Adios Pues, Santa Clara

More than 8 weeks have passed since I landed in San Salvador and trekked out to Santa Clara, a small village 2 hours east of the capital to live on a farm in the middle of rural El Salvador with more nature than I ever expected. I really don’t think any of us (fellows) or even DGH (department) had any idea exactly where we would be living and working when we arrived. Now I am lying in my beautiful bed, covered in my net for the last night here and I am sad. If you would have asked me night 1 when I discovered bats and my huge fear of them, or even during week 2 when the centipede bit, I would have never expected this time to move as quickly as it has nor would I have expected to feel this sad to be leaving. My soon to be 9 weeks in El Salvador has been so much more than I ever expected. Never before have I lived in a developing country, nor have I ever lived in one country for more than 1 week at a time. I anticipate having many future experiences such as this, but for the first I must say El Salvador has been great!

Tonight as I was brushing my teeth on the front porch beside Chevo sleeping in his signature hammock, waiting for us to finally head to bed so he can as well, I looked up at the stars and smiled. Yes toothpaste fell out of my mouth, but I also thought of how much I will miss doing this, and seeing the volcanoes in the distance, or lying in the hammock in an attempt to rest from the heat after a morning of walking for hours with a full belly of Sibia’s wonderful cooking. On a clear night, the stars fill the open sky and on a partly hazy night like tonight, just enough cover the sky to remind me one of the reasons why I love this place. We ended the evening in one of the best possible ways, a futbol game with Ale, Alex, and Fredhy…just like our first weekend here. This time we were without Felicia but with Luis and Jerry and the game was the perfect last night on the farm! On Tuesday evening, in the middle of our tri-set exercises a huge storm rolled in. The power went out about 10 minutes into the several hours long storm. We finished exercising and lay in the hammocks staring up at the lightning and rain. It was a peaceful time. One of my favorite things to do is watch a storm roll in and listen to the thunder and watch lightning. After a while when I was too cold to sit anymore, I showered and got ready for bed in the dark; a feat that would have been terrifying weeks ago. Now it just seemed peaceful as well; in fact I think I may prefer the darkness (aside from the lack of a fan). The darkness and quiet were comforting and allowed for enough time to reflect on my last week here. We were without electricity yesterday as well and again I enjoyed it.

The beauty of the country will be missed, but mostly I will miss the people. While the technology here has increased with most homes having electricity, many people having cell phones, and about half with televisions, keeping in touch with new friends will be a challenge. Sadly leaving here and saying goodbye has been hard because I can’t really say “I’ll see you soon” or even “next time”. Would I like to come back to El Salvador someday? Absolutely yes, but if and when I don’t know. I hope that through this blog I have described some of the most important people to me and that you feel as if you know them somehow. Today we went to a meeting and then with Doris to Usulutan to print photos for her and buy a few things for our friends. We printed pictures for all 3 promotoras, bought some knick knacks, a necklace for Sibia, silly bands for Hember, a new (non- Conan attacked) futbol for Alex and the boys, books for Max, and a Georgia Bulldogs hat for David. Just in case anyone missed it, YES I said a UGA hat!!! They had one in the market for $3!!!! Then in the afternoon we went to the Alcaldia (mayor’s office) to say goodbye there. Both the Sindico, Nelson with whom we shared an office, and the mayor were gracious and sad to see us leave. We said goodbye to Adalberto, our funny coffee bringing, Harry Potter impersonating, Febreez spraying friend among others in the office who have grown to like us. Because these people have meant so much to me and have made my time in Santa Clara so rewarding I want to mention a few things I will miss.

1. Doris telling us the jokes of the day and making jokes about David’s children and girlfriend and the laugh she has afterwards!

2. David finding and eating 4 mangos each morning and greeting us by saying “Como estamos” and “Quiere probar bombi?”

3. Sibia laughing at me when I talk about dancing and the moments she begins to say more than a few words and we feel like old friends. And her cooking too of course!

