it´s all about relaxa

I am kinda sad that absolutly no one responded to my last post. i was looking forward to reading what you all thought and sharing that with people. Anyhow, it´s all about relaxa. did you know that if you say a sentence in english to someone who speaks spanish and put an o or a at the end of the last word they will totally understand....NOT!!! haha. it was great. we went to laguna de apoyo to relax. what an adventure. we went totally on public transport which was great and humorous. the first place we were planning to stay was closed so we went searching for another place and found one that Elena told us about. It all worked out. Sunday before we left this man from the US came and was trying to teach a Nica how to swim, he couldnt speak spanish, and the nica couldnt speak english, so the man goes, first, its about the perro and tried to show him how to doggy paddle, and then he said in a loud voice as if the nica could understand if he said it louder, ITS ALL ABOUT RELAXA! haha. oh gosh! It was nice to get away for a bit tho and just be on our own.
This week has been full tho. Sometimes really great, and other times really really hard. It wasnice because we've had some afternoons free, but today was really hard. First, i started my service site, which thus far i have done absolutly no service. It is a really great organization that does a lot of community organizing so i have gotten to see so much with that. it has been really great to see and get a sample of that. there are some women leaders in the community and just some really great things going on. The organization is about justice rather than charity. Today i was talking to some kids at an education hand washing and teeth brushing workshop, and they were telling me i spoke english and they knew that beacuse of my blue eyes. itwas funny. they drew me a picture and everything. they were really cute kids. The whole day i felt like people were pointing out that im a chele as they say here, or gringo, or white person in general. its kinda hard to have that pointed out all the time and have people yelling down the street noticing you. Then...we went to the garbage dump. That was incredibly hard. it made me want to be sick. i really honstly saw a house made of cardboard. people were working to find food in the same places that cows and pigs were. they bath where the cows were standing which has trash in it....a contaminated pond. I cannot explain the living conditions of these people. It was not human dignity there. No way. kids do this, men and women, elderly...they pull out plastic, glass, metal and sell it. they get sick...it is trash. it smells, and i just want to cry. its horrible. i dont get it. I dont know how to explain it other than it makes my heart hurt. I guess i do understand when people say i couldnt do that...because i could not live along side of that. i{m sure i{ll say a little more about that eventally, but i think i need more time to refelct on it. WOW...or as they say here. PUCHICA!!! there is no dignity. I´m trying to get away from feeling guilt, but seeing things like that, how could i not feel guilty that i have so much, and they nothing. and how do we bring justice to that. not charity, but justice. i just dont know.
On the bright side, dos generacions is trying to work with that the people there and some people have gotten out of that cycle of viololence (which children experience so much here, physical, sexual...). Also, my family is great. They are fun and i enjoy being with them. i can talk to them,and well, i feel like i got the best family. I have no complaints about them. They are fun and loving. They give hugs and joke. I really enjoy that and i even got to rock the baby to sleep a couple of nights. sometime i{ll post photos because my sister tooks tons of Mariann, the baby.
anyhow, mom, sorry this was not all lighter as asked, but well, sometimes things in developing countries are more real than they are happy and sometimes the reality is happy, but today, in the dump, it was not happy. it was sickening. i love and miss you all!
Love,
Jessica