Saturday 28 May 2016

Phase 1?

Alright so mi nombre es Andrea Kauehowen, and I just graduated from Asper with my Bachelor of Commerce degree. I was referenced to join this service-learning program due to my interests within the fields of social enterprise and international business.
We are just finishing our second full week here in Usulutan, which is a rural district of El Salvador where the Oikos office is located. We are around 2 hours away from the main city of San Salvador which we have already visited a couple times, and there are plenty of amenities close to where we are staying as well - including places like Wendy's and Pizza hut for anyone who thinks we are literally in the middle of nowhere. Although we were brought to Pizza Hut once for dinner, we have mostly been eating at one restaurant close by that has an agreement with Oikos. The food is good! And I'm pretty sure we have already eaten pupusas at least 7 times.
For our first weekend here, two of the Oikos members invited us to stay in their homes in the city and we were able to enjoy the beautiful nearby beach, as well as a much needed cervesa at dinner. This weekend is a little more low key, as all of the Oikos workers went home for the weekend. However, we are getting some solid reading time in, as well as hoping to start studying our Spanish a little more diligently. The language barrier has definitely been the most frustrating aspect of this experience thus far. Thankfully, today we had Jennifer join us from Winnipeg for two weeks and she is fluent in Spanish! Yay! She is going to help us with the communication needed to really start the process of setting the project in motion. After two weeks of tagging along to meetings and touring local farms we are definitely ready to make a game plan for getting this dehydrator built and put in action.
The room we are sleeping in here on the Oikos grounds has A/C which definitely feels luxurious considering many homes around here do not even have electricity or running water. Everyday the temperature reaches between 35-39 degrees Celsius, but I think my body is finally starting to adjust to the climate.. slightly. Sweating is good for you though, right?

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