When I first arrived in my cite I invited the community to a soccer tournament in a volunteer’s site about a 30 minute drive from Cuesta Marina. Little did I know that the tournament would begin talk about making a soccer field behind Mirtala’s house. The men in the community had a lot of energy and motivation to build a field. The problem was that the land sloped, a lot, and it had big protruding rocks right in the middle of the field. Even though there was a lot of desire, it takes a lot more to build a field than a machete and a lot of talk- we needed a big mama machine- but they definitely came to recognize that. With my luck a friend of mine introduced me to a high ranking member of the army. He and some army majors came to look at the field, and before we knew it we had engineers measuring and evaluating the land. This was a fast pace operation. However, once the army promised the machinery the process began to slow down.

It took four months of constant annoyance to get the machinery delivered from the army, but it came! At the beginning of June a week after Leticia and I had gone to say it’s either now or never, a worker arrived with the machinery ready to work. When the machinery arrived the kids ran out of their houses yelling “it’s here, it’s here!! It really came.” Minus some of the complications of the machinery breaking for a couple days and not having enough funds to buy all the gas, we persevered and didn’t let little obstacles get in the way. The machine worked for two weeks and by the last day everyone was aching to get out there and play: the girls play softball and the boys play soccer but the field is big enough for everyone. We have been playing out there for a week now, and it is so beautiful to watch everyone- men, women, girls, and boys- congregate. It is the only place where both females and males can come together on an equal “playing field” (no pun intended).

May was an enjoyable month. The parents came to visit!! May 18th was their arrival day, and I waited four hours anxiously in the El Salvador airport to greet my family that I had been estranged from for nine months. We began our adventure lounging out by the palm trees, almond trees, and big waves watching the surfers catch some good rides and people riding by on horseback through the black sand. My father really took to the hammock and to the domesticated female monkey that resided in our hotel. My mother on the other hand did not take to the monkey very well, but enjoyed swimming in the pool, drinking tropical drinks, and lounging out by the black sand reading. Needless to say it was a hard life of eating, drinking, swimming, scrabble playing, and catching up.

After the beachfront view and breeze we headed north into the department of Chalatenango where my little village of Cuesta Marina is located. As we pulled up interested faces peeked out of the houses to greet us. My parents, who speak no Spanish and my Salvadoran family, who speaks no English, finally got to meet. My parents were greeted with hugs by Mirtala, Blanca, and Hilda and the tears rolled down all of our faces. My two worlds collided. Although the language barrier, latrine and extreme heat made it a little difficult for them to be exactly themselves, my parents made a great impression. The night that they stayed we went to Elena’s for pupusas and budin! Everyone was taken with the conversation about export, Salvadoran job market, and goat’s milk. It was a real success!! In the morning we made typical Salvadoran bread and went around the community meeting and talking to community members.

Once my parents had the opportunity to meet my community and get some insight into the world I now live in, we headed across the lake Suchitlan to Suchitoto. Suchitoto was one of the most devastated towns during the civil war but after the war officially ended in 1992 with the peace accords the mayor’s office put most of their government allotted money to refurbishing the historic buildings and cleaning up the town. With their efforts, Suchitoto has now become a big destination for both domestic and international tourists. While there we ate some amazing food: salmon, paté, fresh fruits and vegetables, and great mojitos. Also we stayed in a quaint hotel called “los almendros” (the almonds) that is run by a French man and woman; therefore, there is a very “French” feel. Vacation it was. It came and went and now we are in June and everyone is back at work, but while my parents were here we were all on vacation reconnecting.