My apologies: havent found postcards or stamps, Im sorry!!! Ill be home soon. : ) Please let me hear your comments... Happy New Year to everyone! and good luck to CORA in the marathon.....

Thursday ----->
It's hot here in Leon, Nicaragua!
Monday night we did Chanukah with the Arguetas, who were fascinated. Then we sat around and played Hebrew music until 1 or 2 am. The sons (Walters cousins) are extremely talented. Oren said some of the best guitar playing he had ever seen. I have to agree.
After a final celebratory evening at the mall and an arcade with the Arguetas, headed south to Nicaragua. Another long bus ride and border crossing, but the seats are amazingly comfortable and I got to sleep and read.
We're now in Leon, a student town, known for its liberal and revolutionary spirit. We spent today walking around town and enjoying the many murals of the city. One featured a CIA snake reaching up and biting the hands of people trying to vote. In the local cultural center, theres a prominent painting of Reagan, sitting - grinning - on the head of an indigenous woman whose hands are bleeding. On either side of her are two little peons - I think local government officials - who are dressed as clowns.
Weve met up with three Israelis and a guy from France. Wev'e spent the last 2 days together. Last night, for Chanukah, about 8 of us gathered and I told the story of chanukah - a sort of dramatic interpretation complete with sound effects. We sang some songs and talked about our favorite holiday foods.

Let's backtrack....
Tuesday night we went out to see a revolutionary band play at a local bar. They were fantastic! They were so excited about the crowd, and so passionate about the music. A lot of people were signing along and I got to dance with some very special Nicaraguan men. Oren has some funny pictures to prove it. That night I stayed up late talking about Israeli politics etc... which was really interesting in light of Sharon's new party and the elections in the Spring.

I love having the time to think again and to get into lengthly discussions... After a week, Im feeling again like mysely and am a bit envious of those around me who are traveling for months. Most people here are planning on travelling for at least 4 months...

Yesterday, we went to the cerro negro, an amazing volcanic formation about an hour away. Flavio drove us in a Jeep through dirt roads. We negotiated our way past ox drawn carts, chickens, dogs and some hungry looking horses. The landscape is incredible - desert like with flat fields. There are scattered huts, and in the distance are several volcanoes that pop out suddently from the ground.

AtCcerro Negro, quite literally a black pile of ask, we climbed up the moon-like surface to the top of the crater. Oren, Uri and I explored the crater which was smoldering. There were patches of white, yellow and red from sulpher and iron. You could feel the heat coming from the volcano and I collected some rocks to show my students. After walking all around the rim of the volcano, we got to slide down!

Leaping through a steep pile of volcanic ash isnt really comparable to any other experience Ive had. We could jump really high and land softly in the deep tiny rocks. We could stop at any time, but could leap down gathering speed and decent lift off as we went. You could also glide your feet along the dust and ski down. I recommend this activity, next time you have the chance. ITs better than skiing, although a lot dirtier!

Although I havent been in nature nearly enough, the trip has been amazing and already I am so so glad that I did this! Tomorrow we're off to be beach bums for a few days in San Juan del Sur. Next time Im here, Ill need several months to see the jungle and the lago de nacaragua - a lake the size of El Salvador with volcanic islands in the center. This brief trip has inspired me to come back - shocking, I know.

Much love
Happy New Year!

Here I sit, in San Salvador, in a house with Internet access, a full-time maid, a recording studio, but alas, very limited hot water (only in one of the three bathrooms) and sketchy plumbing. Its been very interesting to see how people live here and we´ve had experiences that the typical tourist would not be able to find. In fact, I havent seen another American since Friday... or even someone who isn´t from Salvador.

I´ll start from Saturday morning.... 4^30 AM and Oren and I wake up to sit on the dark street outside our hostel Shalom (the name an eerie omen of things to come, that we missed until now) Ostensibly, a bus was going to pick us up right at our door, and miraculously it did. We were taken along with an Israeli girl to the capital where we waited for our bus south. Zone 4 , our driver told us, was ´peligroso´ so he waited with us until the bus came. The streets were cramped with people prepapring their goods for the market - it was difficult to drive through...

On the bus I slept the whole way, of course, although Oren started feeling sick. The border crossing took forever, and the whole bus had to wait for us and 5 other people because Salvadorenos and Guatemalans were exempt from the passport control. We prayed it wouldnt leave without us.

Once in San Salvador, our life has been like a bizarre scavenger hunt - we get in the car and never understand exactly they are taking us - we have some clue, so we try to guess - but each event has been more strange, hilarious and exciting than our imaginations can dream up. Walter´s family has been amazing and we´ve spent time with both his father and mother´s families - the families are very close and we´ve met aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, in laws, etc... Mostly, they feed us A LOT!

Walter´s great aunt picked us up from the bus station. Her van - the large car she drives so it can fit the whole family band - has 2 jewish stars and ¨shalom¨on the dashboard. Paled in comparison the the house... Her garage is painted bright blue and the gate in front boasts an enormous Star of David. The gate on the adjacent door is a menorah. The whole family came out to meet us and when the garage door opened we saw a life size mural of the Kotel (the western wall of the temple in Jerusalem) complete with men praying. This, in their garage. Inside the house are countless items of Judaica - shofars, menorahs, music boxes that play the horah, framed copies of the priestly blessing and Israeli flags.

While the family went off to pray, we swam in their rooftop pool. They have a great view of the city and the volcano of San Salvador. The house is several stories tall and trees and flowers hung over the terrace where we swam. It was hot! Then, Bety invited me to watch TV. Her husband and sons were dancing and singing at their church and it was televised on a national station.

We had to see it in person, so as we struggled to understand the meaning of all this, we asked to join them at church for Christmas eve services.

