Blogs from San Salvador, Central, El Salvador, Central America Caribbean - page 10

Central America Caribbean » El Salvador » Central » San Salvador April 13th 2009

Today we got up and got ready for work, but Dr. Iglesias called around 8 and told us that he wasn't feeling well so we wouldn't be going to work today. Katie and I decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to go to the art gallery, El Arbol de Dios, that is a few blocks away. The gallery is owned by Fernando Llort, who is pretty much the most famous artist in El Salvador. He is most well known for designing the tiles on the front of the Metropolitan Cathedral in San Salvador and for starting an art school for people in rural villages to encourage self-sustenance. Pretty much any place that sells handicrafts or souvenirs sells knockoffs of his work, so it was pretty exciting to be at his actual gallery and the ... read more

Hoppy Easter

Central America Caribbean » El Salvador » Central » San Salvador April 12th 2009

lmorea

Happy Easter everyone! As I'm sure you can imagine, Easter is a pretty big deal here so the whole country is pretty much shut down. Since there wasn't much to do outside the apartment, we spent the day studying and watching movies. I made mac and cheese for dinner which was definitely a little sad. We talked to Katie's mom on Skype and she was cooking something delicious (as she always is) so we definitely missed home a little bit today. But anyway we hope everyone had a great holiday, we miss and love you all!... read more

Contrast

Central America Caribbean » El Salvador » Central » San Salvador April 8th 2009

lmorea

This morning we got into the car and were greeted by the smooth sounds of New Kids on the Block pumping from Dr. Iglesias' stereo. It was especially awesome for two reasons:1. this was not the radio playing but a mix CD that Dr. Iglesias had made and 2. Once we got going, he joined us in singing along. After some sweet rocking out in the car, we arrived at the hospital and went to the Internal Medicine ward again. Today our focus was on HIV/AIDS so we saw 2 patients with AIDS and a number of complications. One man who had been in the hospital for 3 months was in his early 20s and his disease was complicated by tuberculosis, hepatitis (since he had been an alcoholic since he was 11!), and malnourishment. He has ... read more

The Procession

Central America Caribbean » El Salvador » Central » San Salvador April 7th 2009

Flower carpet

lmorea

This morning Dr. Iglesias picked us up early and brought his family along so that we could all go to a procession in a town called Izalco near the Immaculate Heart of Mary Orphanage. Since El Salvador is obviously a predominantly Catholic country, during the Holy Week they have processions to celebrate their faith every day. There are men in the town called Nazerenes who wear purple robes and carry the idols in the processions. It is a great honor to be a Nazerene and the privilege is passed on from father to son. We got there before it started and there was a beautiful carpet of flowers and another made from colored sand and what looked like spices. Dr. Iglesias said that this is more of a cultural tradition than Catholic, but that it has ... read more

The most delicious buffet in the world

Central America Caribbean » El Salvador » Central » San Salvador April 6th 2009

Park

lmorea

Today after another beautiful walk in the park (check out the pics) we went to La casa de mi Padre again but since all of the kids are on vacation from school this week no one was sick. We said hello to a few of them but most of them were playing video or computer games and didn't really want to play. Since we had nothing to do there, we decided to go to the hospital early. Today we went to the internal medicine hospital which is basically 2 big rooms (one for men, one for women) with no dividers or curtains. We saw a diabetic woman who had developed a huge abcess on her shoulder that had already been surgically drained twice and treated with 4 days of antibiotics, but was still very angry looking. ... read more

Palm Sunday - Sneaking into the Hilton

Central America Caribbean » El Salvador » Central » San Salvador April 5th 2009

lmorea

To celebrate Palm Sunday I made Katie sneak into the pool at the Hilton with me. It was really nice to finally work on our tans, but of course Katie was very nervous and thought that every waiter who came outside was coming to kick us out. Obviously we didn't get kicked out and we had a delicious buffet complete with free champagne, because we are fancy. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and studying at the apartment.... read more

Day 5 - Ice in drinks is bad for you :(

Central America Caribbean » El Salvador » Central » San Salvador April 3rd 2009

lmorea

Today Dr. Iglesias had a meeting with the US Navy about an upcoming mission trip, which was fortunate for us because we both were pretty sick (we probably should have listened when they told us not to get drinks with ice) There is a maid who comes to clean the apartment on Fridays, and she probably thought that we were the biggest losers because we didn't explain to her that we were sick. I mean seriously, who travels 6 hours to another country to lay in bed all day and watch movies. (tvshack was our best friend today, we downloaded 2 movies and 2 tv shows, i love the internet) Anyway we took some meds and hopefully will be feeling better tomorrow... read more

Photos of San Salvador, El Salvador

Central America Caribbean » El Salvador » Central » San Salvador April 3rd 2009

Cathedral in San Salvador

Everette

Hi Everybody! It has been hard to find things that I wanted to take pictures of in San Salvador. Most peoples are very unattractive and in bad shape. I took most of these in the Central Park area. I apologize for you having to get so many updates from the blog. We are heading out this afternoon for Tegucigalpa, Honduras. I called and tried to make us a hotel reservation but the lady didn´t speak English. I don´t know if I was successful or not. Take care, Everette... read more

Day 4 - Chalatenango

Central America Caribbean » El Salvador » Central » San Salvador April 2nd 2009

View from village

lmorea

Today we went about an hour and a half north of the city to an area called Chalatenango. Dr. Iglesias' father came with us and he drove. It was probably one of the scariest car rides we've ever taken. We had to go up a mountain on twisty roads that were unpaved and only about 1.5 cars wide. More than once we had to slam the brakes as a car came in the opposite direction around a blind curve. To make it even better, the edge of the road which was a dropoff down the mountain was only protected by sticks in the ground held together by barbed wire, which probably wouldn't have done much to stop our SUV. Luckily Mr. Iglesias is a very skilled driver and very familiar with the area. After our ... read more

Day 3 - Corazon Imaculata de Maria

Central America Caribbean » El Salvador » Central » San Salvador April 1st 2009

Katie with coconut

lmorea

Today we went to another orphanage Immaculate Heart of Mary in Sonsonate about an hour outside of the city. The drivers here are totally crazy!! It is completely normal to pass on one lane roads so that you only miss hitting the oncoming cars by seconds. Also one of the highways we took today was 2 lanes in each direction but at one point the road was closed in the opposite direction so the cars going in that direction were using our left lane, but with NO warning! All of this is further complicated by having to avoid cars randomly stopped in the road and people changing lanes at terrifying speeds, not to mention the pedestrians who take their lives in their hands and cross anywhere they want. But anyway, this orphanage is very large and ... read more

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