Change of Scenery

My last post was somewhere around four months ago. I had just gotten back from being in the States and still wasn´t feeling any different about my project placement. Even after lots of "searching"-- asking the wisdom of others, reading, meditating, and some traveling, I still wasn´t sure what I wanted to do. I was held back mostly by fear, a fear of regret (either of leaving and deciding I shouldn´t have, or staying and remaining miserable). Eventually, however, something came to fruition.

(from my journal)

Yesterday while I was reading, I heard a voice within myself bubble up. It was quiet, but my head had stopped buzzing and churning from earlier, so it didn´t have much to compete with. It was soft and new, just born, this thought. After a day of labor had passed within my head, there it was.

“It´s time to leave. It´s okay.”

It took a second for it to sink in, but once it did, it felt good. It felt right, and I could breathe again. A chance to let go of everything I´d been holding in.

A few days later I called Todd and let him know. Two weeks later, we were planning to have our Central American BVS Retreat in El Salvador, and after that, I was going to attend a 10-Day Silent Meditation Course in the capital. We decided it would be best if I finished my time in Nebaj before I left for the retreats, so I had two weeks to pack up and say my goodbyes.

While it was difficult to leave in many ways, it was also exciting to be going to a new place (even though at the time, I didn´t know where). The BVS retreat was in El Salvador, where there were three other potential volunteer projects I could choose from, so I visited them after we finished our time together. All ended up being impressive, and as I went into the 10-Day Meditation retreat, I was still undecided (again because of fear, but it was smaller this time). After the meditation retreat, I hung out at Todd´s house for awhile, where I finally decided where I wanted to be.

And here I am. For the next year and a half (at least), I will be working as the volunteer coordinator at the Permaculture Institute of El Salvador (IPES) in colonial Suchitoto. My job consists of mostly office work-- responding to e-mails of potential volunteers, posting on the Facebook page, and updating the website. I am also repsonsible for the volunteers that come to help work on the land (IPES has a demonstration site where they train and educate people in permaculture practices), making sure they are safe, comfortable (for the most part), and have their needs met. Occassionally I will be able to get my hands dirty and help with those who are working on the land (I even get to participate in the permaculture design course for free!).

El Salvador is HOT HOT HOT and the mosquitoes are vicious, but I like it here so far. It feels good to be here. The comida tipica are pupusas, which are tortillas (usually made from corn or rice flour) filled with beans and cheese, various greens, meats, or vegetables (my favorite is cheese with ayote, a type of squash). There´s lots of pineapple and mangoes, but not many vegetables that are grown here (I´m told that El Salvador imports a majority of its food; 90% of all vegetables, 30% of beans, 30% of corn, and 70% of rice). Food security, poverty, and environmental degredation are all large problems here, but that´s for another blog post.

Pupusas!

I´m excited to be on a new adventure, and welcome visitors to come ANYTIME they want. I´d love to hang with you.

Peace,
Jess