Day 1 - Arrived Safely

We left Good Shepherd Lutheran Church at 3:45AM this morning and made it to El Salvador by Noon their time. We were greeted by the Habitat for Humanity staff and then loaded into our bus to take us to lunch. On the one hand you have airport personal being searched before they are allowed to approach our plane and on the other you have beautiful mountains. There are armed guards or police are around every corner with automatic weapons but then there is also amazing fruit trees and colorful flowers every block as well. While the country still shows signs of its wounds it is clear that healing is happening as well.

From the airport we drove through what looked like a scene from Jurassic Park and Slum Dog Millionaire. Up through the mountains we climbed until reaching the capitol city of San Salvador. We ate at an amazing restaurant with a spectacular view of the city called Cafe' El Arco. After that we headed to our hotel, Villa Terra, for the night, unpacked and either took naps or went for a walk to the World Trade Center that had lots of cafes and familiar food places. It was cool seeing the rooftops used as an orange groves and the marvel at the numbers mountaintops that surrounded us.

After a short trek back to our hotel we loaded the vans again and headed out to Santa Tecla for dinner. We walked around the open markets past Iglesia El Carmen and the municipal building that had an art show going on along with a technology conference. After viewing some handmade clothes and jewelry we settled into a restuarant to try poposas which are tortilla shells filled with cheese, pork, or beans. We then placed a vinegar covered type of coleslaw on the dish and poured a tomato sauce over that. Then using the poposas to grab this new concoction we proceeded to enjoy some authentic food from El Salvador. Once we had our fill we headed back to the hotel and crashed for the night.