Thousands of Salvadorans go to this church. It is supposedly the biggest congregation in San Salvador, and I have no reason to dispute this fact. Bety dressed in a blue and white dress with a gold Jewish star embroidered on the front. The traffic was crazy and everywhere were signs about salvation and Jesus. Many of the cars had seemingly contradictory bumper stickers - Jesus Saves, and an Israeli flag. We found ourselves smack in the middle of a Messianic Jewish congregation.

The stage was blue and white - with a Christmas tree. The tree, however was somewhat overshadowed by the enormous Jewish star and menorah on the wall. Intermittenly, the preacher spoke of salvation, and then Kol Hatikvah '- the band of the family whose house were staying at - would play the hora or some other song about Israel.

After the service, Oren and I were escorted to private rooms and begged to convert. I stood my ground and I think earned the respect of the missionary just for being Jewish and actually having been to Israel. As for Oren, he was still not feeling well and he opted for the quickest way out - salvation!

I almost wished Id done the same! Minutes later, a young woman came up to Oren and gave him a bracelet. She told him that she´d bought it for herself that day, but that Jesus had just spoken to her and told her to give it to that guy over there. The message from Jesus, via this woman, was that Jesus loves Oren. Alas, Im off to hell... Oren and I were pretty flabergasted.

That night, fireworks overtook the city until 2am. Across the street from Bety´s I ate a special Christmas meal - a sandwich of stewed turkey - and flan for dessert.

SUNDAY----

At 8am, Karla´s brother picked us up to take us out for breakfast. Comida typica at Burger King! After our third trip past the mall, we were beginning to understand how proud they are hre of fast food and chain stores. At Burger King I had a delicious breakfast of beans, eggs, cheese and salsa. After touring the city - the palace, the park de libertad and the enormous Cathedral of Sal Salvador, we went to Ilobasco. This town is about 45 minutes away.

We drove past the lago de san salvador which unfortunately cant be visited right now .The road is out because of flooding. Likewise, we cant visit one of th volcanoes because its active right now!

We spent Christmas day with the Ramirez family. They showed us pottery and we walked through the town which, to be honest, was very very dirty. Trash here doesnt seemed to get picked up regularly, and people just drop things on the ground. Its a shame...

For lunch we had Campero fried chicked. (think KFC) On Christmas, the national tradition is that no one cooks. So we ordered in... I already felt like i was going to overdose on oil and grease, but this was only the beginning.

After lunch, I read a little with Valeria, a 7 year old cousin of Walter. She was such a sweet girl, and very very smart. We drove back to San Salvador and took a pitstop at -yes! - the mall. Oren and I played an awesome game of knock hockey- the only money Ive spent here. Then we went to Walter´s uncles house. First, however, we had to awaken the drunk man on the steps.

They live in a communtiy with a security guard and are directly across the street from another church of Messianic Judaism. It´s everywhere here! Attached to this house was an ice cream shop so we opened for business and got free banana splits! Then we tasted the local soda - kolashanpan.

Next, we were taken to try the national food - pupusas... something wed heard a lot about... It took us over an hero to navigate the traffic and windy roads up to a spot that overlooked the whole city. It seems that it´s weekend tradition to congregate up here and eat pùpusas with the whole family. Horns blared, music played and pick up trucks had beds packed with pèople. ALong side the road were endless pupuserias and vendors selling jewelry and other knicknacks. We arrived and ate the delicious (fried) tortillas filled with beans and cheese.

Today, my tummy hurts a little, but Im happy. The hospitality here has been incredible and I feel like we´ve gotten to understand a bit about the Salvadoran culture. ITs wonderful to see how close the families are and how proud they are of their country.

Hello all...
Am writing from antigua where i have been since yesterday afternoon.
Ive never ´blogged´ before but it seems like a good way to keep up with my journal writing while simultaneously keeping in touch with people... i hope you enjoy...

So far, getting out of new york was far and away the most treacherous part of the journey. at 430 am it just wasnt possible to get into manhattan so after an hour in traffic on flatbush avenue we finally got on the BQE and took a very circuitous route to Newark. I just made my flight, only because of some somewhat reckless driving on my part and the amazing patience of Jonathan he was busy calling USAir trying to get me on a later flight. Around this time, I started feeling really sick from the chroloquinn (and the stress) but a whole bunch of water and finally getting some sleep on the plane seems to have done a good deal of help.

Fast forward several hours -- arriving in Guatemala CIty was beautiful. We flew over the huge Lago de Atitlan which is surrounded by volcanic peeks. THe landscape here is very mountainous and the volcanoes reach up above the clouds. Coming off the plane, a met a guy named skip from DC. Turns out he was meeting up with a friend of his who is working for an orphanage in Antigua with a peace corps affiliated program, I think. I went with them to Antigua and we had an amazing evening just walking the cobblestone streets of this small city. THere is a huge volcano to the south that helps with my sense of direction. In the center of town is a fountain of 4 sirens - its quite a site. WE had some great coffee on a terrace ' there are amazing flowers everywhere and its about 65 degrees although it got quite cool last night.

I tasted two new foods! Alicia rents a room with a family here and in their garden were several kinds of birds and two pet baby aligators. In her kitchen, she had passion fruit and sugar cane. Buoth good, although the consistency of passion fruit (you only eat the inside, so its safe to eat) is much like frog eggs.

Am staying at teh Hostel Casa Shalom - the name intrigued me, I guess. Theyve found a niche market with the Israelis who all travel after the army. Met some surfer Israelis who are staying there.

Today, Ill find Oren and then head on to El Salvador, although I wish I had more time to hang out around here.

Miss you all, would love to hear from you...