February 9, 2005: Headlines: COS - El Salvador: PCVs in the Field - El Salvador: Haddon Herald: Ryan Neal lives in El Salvador working with the town hall, schools, and people of his small, rural community
Peace Corps Online:
Directory:
El Salvador:
Peace Corps El Salvador :
The Peace Corps in El Salvador:
February 9, 2005: Headlines: COS - El Salvador: PCVs in the Field - El Salvador: Haddon Herald: Ryan Neal lives in El Salvador working with the town hall, schools, and people of his small, rural community
Ryan Neal lives in El Salvador working with the town hall, schools, and people of his small, rural community
Ryan Neal lives in El Salvador working with the town hall, schools, and people of his small, rural community
It's slow and easy in El Salvador
By Ryan Neal, Special to The Haddon Herald
02/09/2005
This is the first of a series of articles written by a Haddon Heights resident volunteering for the Municipal Development Program in the United States Peace Corps.
Ryan Neal, 22, lives in El Salvador working with the town hall, schools, and people of his small, rural community.
Neal was graduated in 2004 from Loyola College in Baltimore, Md. with a B.B.A. in International Business and Asian Studies. He began his 27-month service three weeks later.
Deciding to join the Peace Corps was one of the easiest yet hardest decisions of my life. After living and studying in Southeast Asia during six months of college I knew what I was getting myself in to. I also knew what I was giving up. However, the sacrifices have been made and it was time to move on with life after college.
So, here I am, living in a small town named Jujutla (Who-whoot-la) close to the border of Guatemala, which is cropped in the middle of the mountains surrounded by acres of corn, coffee plants, and sugar cane.
It has been eight months since I arrived in El Salvador, and I have done everything I can to adapt and assimilate myself to the Salvadoran lifestyle, customs, and culture. However, even though I have made every effort to adjust to my life there are still the frustrations and difficulties present as I attempt to work productively alongside my counterpart and community.
It is a different land, a different language, and a different outlook on life. The national tranquility that I encounter seems to slow each and every process as people here simply pass the time during the day.
Coming from a country where I am accustomed to spending time in a day filled with planned activities this experience has forced me to be more creative and to enjoy and value the time I spend just hanging around talking with friends.
Taking on the blasé, laid back, and relaxed approach to life, many Salvadorans don't take time as serious as we do. It is as if they almost expect to wait for everything they do and it doesn't annoy them as easily. To them, it seems like it is just a part of life.
I first realized the way things work when I arrived early for a 7:30 a.m. meeting. It didn't start until the last person strolled in at 9 in typical Salvadoran time.
My new, simpler life has been stripped of the constant pressure, stress, and deadlines that I once had. The free time that I presently have is practically overflowing from my calendar, leaving me with amble opportunities to pass the time with the families and friends I have grown close to, working on projects that I have created, having some quality hammock time, or studying Spanish.
After 15 weeks of living with a family and truly experiencing a Salvadoran life, I have moved out on my own for the first time in my life - no college roommate and no friend from town or high school.
I never would have thought that my first house would be all to myself in the middle of the mountains of a Spanish-speaking country. But as the days pass I like it just the way things are.
I wouldn't pass up the Peace Corps experience for anything, even if it meant that my clothes weren't washed by hand, I could sleep in a bed without a mosquito net, I could actually take a lukewarm shower, and I don't have to boil my drinking water or bleach my fruits and vegetables.
I have left the comfortable niche and luxuries behind me for over two years. I live simpler, and in a way, somewhat easier. The days are quiet and tranquil, and the people of my community wake up with smiles everyday, most before dawn, to the normal struggles that they have been living with since their childhood.
After experiencing over a decade of civil war, they have made me feel safe and are constantly taking me under their wings. They make me feel at home, and I am forever grateful to them. It makes life just that much easier. Every morning I open my front door to the picture-perfect view of the mountains and ocean, ready to start a fresh day and continue the work that I was meant to do.
Peace Corps says that this is supposedly the toughest job I will ever love. Well, they couldn't have said it any better. I love what I do and where I am in the world. This is my life. I am a Peace Corps Volunteer.
¡Adiós! Until next time....
©Haddon Herald 2005
When this story was posted in February 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:
 | The Peace Corps Library Peace Corps Online is proud to announce that the Peace Corps Library is now available online. With over 27,000 index entries in 430 categories, this is the largest collection of Peace Corps related stories in the world. From Acting to Zucchini, you can use the Main Index to find hundreds of stories about what RPCVs with your same interests or from your Country of Service are doing today. |
 | Bush's FY06 Budget for the Peace Corps The White House is proposing $345 Million for the Peace Corps for FY06 - a $27.7 Million (8.7%) increase that would allow at least two new posts and maintain the existing number of volunteers at approximately 7,700. Bush's 2002 proposal to double the Peace Corps to 14,000 volunteers appears to have been forgotten. The proposed budget still needs to be approved by Congress. |
 | RPCVs mobilize support for Countries of Service RPCV Groups mobilize to support their Countries of Service. Over 200 RPCVS have already applied to the Crisis Corps to provide Tsunami Recovery aid, RPCVs have written a letter urging President Bush and Congress to aid Democracy in Ukraine, and RPCVs are writing NBC about a recent episode of the "West Wing" and asking them to get their facts right about Turkey. |
 | Ask Not As our country prepares for the inauguration of a President, we remember one of the greatest speeches of the 20th century and how his words inspired us. "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man." |
 | Latest: RPCVs and Peace Corps provide aid Peace Corps made an appeal last week to all Thailand RPCV's to consider serving again through the Crisis Corps and more than 30 RPCVs have responded so far. RPCVs: Read what an RPCV-led NGO is doing about the crisis an how one RPCV is headed for Sri Lanka to help a nation he grew to love. Question: Is Crisis Corps going to send RPCVs to India, Indonesia and nine other countries that need help? |
 | The World's Broken Promise to our Children Former Director Carol Bellamy, now head of Unicef, says that the appalling conditions endured today by half the world's children speak to a broken promise. Too many governments are doing worse than neglecting children -- they are making deliberate, informed choices that hurt children. Read her op-ed and Unicef's report on the State of the World's Children 2005. |
Read the stories and leave your comments.
Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.
Story Source: Haddon Herald
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - El Salvador; PCVs in the Field - El Salvador
PCOL17013
73
.