Arrival in Ahuachapan and Meeting our Build Family

We arrived safe and sound in El Salvador Saturday morning.  We had lunch and proceeded to Ahuachapan and our hotel called Le Casa de Mamapan.

Among other things on Sunday, we met the family for whom we are building the house. They are Francisco, Jaquline, and 5-year-old Josua.  See below.

Above, the group is pictured with the family.  Left to right:  Andrew "AJ" Hack, Nicki Kyle, Dean Olson, Alex Swanson-Linville, Lorraine Stamberger, Angela Walker, Bob Clark, Deb Swanson, Marilyn Dudley, Jason Fisher, Jim Hack, and the Diaz Family in front.

Cristo Rey Church in Santa Ana (40-min drive) was unavailable to us for worship today.  Pastor Carlos was at a special event in the capital city of El Salvador, so no service at Cristo Rey today.  We will go Wednesday afternoon instead.

Several of us walked across the courtyard this morning for 7:30 mass at the Catholic Cathedral of the Ascension.  The church was full and members of all ages were in attendance from children to grandmothers.  We participated as much as we could with the service in Spanish.

Later in the morning, we visited a coffee plantation.  Our tour guide, Hector, showed us the coffee trees, and explained the processing steps in detail.  Harvest time is in the late autumn, so the machinery was idle.  The group is pictured below at the tasting area for the coffee plantation.  Francis Padilla is in front on the right in the photo, and has been our Habitat host here for the 4th year in a row.  We will visit her mother's bakery just down the street from us in Ahuachapan.