To our great surprise, when returning from work one afternoon, Francis spotted Javier out the van window. He (in the bright-colored shirt) is one of the boys in the family we worked with last year helping them to build their home. Only Jim, Jason, and Dean were along who knew him from last year, so we all hopped out. His brother, Filipe, soon joined him, and Javier explained that he was downtown to pick up his brother from first communion class at one of the local Catholic churches. They were to catch the bus and go home. Francis took the photo.
The boys are 12 and 10 years old.
Here is a video of bean sorting at the coffee plantation. We toured the plantation on Sunday, August 6, but the video is from 2016. The women have one minute to remove imperfect beans that can significantly affect flavor. The conveyor belt then rapidly delivers another load of coffee beans.
Jason, Briseida, AJ. Bris visited Good Shepherd May 2016 (with Luis), both representing Habitat for Humanity El Salvador. Bris has been in divinity school while working for Habitat. She is expected to graduate this December, and she is pondering becoming an ordained Lutheran minister.
The group at Good Shepherd the evening of departure, Friday, August 4, 2017. Left to right: Jim Hack, Dean Olson, Marilyn Dudley, AJ (Andrew) Hack, Nicki Kyle, Bob Clark, Lorraine Stamberger, Jason Fisher, Deb Swanson, Alex Swanson-Linville, and Angela Walker.
Flor, from Habitat, worked with us all week. She typically works eastern El Salvador.
She is known to us at the Francis of the East.
A view of the capitol city of San Salvador. Though statistically the most dangerous non-war city in the world, it certainly did not seem so. What a difference the right host makes to your experience. Taken from the restaurant in which we ate lunch upon arrival on Saturday, August 5th. It proved to be a very good restaurant, with good views and equally good food.
The group at the restaurant in San Salvador, plus Flor from Habitat.
The view from our hotel in Ahuachapan of the nearby courtyard and the Roman Catholic Church of the Ascension Cathedral. We went to mass here Sunday morning due to a meeting of Lutheran pastors in San Salvador making them unavailable for services in Ahuachapan.
The courtyard outside our hotel at sunset.
The square across from our hotel at sunset.
Bob and Marilyn share a laugh.
Jason and Flor at breakfast at the hotel.
Flor is wearing a necklace made only of knotted fabric that she bought locally.
Flor and Francis try the 4-wheelers at the coffee plantation visit on Sunday, August 6, in the mountains near Ahuachapan.
A woman takes her son for a ride at the coffee plantation.
An exotic spider makes a visit at the coffee plantation tasting area.
The spider is about one-half inch long.
In the butterfly garden at the coffee plantation garden and tasting area.
The group at the coffee plantation garden, plus Francis.
A Bird of Paradise flower that really looks like an exotic bird.
Where Mamapan and Papapan go for the night (or the rain) - in the Hotel lobby.
A kitty joins us at the work site. Jackie, the homeowner to be, says
the cat comes and goes a lot, so we named him Boomerang.
The current back yard of Francisco, Jaquline,and Josua, our build family.
Jackie's mother's nearby house.
Lorraine in the house for lunchtime. Jackie runs a convenience store just a few steps away. For $1, you can get about 8 bags of snacks.
The back yard.
The back yard is also used to store construction equipment.
The group at the work site, showing off our Thrivent sponsorship. Out trip alone raised $8000 for Habitat for Humanity El Salvador via Thrivent. In addition, Thrivent gave a $400 discount in Habitat fees for Thrivent members to go on the trip.
About 3 or 4 of us got the discount.
Ana Maria Montoya, who heads the Habitat office in Santa Ana, visits our work site. It's about an hour drive for her, and she brought us an ice cream cake! How do you do that in a tropical climate? Evidently, with great care, but it can be done.
Francis seems concerned that she might not get her fair share of the ice cream cake.
Ana, Francis, Jim.
No matter how dirty or sweaty we are, Ana always has an enthusiastic hug and thank-you for us. They are truly grateful that we come and do this work. We have learned over the years that building community among the local people is just as important as building houses. In fact, building community is why we build houses. It has taken a while to learn this well.
Francisco, Jaquline, and Josua ("Ho-sway"), our build family. Jackie is a little embarrassed because she just learned in Spanish that her tee shirt says "I'm Bossy" - which she most certainly is not. As long as no English speakers are around, she's comfortable in the tee shirt.
The work site is in a beautiful setting.
Lorraine compares muscles with Oscar, one of the hired masons.
We're not sure who won the competiton. It might have been a staring contest.
A scene from the work site.
Our meal area at the Mamapan Hotel.
Two of the windows overlook the town square.
A hallway scene at the Mamapan Hotel.
The Mamapan Hotel lobby in Ahuachapan.
Just off the lobby is a new spiral staircase leading up to the new rooftop terrace.
We had devotions up there on nights it was dry enough.
It often rained at some point in the evening.
Vanessa from Habitat, and Jim. Ask Jim about Vanessa sometime.
Boomerang takes a drink at the work site.
We figured it was probably OK to take a photo of Marilyn as long as she was wearing her own hat. The proprietor looks on with Francis and seems to agree.
Marilyn's hat has been all over the world, presumably with Marilyn.
We're in a mountain town called Ataco. The sign says, "No photos with the hats."
Feliz Navidad from a wall mural in Ataco.
Wood and painted art in Ataco. Alex looks on.
These represent various versions of Mother Earth.
Francis's tee shirt says, "Build something concrete".
Nicki, Bob, and Jim share a laugh or two at a coffee shop in Ataco.
A scene in San Salvador.
This crammed pick-up truck is a typical situation in all of El Salvador.
People just think of it as cheap transportation, plain and simple.
A view of San Salvador from the plane departing on Sunday, August 13, 2017.
The group at the Hotel, plus Jackie, Francisco, and their boy, Josua.
Jason, Briseida, AJ. Bris visited Good Shepherd May 2016 (with Luis), both representing Habitat for Humanity El Salvador. Bris has been in divinity school while working for Habitat. She is expected to graduate this December, and she is pondering becoming an ordained Lutheran minister.
She is known to us at the Francis of the East.
Another view of the region around San Salvador, including the San Salvador volcano.
The spider is about one-half inch long.
the cat comes and goes a lot, so we named him Boomerang.
About 3 or 4 of us got the discount.
Francis seems concerned that she might not get her fair share of the ice cream cake.
We're not sure who won the competiton. It might have been a staring contest.
Two of the windows overlook the town square.
We had devotions up there on nights it was dry enough.
It often rained at some point in the evening.
Marilyn's hat has been all over the world, presumably with Marilyn.
We're in a mountain town called Ataco. The sign says, "No photos with the hats."
People just think of it as cheap transportation, plain and simple.
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