Bye Bye Bosco

Yesterday I went to a send-off at the U.S. embassy for Salvadoran researchers and master's candidates who have been awarded Fulbright scholarships to go study or perform research in the U.S. The event was a chance to say goodbye to Carolyn and other members of the embassy staff, and my fellow U.S. Fulbrighters Anne and Rich. Afterward Rich and I went to a cafe near the embassy to talk over our experiences and Rich's idea about us collaborating on a paper that might compare/contrast/synthesize our experiences teaching about and studying renewable energy in El Salvador.

Today was my last day at Universidad Don Bosco. I spent the morning cleaning up and organizing my bookshelf, desk, and computer. Just before noon the grad campus staff threw me a farewell party with a cake from my favorite bakery, Jardin del Pan. Nice job! It was pretty sad saying goodbye to all these folks who have been so nice to me all along, some of whom I now know as good friends.

In the afternoon I went to Universidad de El Salvador for my third and final guest lecture there. This was part of a two-day forum on renewable energy organized by the student chapter of IEEE (an international electrical engineers' professional society). They gave me a three-hour slot to talk about renewable energy. I pasted together a bunch of material from my seven-week course I'd taught at Don Bosco, trying to winnow it down into a concise overview. I didn't have enough time to do a really proper job of this, and I ended up with way more material than I could fit into three hours. But it was OK; I had an enthusiastic audience of about 15 engineering students (sadly, only one woman in the group) who paid close attention and had lots of intelligent questions. I was less organized than I like to be, but I got the feeling the students came away satisfied. I had fun anyway.

This evening Kyle and Francisco took me out to dinner. We went to Yemaya, which was nice since they'd had to miss out on going there Friday when Kyle got sick. The food was good as always, especially when accompanied by some Garífuna guífiti (still haven't finished the damn bottle!). The owners of Yemaya, Kristina and Fernando, are such fine people. I learned tonight that Kristina lived in San Francisco, Oakland, and Guerneville (the tiny Sonoma County town where my sister Genny lived for many years!) during four years that she lived in California not long ago. I feel so at home in their restaurant -- my family and friends from back home would all love this place. It's Central American to be sure, but has so many touches that feel like my native turf -- the lo-fi artwork, the mostly vegetarian menu, and the stereo playing Billy Bragg, the Pogues, Madness, and jazz from the likes of Coltrane and Miles Davis. ¡Viva Yemaya!