Having a snack in a leftist coffee shop31 October 2009
Bela and I spent last week on a quest to renew our visas. We are here in El Salvador on turist visas, and so must renew them every 90 days. El Salvador is a part of a four country agreement with Honduras, Nicaragua, and Guatemala, and so in order to receive a new visa, we needed to travel to either Mexico or Costa Rica. We chose to travel to Chiapas, Mexico, and spent three days in a city called Tapachula, on the border of Chiapas and Guatemala, drinking coffee, reading, and eating spicy enchiladas. It was a nice break, and very interesting for me to see another country.
The day after we arrived back in Estancia a meeting had been planned for us in another community called El Tablon. It is about three hours away from where we are living. In the past, there was a relationship between the NGO for whom we are volunteering and the clinic there. However, a different NGO is now in charge of the clinic in El Tablon. Ramiro, the director of our NGO, is interested in renewing the relationship, and it is possible that in the future between Bela, Neal, Juan Carlos (a recently graduated physician from Estancia who studied in Cuba), and I will be rotating one week a month each in El Tablon, living and working there.
The meeting didn´t actually happen, because the health promotor had left the site to go into town, but we did see the outside of the clinic and volunteer house. Ramiro was frustrated about the cancelation of the meeting, and decided that we should head to the nearest town for street food. When we arrived we found a spot that sold pupusas, a traditional snack, that is made of corn and cheese and fried. We had a great time sharing stories and snacks!
Bela and I spent last week on a quest to renew our visas. We are here in El Salvador on turist visas, and so must renew them every 90 days. El Salvador is a part of a four country agreement with Honduras, Nicaragua, and Guatemala, and so in order to receive a new visa, we needed to travel to either Mexico or Costa Rica. We chose to travel to Chiapas, Mexico, and spent three days in a city called Tapachula, on the border of Chiapas and Guatemala, drinking coffee, reading, and eating spicy enchiladas. It was a nice break, and very interesting for me to see another country.
The day after we arrived back in Estancia a meeting had been planned for us in another community called El Tablon. It is about three hours away from where we are living. In the past, there was a relationship between the NGO for whom we are volunteering and the clinic there. However, a different NGO is now in charge of the clinic in El Tablon. Ramiro, the director of our NGO, is interested in renewing the relationship, and it is possible that in the future between Bela, Neal, Juan Carlos (a recently graduated physician from Estancia who studied in Cuba), and I will be rotating one week a month each in El Tablon, living and working there.
The meeting didn´t actually happen, because the health promotor had left the site to go into town, but we did see the outside of the clinic and volunteer house. Ramiro was frustrated about the cancelation of the meeting, and decided that we should head to the nearest town for street food. When we arrived we found a spot that sold pupusas, a traditional snack, that is made of corn and cheese and fried. We had a great time sharing stories and snacks!
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