El Salvador Recap Part 1

With as crazy as life can get, I do not think I will have time to give a day-by-day entry of my trip, so I figured I will at least give an overall summary in a two-part post for those of you who wanted it!

We were told to be at the student center at 3 a.m. to begin our adventure! So, instead of sleeping the night before, two of our teammates cooked authentic enchiladas in Chelsea's apartment (we got smoked out : )) and talked about what was to come. Chelsea's apartment is only about a half a mile from the student center so we had the great idea of walking there... until 3 a.m. comes and Raleigh was experiencing the worst thunderstorm I have seen here yet haha. Needless to say, we woke up Chelsea's roommate who thankfully agreed to take us all. We piled everything four of us would need for a week into her tiny car, stacked on top of each other, and met the other 15 members of our team.

The bus picked us up and off to RDU we go! We flew to Miami and then after an hour of catching our breath and eating, we were off to El Salvador! When we got there, we waited for about an hour in customs and then walked outside to meet our translator for the week and load vans to get some lunch. I have never been more excitedly terrified as I was when I got out of the airport. Because our group was so large, we went through customs individually and walked through the airport exit doors alone. Hundreds of Salvadorians were surrounding the gate, and I'll admit I thought right then and there I was going to have a panic attack or something :  ) Right before I turned around to head back into the airport to find a team member, I see our group leader, Adam's, hand sticking out above the crowd. I have never been so excited to see someone's hand in my life!! Orsy, our translator, began picking on us from the beginning (and trust me, it did not stop throughout the week!).

We drove into the city, had lunch at a street restaurant and then headed to the place we would call home for the next eight days!! A beautiful, ocean-front, bright orange house!! We honestly were not expecting accommodations like this so when we got here we were in awe. We put our bags down quickly, changed into bathing suits, and into the ocean we ran.

Home Sweet Home!!

We were given the weekend off to adjust to the intense heat and to do a little sight seeing! Our Sunday consisted of going to an English church service. The church seemed to be a hub for missionaries and because I did not expect to even go to church on Sunday, it was even more refreshing! The church was BEAUTIFUL. It was held in a triangular building with an all-glass front that perfectly framed El Salvador's volcano. After church and lunch at another street restaurant (where we tried the Salvadorian staple food, pupusas, for the first time!), we headed to hike the volcano. It was probably one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen and now I can officially say I have seen a volcano first hand : ) Even more confirmation for me that God is so incredible and powerful and the best Creator to ever be!

Group at the volcano park :) 

Volcano crater

We ended our wonderful afternoon by zip-lining a Salvadorian forest. The tallest course was over 30 stories high and although I am TERRIFIED of heights, I did it anyways (maybe a little bit to prove to Miles that I could do it!) 

Zip lining!!

I promise did more than sight see : ) Monday began our work week so I will post about our work site and project soon in a Part 2!