Blogs from El Salvador, Central America Caribbean - page 7

Probably like most people in the world, El Salvador hadn't really entered into my general consciousness, apart perhaps as the title of a song by Athlete back in 2003! (http://songmeanings.com/songs/view/3530822107858505487/) In my time travelling through South and Central America I had met a grand total of one person that had been there, and so this, combined with the fact it would continue my trip's “achievement” of having visited every South and Central American country (admittedly I have to exclude the isolated Guayane, French Guyana and Suriname from that though!) it seemed just the ticket for a few days of my time! The journey from Honduras took a day and a half, but I arrived in Suchitoto, a small colonial town located on a lake, with seemingly every house painted a different colour, in good spi... read more

The drive from Suchitoto, El Salvador to Conception Ataco, El Salvador was the only completely uneventful trip. It was only a few hours. We left Suchitoto early afternoon and we arrived in Ataco early afternoon. Although the cities were very different, they had some similarities. For example, they were both very quiet – where things (including restaurants) close down very early. They are both completely the opposite of touristy. We were in Suchitoto for 1 night and Ataco for 3 – those three nights in El Salvador were the most “back road” of our whole trip. Lots of people looked at us with curiosity, but the energy was friendly. Our first night in Ataco was one of our quietest nights. We toured the town, which took about 15 minutes. We walked along peaceful cobblestone streets, taking ... read more

CHECK OUT MY VIDEOS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST75ZsAEqN4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbUUF_DA82o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utgj-ZIB4Ao I hardly know where to begin, as I attempt to sum up what has been one of the most enriching experiences of my life. I went to El Salvador to meet Funnyclown's family having almost no knowledge about El Salvador at all, other than that it is a dangerous place to travel. We were to be with his uncle, who visits the US yearly, and whom he is very close to. We would be staying at the home of Funnyclown's cousin, her husband, and their daughter, in San Salvador, the capital city. Funnyclown's Uncle, who normally lives in a home with other relatives, would be staying there at his daughter's house with us while we were visiting, in order to be able to spend as much time as possible ... read more

Today Patty, Helen, Carol and Ashley started by going to a preschool. There was 13 students and 1 teacher. They had a snack time. The teacher drew pictures in each students workbooks of a house, mountain, path and trees. Then they colored them. They also had a story time and the story was Jack and the beanstalk. After that they went back to the tables and worked on writing letters. Helen, Ashley and Carol did puzzles with the students and Patty did English/Spanish flashcards with the students. Everybody else went to the site to begin work. Today was a busy day. We painted, helped the electrician wire the house, mixed concrete, hauled water, soaked bricks,started bricking the septic tank and sifted sand. We got a lot done today!!! Finally we we're able to help with a ... read more

We started out going to the community center in Esperanza. This is a habitat community that is completed. They hope to still build a clinic. Habitat built 170 houses. We also met their co-op who also sold items including coffee. We we're introduced to some of the ladies that we're on the board. Today we celebrated Tiffany's birthday. Tonya brought a cake for us all to share. The community center serves 30 children. They brought them out to sing Happy Birthday to Tiffany. We toured the house that previous people in the group had built. We then went to the Work site around noon. today the jobs we're white washing the cement walls, filled and removal of sand and dirt around house and tamping. Norm was in the septic pit. Then we came back to room ... read more