Why the Heck are we in El Salvador

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A few months ago my husband and I made the choice to move from the San Francisco Bay Area of the United States of America, to San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador.

My husband and I owned a retail and wholesale coffee roasting company for more than seven years. We are both passionate about coffee. We love the business. We love the people in it. We also love coffee farms, and coffee countries, especially El Salvador. Neither of us could tell you why. El Salvador is small, and not particularly flashy, but it’s got a certain something we love. It could have been the El Salvador geography, or the weather in El Salvador or simply the amazingly friendly people of El Salvador. But somehow we fell in love with this country and decided to make the leap to being expats and live in El Salvador.

I was a peace officer for the past twelve years. Don’t get me wrong, its a blast to investigate crimes and I love a good challenge, but coming from my background as a ballet dancer, with the added mindset of a business person and traveler, I had trouble thinking and acting within the box, and trouble keeping my opinions to myself, and trouble with my back.

Our Coffee Roasting business was receiving great reviews, growing, and had the staff many people can only dream of. It was also burdened by old debts, and artificially inflated interest rates, and we could not grow it effectively. When a person came with an offer (we were not for sale) we went with it. My husband had been developing some ideas with Salvadoran friends, and figured maybe it was time to go? Maybe the Roastery would be better off with a good business person than a coffee fanatic? I can only hope. To be honest, I’m too scared to look!

With everything set for change already, our two sons, ages 20 and 21 were ready to head off on their own to school. I hope. LORD I HOPE! I’ve only been away from them for four days and miss them SO MUCH! On top of that, our 5 year old daughter has the heart of a lion and the eyes to match…completely up for the challenge.

Bottom line we sold everything, to move to El Salvador. We are starting a new life in El Salvador. We hope to develop a business idea with friends, and partners. We hope to learn Spanish and a whole new culture. We hope our daughter develops as a citizen of the world, and we hope to do well by ourselves and the people around us. More on that as the journey continues. Read the articles and posts to experience first hand what daily life in El Salvador is like. Learn about the culture of El Salvador, the amazing people and the joys and struggles of a family of crazy American expats as we learn to live in our new home country of El Salvador.

We will be exploring all aspects of our new home country. From reviewing local businesses, cafes, restaurants, coffee bars, super markets, mercados and more to highlighting the unique and wonderful things that make living and visiting El Salvador attractive. Keep reading http://www.whatsupelsalvador.com and share this site with your friends.

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