4. Hember’s ninja moves, his poses while wearing my stunnas, he and Sibia’s “claro que si” “claro que no” banter, and the smear of dirt he somehow always manages to get on his face while playing and laughing with us

5. Chevo’s smile anytime I say hello and ask him how he is

6. Ale’s smile and mischievous look, his super fast speech that I now understand, and the games we play with him and his posse of followers

7. Alex’s weekend visits to the farm when we tell jokes (I listen), play games, and do homework. He’s one of the coolest kids ever…and he loved the new futbol!

8. Nelson welcoming us every day by saying “mucho gusto”, his sporadic use of an English word or 2, and his genuine interest in our work and lives away from El Salvador. His smile and kindness have left a lasting impression.

9. Adalberto and his Harry Potter glasses which just recently made an appearance, his awesome coffee, and the visits he paid us in the office with nothing really to talk about, but just to chat

10. The neighborhood girls- driving down the road to the Alcaldia and having all the little girls from the classes anxious to say hello, and the classes with them

11. Carolina’s visits for English classes where she is so excited to see us that she keeps talking in Spanish incessantly and randomly complimenting us. Also her visit tonight to say goodbye. She is sweet girl and means well.

12. Max’s quiet demeanor that seems to be misunderstood. I will miss our insightful conversations about politics and the news and his genuine friendliness that he welcomes us with every night. He has been a wonderful housemate and I think I will miss him most due to his unspoken kindness. Not to forget that he saved the day with the centipede!

Now that I have brought myself to happy and sad tears, I would like to finish my time here in Santa Clara on a happy note. Tomorrow for breakfast I will enjoy my coffee, over eat at lunch, watch happily as our friends open their presents, and thank everyone for all they have done for us. I hope I have left a lasting impression on them at least a fraction of the degree that they have left on me.

Voy a extrañarla Santa Clara. Un millón de gracias.

Coley

Heading to Guatemala in the AM!!!!

Lots of Learning and Birthday Shenanigans

So it is still my birthday as I write this in El Salvador! And I must say that I have had a great day! Thank you to all of my friends here in ES for making it so special. The day began with “Happy Birthdays” from my professor and Kayla who was super excited! My prof and I left early for a trip into San Rafael Oriente to attend the morning portion of a training session for teens at the Instituto (or high school) for a literacy project that they have here. Our cab driver friend here in town also wished me happy birthday on the way! The Ministry of Education has provided funding to areas around the country to promote literacy among the adult population. Teens and young adults are trained as instructors and serve as leaders in the community and teachers to the older population. This is a really great project and is one of the possible future collaborations for DGH and future fellows! I sat in the front of a classroom at the Institute. A lady by the name of Flor is in charge of the program and introduced me and also told the teens not to bother me when she left the room. One of the guys beside me and I chatted during our down time and I watched, amusingly, as he nodded and winked at multiple girls as they walked by our classroom causing them to blush or flip their hair. Oh high school…I swear it never changes. During one of the breaks my friend Carolina (who we practice English with on weekends) came over to say hello. She was telling another girl bout Kayla and I and mentioned that I was 25. So I told her I was 26 today and this turned into multiple hugs by people and Flor calling me up in front of the class to sing to me. It was so sweet, though the expressions on the kids’ faces were priceless with their “who is this girl and why are we singing to her looks.” A few hours into the training Prof and I had to leave to go to a meeting in San Miguel. There we spoke with an OB-GYN and received a tour of the maternity ward and labor and delivery. It was so interesting. Though among the 5000 births in the hospital in 2010, 100 were from girls 10-14 years in age!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW and that number has increased from 23 in 2007. El Salvador has a high teenage pregnancy rate overall.

(So now its Wednesday) The meeting was great and I was enjoying my day so far but something about being in a foreign country on your birthday when your phone is not working and you do not have internet access to see the birthday love in electronic form was making me kind of sad. I had not spoken with anyone in my family in weeks because of the phone issue and I really wanted to. I decided to try my phone in San Miguel and it worked!!!! I got to talk to my Dad for 15 minutes or so and it made me so happy!!! It was a reconnection to home! From there the day got even better. So Kayla went to pick up Jerry as I said and they came back around 4:30 bearing gifts!!! I had asked Jerry to bring me peanut butter which he did and wrapped in bday paper and they also bought 4 chocolate bars! YUM They were in all flavors and are king size! I kept trying to share them with everyone because here I have little self-control as I eat nothing bad ever! So we will see how long they last! And then Doris and David came over with a beautiful cake they bought in El Transito! It was so sweet. I almost ruined the surprise of the cake by peeking my head around the corner but I saw nothing! We all sat around the table eating cake, chocolate, and mangos and drinking wine. Sibia, Hember, Fredhy, Chevo, and Antonio also enjoyed the cake and wished me well! Kayla bought me my own baby bottle which was so yummy! This year like last, my birthday left me feeling so happy and loved.

