Journal, May 29, 1976 AM

Well, it took me a while to get down to writing today, after breakfast. I had a night house guest, overflow from Steve Pamperin’s! I’ve forgotten his name, as usual, but he’s a forester interested in range management who is working as a pastures & forages man in the Metapán area. I quizzed him a little about the reforestation project DGRNR {Dirección General de Recursos Naturales Renovables, the Salvadoran government natural resources agency} has up there. He says they have a Norwegian volunteer working up there, & that they’re doing some strip-cropping & terracing experiments. I’m glad to hear they’re already that far along.

I went to the A.I.D. - P.C. - F.A.O - etc. {Agency for International Development - Peace Corps - Food and Agriculture Organization - and others} monthly B.S. session yesterday (at Chico’s {Rodriguez} house), and, unfortunately, it was a purely nonsubstantive policy session. They talked a lot about putting more structure into the meetings, setting a permanent site (the British Club) & forming a steering committee. No Salvadorans were there. They didn’t miss anything.

I had Peace Corps wheels (second time in one and a half years) so 5 of us went to an Avance {a nonprofit community development organization} party after the meeting. I had a drink (4 drinks & driving, the old boy was feeling pretty confident at the wheel!) there. I talked with an older couple who are training to work at the local university (he) and with small business (she). They were confident, ready to be patient & just thoroughly enjoying every experience as it came along I swear older folks are some of the most effective & stable PCVs {Peace Corps Volunteers}.

I took Kathy Wiesp (?) with me o Peace Corps {Office} to return the Toyota van. She lives in Santa Tecla also, so she accompanied me all the way over there even though we had to walk out again, several blocks, to the 101 bus stop. She is super nice, interesting to talk to & very sexually stimulating now that the tropical heat has taken off her “baby fat.” She was kind of making up to me last night. I told her in passing that I had a girlfriend in Costa Rica, but don’t know how seriously she took it. Poor Kathy, we got to talking about complexes on the bus & she says she’s always been one of those girls that’s “one of the guys” but that the guys pass her by as a woman. She resents them going after the “super-feminine” types. Sounds like Jan or Marcia {my sisters} talking, both were “one of the guys” types from way back. <I like Kathy & she’s certainly not unattractive to me sexually, but then there’s Sofia.> Sometimes I think there would be nothing wrong with a side relationship - especially to give me a little sexual release! But the guilt of it could get heavy. <I would gladly give Sofia the same freedom, but the cultural milieu she lives in wouldn’t permit her to exercise such freedom.> Nor is she ready to cope with it. <I’d have to do it on the sly, and I don’t know if I’m ready to stop being 100% frank with Sofia.> But then . . .