“Santa vaca,” holy cow, it has been quite a long time. Time flies and before you know it you are staring at a computer screen trying to write down the past two months coherently and concisely. Being here has definitely been a washing machine of emotions. You know, it’s a cycle. It begins with the rinse cycle, then fills with water, then starts to spins and the calms down (or some rendition of this cycle). But nonetheless, it is a cycle. This very much depicts how I feel here. The motivated and happy turns into the frustrated and pissed off which eventually turns into the sad; however, after the sad the cycle begins again with the happy. I also include the washing machine because it is something I do miss, quite a lot.

Anyway, a couple weeks ago I asked the school if we could do an environmental festival with the 4th, 5th and 6th graders to celebrate our fine, yet extremely polluted, earth. There was an opportunity given to me by the American Embassy. They sent out an email that said if we (Peace Corps volunteers) submitted art work that represented the earth, each school could win a prize from the Embassy. I saw this as an opportunity not only to win something, but more importantly do something about the continuing problem of litter bugs. Well the festival was much more successful than I could have ever hoped for. The kids put on skits and dances. More importantly they made some fabulous art work. I was in awe.

Two weeks after the fact I have learned that there were about thirteen volunteers who submitted art work. That means that my three kids that had submitted artwork had competition from 39 other kids in El Salvador. The Embassy chose three kids from the forty-two kids that had entered the contest. Well, two of the kids from the school where I live won prizes. I am so proud of them! Here are some pics from that day.

There is a picture of me in my trash dress that I made out of snack bags and an old tee-shirt. Also one of the kids demonstrating a dance that they choreographed to celebrate the environment. The girls wearing the trash in one of the pictures was one of the winners. Yeh for them, they rock.