Intercontinental Real San Salvador

... the toothpaste and Ian’s Leatherman taken). 

Another flight and we arrived in Lima at 20.30 to find out that my bag had been sliced open and rummaged through which were a little distressing beings it was our first flight in South America.  However the airport offered to repair the bag overnight or give me $20 – I took the repair option.

We were met by Oscar from the local ...

... sides. I got better with some practice, but still need some work!

-The afternoon was finished with designing and preparing for a nutrition workshop that we will run on Tuesday afternoon. It was decided that we will focus on teaching the food pyramid to the 25 women in the community nutrition group. To be in this group, they need to submit food journals and family diarrhea calendars, give their children vitamins, and bring them in or a checkup each month ...

... though because all of Pastor Matias and Martina's communities were there! I got to see my rural host family from the first trip I went on, and it amazes me that after four years they not only remember me, but are excited I'm here!

On the thrid, fourth, and fifth everyone in the delegation went on their seperate mission tracks! Some did a dental campaign and cleaned, extracted, and filled 150 people's teeth! For free! Amazing! The dental campaign was working ...

... it made me cry. It said that they loved me and im so glad that i came, and they said they would never forget me. It was so amazing to be loved my someone that was older then me. I was so cool that they thought i was cool! It was just great!

We left Las delicias then went to the market to shop. This place is HUGGGGEEE. It was kinda scary though b.c when you are just looking at the person booth they bombard ...

... in midden Amerika. Harde muziek, veel rook, en veel te veel mensen aan boord. De jongen op de bus zou ons laten weten wanneer we moesten uitstappen voor Santa Ana. In de trotter hadden we gelezen dat we wel een uurtje of drie onderweg zouden zijn....dus vort met de geit!
Ik begrijp nu waarom de bus chauffeurs hier zo dik zijn. Hij stopt namelijk ook voor mensen die wat aan boord willen verkopen, zoals ijsjes ...

No more American style living. We're off to our new friend Fabrizio's home, located in the Lomas Verdes neighborhood. The house is an excellent example of late 50's/early 60's style, one that I am intimately familiar with. Open floor plan and Frank Lloyd Wright touches. Included are avocado colored furnishings, just like was popular in the US at the time. He lent us his car, which he described as 'low profile' - not a tourist target like most rentals. Low profile in the tourist sense, yes ...

... busier. Our only complaint about either break would be the amount of boogieboarders jacking the waves. But then again, one of the locals in El Zonte did stuff on his boogie that I didn't even know was possible, so it wasn't that bad. We liked the coast of El Salvador so much that we even looked into buying property. But that requires money, so we decided against it.

... for Germany on the same day that the attacks started. We were asked to stay through the end of the week by the people with whom we were conducting some business but for a number of reasons we decided to leave. We are still very much in shock because the area that has suffered the worst is exactly the part of town that we were in, and the part we know well. It's odd to see two chairs that I was recently sitting in (at the Taj ...

... some money, got back on the bus, crossed a river, and voila!...El Salvador. We didnt even have to get out..the immigration officer simply got on board and had a portable scanner for our documents. Made it to San Salvador in the evening, and made my way to La Estancia, a hostel populated by Peace Corps Volunteers that a friend had recommended. Across the street, lay an American-fast-food paradise, and I chose Subway as ...

... buy tickets to Lucho Libre (The masked-Mexican wrestling). Our seats were far enough from the action to be safe, but close enough to recognize that even though it´s fake (sorry Phil), it still really must hurt. Our seats, ironically purchased at chain of bookstores in Mexico City named "Gandhi", were in the last row of the box seats. Behind us was an 8 foot tall chain link fence to separate the section from the general admission. We ...