Season 3 Episode 9

I'm jumping rope, watching episode 9 of season 3 of 'The Wire' on my laptop and listening to it from my Boise speakers that my sister just brought me from home. If you're scratching your head a little right now, you have reason to. However I would just like to assure you that I am in fact, in the Peace Corps. McKnowlty is doing something ballsy and I am just staring to work up a sweat. The sound cuts out on the speakers, the computer switches to battery power, and the one bare fluorescent bulb shuts off.

“jumping tortillas.” I say to myself in frustration. Power outages are not uncommon, however this would be the first during the dry season. While no rain, today has been exceptionally blustery. Once I thought the power had gone out for the whole town so I light a candle and did whatever for an hour or so before I realized there were lights on at school and the two neighboring houses I can see from mine. I walked over and found that the extension cord that I run from my neighbors house to my own had slipped lose. Thinking a repeat incident might have a occurred I walk my sweaty campo nalgas over to Dora's house to check on the cord. I ask if they're lights are gone as well. I'm assured that they are and that a large amate tree has fallen on the power line outside of Lilian's house.

“I do not believe we will have power again today. Maybe tomorrow morning.” Says I.

“No. They won't fix the power until tomorrow, maybe in the morning.” Dora says emphatically as to correct a grave error. I sputter a little trying to explain that's was I said, or at least tried to say. But just nod and say “yea, tomorrow we'll have lights.”

I walk back to my house, grab my towel, plastic shopping bag with grimy bar of soap and handmade shampoo. Head back to Dora's house to take a shower. Dora's house is 200ft away from mine (I know this because of the extension I had to make to get electricity). When I say take a shower I mean take a damn shower. Dora's house is the first one to connect to the big tank that the water comes from, so for some reason she almost always has running water while our neighbors have it twice a week. Running water means a shower. The only one I've seen or heard off in the town that works. I mentioned it was blustery, I just reiterate that fact because it was super blustery. And although it's not really that cold maybe (60 degrees maybe) everyone asks me if I'm cold, and I shamefully admit I am. On the walk back to my house from my shower I walk passed the porch where Dora, two of her kids and two kids in general are sitting, I start to pretend to cry and shake in the cold. I get a cheap laugh out of the kids and Dora smiles but then asks "why are you crying,?" I can't tell if she can tell I'm joking or not so I just say “I'm super duper cold”

As I'm turning the key to my house, on my ratty blue sting keychain/neckless I hear a chainsaw kick up and a round of screeches (not too unlike a cowboy holler but higher pitched and shorter) not too far from my house, presumable in the street. I get dressed and go to investigate what the big 'to-do' is. On either side of the street is a bus waiting to pass, with a market car behind one of the buses. And in between them laying on the ground is a giant amate tree, and a crowd of people going to town on it. I see three people standing on it and swinging axes at it, Chepito with his gigantic change saw, and a score of men with machetes taking care of the smaller pieces. Probably a sixth of the town has showed up to watch the tree get taken apart. I start taking pictures. The town 'mute' (who actually really just is deaf) starts throwing gang signs and wants me to take his picture. I oblige him. Although El Salvador does have a gang problem him throwing those signs is like me when I was ten throwing the Wu-Tang. It lasted about an hour and half before enough was cleared away so the vehicles could pass. People were giving advice to Chepe on where to best use his chainsaw, with firm gestures and demonstrating with their hands the angles that needed to be cut to fell the rest of the tree. Twice people came up to me to point out how well the community worked together. One made a somewhat more dubious comparison and said “we are like the European towns. See how we work together?”

“How do you mean?”

“Well they are united in Europe, just like here.”

“it seems so.” He gives me a half suspicious glance and walks away to further mutilate the fallen tree.
The high-lite was when they tied rope around some of the larger pieces (several hundred pounds) attached the other end to the trapped buses and broke them off the tree well some reverse action on the part of the buses and dragged them a ways so they could be flipped off the road.

About as interesting as “the wire”.