that there was an earthquake.

Most earthquakes only last 10-30 seconds. Depending on how big they are, you can feel a lot of shaking or almost no shaking. Sometimes things fall off of walls or rocks fall off of mountains. Really big earthquakes can cause volcanos to erupt and tsunamis to form in the oceans. Whenever there is a sizeable earthquake in El Salvador, the news always reports about the activity levels of nearby volcanos and if there is a tsunami possible.

This a picture of the San Salvador volcano taken from my apartment. It is one of the 23 active volcanos in El Salvador. Luckily, all monitoring of the volcano shows that it is not likely to erupt anytime soon! 

About a month again, in April, one of the faults that causes earthquakes was very active. In 2 days there were about 400 earthquakes and about 45 of those that people could feel. One evening, the earthquakes were happening every 10-15 minutes. This was a very scary experience for me and I felt like I was just waiting for the next earthquake to happen. I am glad that there haven’t been too many earthquakes since then!

This is a map showing where earthquakes happened in April. I live very close to  the light green point that is marked. 

Since people in El Salvador know that earthquakes are possible, people do many things to keep themselves safe. For example, there aren’t as many tall buildings in El Salvador. Most buildings are only 1 story tall and apartment buildings usually don’t have more than 4 floors. This makes it less likely that the building will fall in an earthquake. In public places there are always marked meeting areas so that families know where to go after an emergency. When there are frequent earthquakes some roads that go through the mountains are closed because loose rocks could fall off the mountains.  After big earthquakes people can check in on Facebook to let their families know that they are safe and there is a place to request help if you need it.

In my apartment, I want to make sure that I am safe too! I always leave out a pair of shoes near my front door so that I can easily put them on if I have to leave my apartment. I also have a first aid kit near my front door. I signed up to get updates about earthquakes and volcanic activity so that I always have up-to-date information.

Earthquakes can be a little scary, but people do what they can to stay safe!

See if you can fill out this worksheet about effects that happen because of Earthquakes! https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B91xK8CIpJ_tZm4tOUpQOFNBYnM/view?usp=sharing 

School in El Salvador

Not that long ago you had your 100^th day of school, but in El Salvador school just started. In El Salvador, the school year is aligned with the calendar year. This means that students start school sometime in the second half of January. Students get a week off of school for Easter, which is similar to the time you have spring break. They also get off of school for 1-2 weeks in August, for a Salvadoran Holiday celebrated on August 6. The school year ends in November. This means the children don’t have school for part of November, December, and half a January. This is like our summer break.

This is my godson looking at his classroom for the first time. Just like you can drop off your supplies before school starts, he was able to meet his teacher and see his classroom before he started kindergarten. 

School only lasts for half a day in El Salvador. Families need to decide if kids will go to school in the morning from about 7:30-12:00 or in the afternoon from 1:00-5:30. Since kids only go to school for half the day, they are able to help their families the other half of the day. Kids who live in rural areas can help their parents farm. Another reason that school is set up this way is because there are too many kids and not enough schools. If kids were at school all day, there might be 50 kids in one class! Since the kids come at two different times, there are 2 classes with only 25 students.

These students are using their classroom for arts and crafts during their August vacation. 

Just like you do, students in El Salvador get homework from their teachers. Even children in kindergarten often get daily homework. Teachers in El Salvador can’t make copies of worksheets and there often are not enough textbooks for kids to use. This means that students have to copy down worksheet questions their teachers write on board. If the teacher assigns 10 math problems to the students, she writes the problems on the chalkboard. The kids have to write down the questions in their notebook, bring their notebook home to answer the questions, and then show their completed notebook to the teacher the next day. The students learn many of the same things as you do in school. They have math, science, reading, and social studies time. They also have gym class, and some schools have computer class and music class too.

These kids play soccer with their gym teacher. 

All students in El Salvador wear a uniform to school. It is really important that students take care of their uniforms. Even young students at about age 7, are in charge of washing and ironing their uniform each day. Many times, there is even a special uniform for gym class.

All students, in both public and private schools, wear uniforms. 

Do you think you would like to go to school in El Salvador?

Many public schools are painted white and blue, which are the colors of the Salvadoran flag. 

See if you can compare and contrast schools in El Salvador and in the United States. Use this Venn Diagram: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B91xK8CIpJ_tVnVscFczWWJxSkU/view?usp=sharing