Living In El Salvador

This book documents the transition of a 20-year-old farm boy who had never been far from home to a world traveler who was comfortable in any situation in Latin America. It follows him through training in Puerto Rico, where he had difficulty leaning to speak Spanish. He learned enough Spanish to be sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer and an airline ticket to El Salvador. After a brief orientation in San Salvador, he was sent to Sonsonate where he was assigned to teach literacy to Indian small farmers. After a few months, he transferred to the Agriculture Extension Service where I teamed with a home economist named America and an agronomist named Vicente. They worked in many Indian villages teaching small farmers how to better farm and house wife better cooking and health practices. Occasionally, he was able to take vacations where he hitchhiked along the Pan American highway to visit all the Central American countries. This involved hitchhiking through the Guatemalan jungle to visit the pyramids in the Peten jungle. All the time his Spanish improved until towards the end of his tour, he was fluent in speaking Spanish.