The stove project has successfully begun! We officially started construction on June 25, with the help of 2 awesome Peace Corps volunteers who came out to help with the first few stoves. These guys are experts and were so awesome to have here for the construction of the first few stoves. The construction process isn't too difficult, however, there are some key pieces that one needs to have correct in order for the stoves to function well and having these experienced volunteers here really helped get the project off the ground with the right start. Plus, it was great to have them here over my birthday. We celebrated with a bottle of red wine and I made a chocolate cake in the artisanal oven. So that was our dinner - red wine and a BIG piece of chocolate cake - my type of dinner! Plus we invited my two good friends, Sara and Eluvia, over to celebrate. They sang the birthday song and ended it in the typical Guatemalan way by mashing my face in the cake - I'll be posting that pic too!
So, we started the stove project the next morning early. I have the help of a great mason here in the community too, so he worked closely with the two volunteers to learn the construction techniques with this stove design and we were off and building. We had an intense 3 days of construction - long hours - but well worth it as we got 3 stoves nearly done. The stoves need to dry completely before we put the final stovetop and chimney tubes on them - so that will be in about 3 weeks since it is the rainy season. However, the construction is going well and I am so happy with how the project is progressing.
Then last week I was invited to go to El Salvador with one of the volunteer leaders and our Project Specialist for a stove workshop. They are building 3 different stove designs over there and it was fun to learn how to build them and see what they are doing in Peace Corps El Salvador. El Salvador is beautiful - the climate is very tropical, similar to here on the coast. We ate the typical El Salvadorean food called pupusas - so yummy! Basically they are like 2 tortillas stacked on top of each other with something good in the center - chicharron (pork) or frijol or cheese. They are then grilled on the stovetop and topped with cabbage. We had a great trip overall - got to travel in my first double decker bus - that was awesome. I hope to be able to take some vacation time later to go back and visit and hit up the beaches and surf they are so famous for!
After El Salvador, I returned to Antigua for a fun 4th of July party with the rest of the volunteers. We all celebrated big, complete with hamburgers, hot dogs, talent show, raffle, and dancing. It is always so great to get together to see how the other volunteers are doing. The country is relatively small however, it is difficult to get out to see everyone so this is the one event where we are all together and it was a blast!
Now I am back in site trying to get caught up after being gone and continuing with the stove project and a few other things. We had a group of 30 basico students over for lunch today so I got to enjoy a nice churrasco (grilled meat), grilled onions, salsa, refried beans, and rice. This is one of my favorite meals - however - now I'm super full! However, hay que aprovechar (you need to take advantage) when there is good food since I don't always get meat out here due to the lack of refrigeration. So today is definitely a good day!
Thanks for the support everyone!
Cheers,
Tara
