Just Another Day in Paradise

Writing offline is somehow not as satisfying as seeing my words go directly onto my Blog, but I am once again experiencing computer difficulties. Can’t get hooked up and not even Eric the Young can figure out what the problem is. Once again it’s Word to the rescue. Before supper tonight we met a gaggle of baby-faced Norwegians downtown outside an internet café. Four of them were surfing and emailing like demons. I’ll try to track them down tomorrow and exchange a beer for a word or two of advice on how to spread the Word.

Normal routine this morning. It was comforting to see Eric sitting out on the terrace waiting for me to complete the party of four. After a good breakfast and the telling of a few more theatre stories we said our goodbyes to Robert. He took the mid-afternoon flight back to Toronto and by now (Friday, 10:30 pm Eastern) should be safely home. He’s a great listener, a gentle soul with a refreshing sense of adventure and a ready laugh. We shall all miss him.

It felt exceedingly warm at Escuela Taller today. We heard later that the high was thirty-four degrees. If they talk about the weather here it’s of course in Spanish, and we don’t hear official pronouncements tracking the rise and fall of the mercury every half hour as we do in Canada. Given the attitude I’ve observed regarding just about everything else in this wonderful country, if it’s hotter than usual the locals probably just accept it and carry on without complaint. I’ve been drinking gallons of water, eating and drinking sensibly, and I feel healthier than I have in months. The cipro and Bromo Seltzer remain unused, the cough that hung around all January has been silent and my plantar fasciitis-plagued size elevens have been almost pain-free for the past five days. I’m sure I’ve just cursed myself by going public with this boring medical update, but so far, so good.

After slowly and deliberately gluing and screwing together the first of the risers for the stage, with our Salvadorian apprentices watching carefully, we let them take over, under our close observation, encouragement and involvement. By the end of the day we had assembled four complete 4’ x 8’ x 2’ risers. Not exactly a record-breaking pace, but given the heat, the language hurdle and the teaching mandate, I think we can be proud of what we accomplished. Sure, Frank and I could have asked the students to sit on their hammers and just watch us sail through the task in far less time, but speed and uber efficiency are not the point of the project. The stage will get built on time and it will be beautiful. And it will be the students who will build it.

I haven’t switched on the television in my room since we arrived so I’m not sure what channels are available, but I’m going to go inside and see if I can pick up some coverage of the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics. I’m fairly sure CNN and the big American broadcasters have a strong presence here. We might not be able to buy a ginger ale locally but most of our other cultural icons, like Pizza Hut and Wendy’s, are as thick in San Salvador as they are in Sudbury. It will be a sad day in Suchitoto when the first Burger King opens its doors.