emilyclyne.com Blog

A lot of progress has been made since the last update! Many projects
are in full swing and I really couldn’t be happier. My village and I
have been busy with fundraising events, family health meetings, and
English class. We celebrated Earth Day in the school with recycling
campaign and activities promoting waste management. Every woman in my
woman’s group has learned what a self breast exam is and how to
perform one. And English class is packed with 50+ people every Tuesday
and Thursday. Everyday I am truly amazed at the progress people are
making and their motivation and eagerness to learn and better their
community.

Just recently, one of our main continuing fundraising events for the
casa comunal has come to a close, but with much gained! The town has
come together to have a Torneo Relampago, or a Lightning Soccer
Tournament every Sunday from January through March. Each month it
attracted a huge crowd of spectators from all around the area, giving
people an exciting break from the everyday monotony of field labor and
house work.  The surrounding villages were invited to play and
trophies were awarded to first, second, and third place teams. We sold
food and drinks and a total 460 dollars were raised, a huge amount
considering no one thing was sold for more than 25 cents.

This past Saturday, our excursion to the beach took off. It went
fantastically and fun in the sun was had by all who partook in the
event. It was organized with the help of the Mayor of Metapan who
loaned us a bus with space for 75 people and his own personal
motorist. Tickets were sold for 4 dollars each and sold out very, very
fast, giving us a profit of 300 dollars. This fundraising activity was
one of my favorites because it not only raised a lot of money fairly
easily, but it let families affordably spend a day of fun together and
see a part of the country they hadn’t seen before.

Furthermore, Peace Corps has put up a webpage in my name for those
with interest in donating to this project. All donations are 100% tax
deductable, but please be sure to let me know if you have donated,
because with the Privacy Act all donations are anonymous to the
volunteer, making it impossible for me to properly thank those who
have donated. This webpage and more information can found here:
https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=519-120

I got an overwhelming response to my last blog about my cat.

Well, she no longer looks anything like that. And her name is no longer Monkey. I don’t know why I would intent to name her that. Anyway her new name is Mishito, or Kitty in Spanish. I know, clever. But it’s a cute name nonetheless, pronounced Meeshito.

She’s a lucky cat though, born in a litter of 4 and all of her other brothers and sisters died. Pobrecitos! The old lady who gave her to me asks me every time I see her if Mishito is dead yet, and laughs when she hears that she is, in fact, living, saying that “we’ll see if she lives any longer”.

I got her when she was only 4 or 5 weeks old because her mom stopped producing milk, because they didn’t give her food, because they wanted her to eat the mice, and if you give your cat food they will become lazy and not eat the mice apparently. And I’m pretty sure that’s why the other kittens died. Somehow Mishito seems like a normal healthy cat despite all of this.  She’s even extra lucky because she has traveled quite extensively through El Salvador, she went to Apaneca in Ruta de Las Flores, and the beach at Barra de Santiago, saw the ruins of Tazumal, and partied the night away in San Salvador with one of the Marines guarding the embassy.