Sitting here, freezing

Yes, you read that correctly. I´m sitting in an internet cafe and freezing. There are very few times in El Salvador that you'll find yourself cold...internet cafe, church, and taking a shower. Yes, I STILL hate the cold showers...
I'm finding that I really didn't explain to a lot of people what I'm doing here. Here's just a brief explanation. I lived here in El Salvador two years ago to work with an organization called HELP International. We work with partner organizations within the third world countries our volunteers are living in (ie El Salvador, Guatemala, Uganda) to fight against the causes of poverty and the effects of poverty. We work in a variety of different areas focusing on teaching English as a second language, business (especially micro-enterprises), square foot gardening, and working in orphanages and schools. I love it here. It's amazing. This year I'm back as a director of a group of volunteers and Gregan is my co-director. We're responsible for setting everything up while in country and making sure it all runs smoothly.
SO that's the gist of what I'm doing here. You can also look at the website for HELP International at www.help-international.org
Things are going really well. They're SUPER busy though...but in a good way. I love being here. I am falling into "bed" exhausted every night and I still hate my alarm in the morning, but I am less hesistant to get out of bed...I feel the work that'm doing is so important and so worthwhile. It's been a great learning experience for me...I've been working on my leadership skills which I feel fairly comfortable with saying needs the work. I really enjoy it though. We've got such an interesting dynamic on our team. Well, we're all girls except my co-country director Gregan...poor guy. BUT, he gets his own room and his own bathroom for the time being. We've been working on getting a schedule nailed down and finalized. We're working with 12 different organizations going from Habitat for Humanity to teaching English in the LDS Business Center to working with handicapped kids to working with boys on the streets and girls in detention centers. We have been working with health departments and with education and business programs. It's amazing. There's a little bit of everything here. Our girls are between the ages of 18 to 22 (then there's me and Gregan, but we don't have to go into ages right?? ;) and they come from all backgrounds. Most of them have not ever traveled out of the US before and those that have, it's usually been for something like a family vacation to the Mexican Riviera...not really the same kind of living conditions that we're living in now. I have posted a picture of my house previously and also a picture of a little boy named Benjamin who I got quite close to when I was here last time. I was so super excited to see him again. He lives in a home for the disabled called Padre Vito Guarato. I'm not sure what handicap he has. He's constrained to a wheel-chair and has very little movement of his arms and none of his legs. He doesn't really talk, but is wonderful at communicating with his arm movements, his eyes, his smiles, and the direction he moves his head. I adore the sweet boy. I was so happy to see him again.
SO, our house has 3 rooms and on makeshift room. We have 3 to 4 girls in each room and not a whole lot of closet space, but it's all right. It's home.
We have set it up so that each girl is responsible for a different project but we all get to try different things and going to different places. One other place that I love is the project I was responsible for before. It's called CISNA. It's a home for boys that have lived on the streets or have been involved in a crime or a gang or drugs or are under state custody. So, it's everything from a prison to a foster home to an orphanage. It's a place where young boys are old in mind and spirit because they have been dealt with so roughly by life. They fight and have quite the pecking order, but all crave love and attention and hugs. I love being there but unfortunately haven't been able to go as often as I like.
Let's think, what else...it's wonderful here. I absolutely love it. I do miss having an internet connection in the home and having to go to a cafe, but asi es la vida no?
I was going to try to upload some pictures of my recent adventure to el Centro, but my camera batteries died, so we'll have to try later. I've also got some stuff that I've written before, so I'll add that too.