Scatterbrain

So I have been pretty busy lately. Here a few things with no order in particular that I have been up to while living here, so read on!
Between Spanish class, training, hanging in my hammock, reading and spending time with my family; I have somehow gotten myself into teaching 9 English classes to 20 students in the next month. I had my first two classes this week and I do not think I have ever been so scared of children. I literally had no idea what to do. My students range from 9 to 17 years old, boys and girls. At first glance, it was a little overwhelming. But, somehow I figured it out. Kudos to all you amazing teachers out there, I have no idea how you do this every day…for years!!! It blows me away. We played a few get to know you games, I asked what they wanted to learn the first day and then today for my second class we learned all kinds of vegetables and fruits by playing a dancing memory game with the words, which I think they all really enjoyed. Maybe it also had to do with the fact that I played Lady Gaga (Sam Bessen!). I showed them how to introduce themselves, say their age and taught numbers 1-20. I think it was a good start. Their homework assignment is to find 20 words in English that they hear from music, the radio or television to bring to class on Monday. I am excited to see what they come up with.

(bell rung at Headquarters when volunteers are sworn in and close their service)
I also have all their names and ages written on note cards to randomly ask questions next week to them. So far, I am feeling pretty good. If ANYONE has any suggestions or advice, I would love to hear it! Do not be shy.
Today we shadowed a health promoter in a small canton (very, very small town, mostly a cluster of houses) called La Loma. A health promoter is someone who basically does home visits to a community who do have an easy access to receive healthcare services in the nearby town and can do simple checkups from home. It’s a new system proposed by the government here and is trying to move healthcare into a more grassroots organization. The woman we were with really knew her stuff. We mostly checked up on a lot of babies, some had rashes or minor infections. We met a pregnant woman who had not been gaining as much weight as she should have; she was 7 months along and definitely did not look it. We also learned how to look for larva in the water, which was cool. It was a really interesting morning and all in Spanish, which I enjoyed thoroughly.

On food highlights, my family made “chow mein”, or some kind of Chinese food this weekend, it was delicious! It even had noodles and bean sprouts as well. It was definitely highlight. Sometimes the most unpredictable part of my day is what I eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It’s ALWAYS a surprise, sometimes good, sometimes bad, but I would say 90% of time, I am pretty happy with what I eat. Sometimes I cook for myself as well, which is always a treat. We visited a small street vender on Sunday and ate delicious fried yucca, corn and eggs dipped in honey. My family promised me I could go back next weekend; I posted a photo for you as well. :-)
Thank you for all the boyfriend proposal responses by the way!! I thought I would get a few more, but thank you to all who contributed. Someone told me (sorry I forgot who!) to take one great aspect from every guy I have dated and just make someone up. So I think I will do that, otherwise Theo and Bonnie (James) have 2nd place if I can not make up my mind.

(unhealthy fried good-ness now available at your nearest street vendor...)
I almost forgot, we also did a full day field trip to San Salvador last week. We took the bus there, which took about 1 hour and 30 minutes, but if you drove directly it would take 45 minutes. The buses stop every 5 miles or for customers. We visited an anthropology museum, which was interesting…but I could not concentrate as I was VERY excited for lunch. We went to Pizza Hut. I have never been so excited to eat Pizza Hut in my life, …except maybe in India that one time, but it was amazing!!! I ordered a supreme personal pepperoni pizza and it was delicious. I was SO FULL. I also had a frappachino-look-and-taste-alike at Pizza Hut as well.

(Frappachino Pizza Hut Style)
It was amazingly mouth watering. I just kept thinking, finally American food.

(eating salads, finally!)
We also visited the Peace Corps headquarters which is this HUGE compound of four residential houses, it’s really beautiful. They have a volunteer lounge with computers and a HUGE (mostly several bookshelves) library! We met the rest of the staff and I posted a few photos for you to check out. Afterwards we visited a mall and some people bought a few things they had needed to get. I bought Mac and Cheese naturally (the kraft version, not the knock off Salvadorean kind either) and I found sour Tolli candy gummies. I plan on saving them for a rainy day (it rains every day here, so many a non-rainy day). :-)

(PC Compound Office)
Oh, I also leave tomorrow for my Immersion Weekend! Everyone in my group are visiting a volunteer for the entire weekend. I am SUPER excited, I am pretty much all packed. I lucked out and actually have met the volunteer I am staying with during my first weekend here, when she was visiting Apastepeque for the festival. Her name is Katherine and she lives in La Palma, which is in Chalatenango region of El Salvador. It’s towards the North; I will be about 15 minutes away from Honduras. Pretty crazy! Katherine told me to pack jeans and a light jacket. The best news is, she has not seen a mosquito there…in months!!!! When I heard that, I literally jumped up and down with joy. I am SUPER happy for my legs to heal. The town if you look it up looks amazing, they are famous for their artistic wood painting. The town looks like there are murals everywhere. I promise to update when I get back on Sunday (with photos of course!).

I need to thank my gracious and lovely mother. Here is the photo of all the mail I have received since being here. We FINALLY got mail from the Peace Corps postal box in San Salvador. I received the most mail out of any other volunteer in my group. Hector (one of the PC staff) said I also changed PC history as the first volunteer to receive a letter BEFORE I even arrived in the country. (Thank you Maggie!). He told everyone they are changing the Postal Office to “Kara Zucker, Cuerpo de Paz”. I also received two postcards, one from Los Angeles (from my mom) and Italian one from Amanda!
I feel so lucky! I did change my wish list a bit, so if you feel like sending anything I suggest sending it in the next week or two that way it takes about 2-3 weeks to get here, I will receive it before I go to my site and get a new address. Please again, only send things in padded envelopes, I have to pay to receive boxes at the post office and make sure you put bible symbols or verses on them! Supposedly then they do not get opened!

Lastly, both Shawna and Drew (other PCV’s that live in my community) have cooked for their host families some American food, everything from quiche to hamburgers to grilled cheese. Keep in mind I do not have as many resources as I do in an American grocery store, but I do have the basics, I am open to suggestions from everyone on what American foods I should cook for my family here in El Salvador!
Let me know what you think either you have eaten of my cooking in the past that you think should be made in El Salvador or a simple recipe that you think they would enjoy! I am open to suggestions! :-)<3