San Salvador Presidente Hotel

We arrived after an easy flight at San Salvador at 7am and disembarked at what was a neat and new airport.  From the outside it resembled Perpignan airport – rural – but inside surprised us as the duty free put Luton and Stansted to shame. 

As we had seven hours to kill before we flew to Lima we had booked a room at a local airport hotel and took the courtesy bus there just in time ...

... Thursday, 8/20
-Not feeling so well today; did work in the clinic rather than walking around all day. The day started with a meeting with the women in the community who are in a special nutrition program and representatives of a company that donated a grinder to the clinic. The women have been using the grinder to grind sorgo, an easily accessible grain, to sell and to make their own food. It has been beneficial, and they made cookies and atol (a hot drink ...

... construction, childrens ministry and homelessness ministry! So, we've all been running around for the past two weeks!

The first few days the delegation was here, I spent a LOT of time in the airport, so it wasn't really until the 2nd that I was able to spend my first full day with the delegation! So, I guess I'll start there!

On August 2nd we all went out to a very rural community in the Guazapa Mountains called Brisas del Valle to celebrate the 1st ...

... the program we visited homes again. Today's family was better off than yesterday's, not that this is saying much. Their horse is starving though and that is hard to see.

We played with the kids in the yard. Susan had a frisbee and Pat a tennis ball. Before we left we went back to watch the kids through the trees and they were still playing with the ball and having fun.

Back into the pickups to return to the vans and then CFCA for lunch.

... as close to the beach as possible without actually being on the beach and we had a perfect view of the surf. It was so nice to wake up every morning, step out of the van and straight onto the beach! Eating in El Zonte was also awesome. It was cheap! We ate huge breakfasts topped off with banana and strawberry milkshakes everyday for about 10 bucks CANADIAN total for ...

... the many recognizable neon logos - an incredibly modern city. But this impression comes through a dark glass. Our TicaBus pulled over to their office with an associated small hotel the San Benito, with a nice canopied restaurant and a couple of internet stations. We immediately checked our e-mail and were so relieved to get e-mails from both of our kids that Corey and Nandita were indeed, safe. No Thanksgiving turkey for us ...

... some Polish women, and an eclectic mix of Guatemalans. The music and the ritual and just the joy that capoeira engenders are so important to me. So I have become determined to find it wherever I can..it keeps me centered. I got to the bus station two hours early, left my bags, had another breakfast of beans and eggs - I swear my insides are all yolk and frijoles at this point - walked around the chaotic, aromatic ...

We were a bit apprehensive about our trips to Mexico City and El Salvador. We were pleasantly surprised by both. While the air pollution affected both of us (Candy had to stop wearing contacts), the temperature was considerably cooler than Merida (65-85 degrees) and the experience was very worthwhile. We certainly appreciate clean air a lot more! We wish we had more than two days to explore Mexico City. We took a double-decker tour bus ...