6.16

San Vincente
Today is Emily's first day at work, with me. She's obviously a little nervous, like I was. We get dropped off and I show her around, introduce her to the staff and a few of the women. Mondays are my favorite, because it's exercise day. We get up and dance in front of the women and with them. Afterwards, we chat about the placement and life. It's a short day, but fun.

City Tour Round 2
Today, CCS is taking the group on the city tour. I decide to go, again, because Virginia is giving it instead of Juan Carlos, and I'm interested to hear a different side. The information is the same, but the day is different. Two weeks ago, it was raining and cloudy. Today, it is bright, sunny, and hot. We go through the cemetery, and get out to see the landfill, but something is very different. The smell is overpowering. The sun is cooking the trash, releasing a rotten perfume that makes me gag. There are flies everywhere, and we can plainly see all of the people sifting through the garbage deep in the ravine, running in and over it like ants. Seeing this in the sun is totally different than seeing it in the rain. We're far removed, looking down, and I can barely stand the stench. There are also vultures. Vultures EVERYWHERE. It's like Alfred Hitchcock's Birds, but with giant, horrible scavengers. They're lined up sitting on top of the pauper's graves, looking down hungrily at a skinny dog who is digging through the trash nearby. I have never seen so many vultures in my life. There are at least thirty. I wish I had brought my camera, but no such luck. Maybe I can snag a picture from somebody, later. Even after three weeks, it's still insane to think that this is how people live, here. This awful, stinky, contaminated trash is their lives. Some of the volunteers, this week, are in a school that is next door to the entrance to the dump - a new placement to me. They tell us that many of the kids have moms who go through the trash during the day and prostitute themselves at night - if they don't come to school, it is because Mom didn't come home and they have to look after their younger siblings. The rest of the tour is mostly the same, but I can't shake the image of vultures on gravestones.

Edit: photo of dog, dump & vultures!