And then I went to San Salvador… where I checked my email and found some of the nicest emails and facebook posts and my birthday celebration got even better! Did I mention that Friday was Day 2 of my 4 day celebration???? You know how I do it! Friday night we went out with the girls to my favorite Taqueria ever and had tacos. Then we went to the disco and had some drinks and danced for a while which was awesome!!! Day 3 celebration began early with a venti Starbucks coffee and a 3 way phone call with my Dad, Maria, & T and Bee!!!! It was lovely! It continued with a shopping trip, a dinner out with the girls, VIP section at a free bar, and then dancing!! We ran into the guys from our last visit to San Salv at the disco and they mentioned to Marce how we never stop dancing. Haha um yep it’s what we do; once at the dicso its dance time! Day 4 was full of a day at the beach!!!! I mean can you say perfect birthday? Karla and Marce and 3 of their friends took us to Playa Tunco where I tried a Seafood Coctel at lunch with this awesome coconut smoothie. Then we had play time at the beach (Playa Teatro I think) until we headed back to take Jerry for some Sunday night papusas at my fave Papuseria Lily! I had hot chocolate and papusas= amazing! One couple we were hanging out with wanted to hang out with us more whenever we returned to the city. Yay more friends! They we so funny and cute together! They had awesome Central American travel tips as well! Basically it was the perfect weekend. As we were leaving on Monday, I was again reminded of the generosity of the people we know here. Leonel allows us to stay at his home in San Salvador when we visit, but his cousin (the girls’ dad) is watching his home. So Jorge comes to collect the key from us and offers to take us to a cab closer to the bus station. On the way, we tell him we want to go to Guatemala this weekend (since our Panama trip did not work out…sad) and he takes us to the Sheraton to buy tickets on a reputable bus line. As we are leaving he tells us amidst our million thanks that we are like his family and that we have a family here in San Salv and that they will miss us so much when we are gone. I feel so lucky to have met such warm and welcoming people and feel the same way about them. I truly hope that I can repay this generosity to them or their friends when they come to DC in the future!

Now I know all I have talked about are my 4 days of fun but I must say that these last few weeks here have been full of hard work and long days! We have had meetings with principles, directors, doctors, nurses, and health promoters in an attempt to find a potential program for the future. We have also finished visiting the community here. Kayla, Jerry, and I returned to the farm on Monday afternoon for the last time and I began to get sad. I have really bonded with so many of the people here and will miss them all so much. I realize that in addition to the people here I will miss the farm and the dogs and all the loud noises that have become a part of my home in this foreign land. I am glad that we have been so busy with work and interviews that I have not had much time to think about saying goodbye.

We have been without electricity at the farm for 2 days so I will write more later on the end of this experience. For now I will give the gifts we purchased to the people we have become friends with and begin packing my 1 backpack for the adventures ahead!

Thank you again to all of you who made my birthday wonderful!!! Bee and Papa, the care package was the BEST!!! Thank you so much:)

Love to all,

Coley

           

Go Dawgs!!!

Another Saturday on the farm complete with a morning trip to Usulutan to buy some needed bug spray and supplies for my birthday celebration!!! Since I do not eat any wheat or gluten products a birthday dessert was tough so we went with wine! We bought wine and candles and I bought some chocolate in bar form. I hope it lasts until my birthday but I doubt it so wine and candles it will be (though not together!). As many of you know I have a countdown annually that begins on March 7^th until the big day! I also tend to plan multiple celebrations and this year is no different even here in El Salvador! On the way home from Usulután we entered Santa Elena where the paved road ends and the dirt road begins. As we were turning onto the dirt road a man passed us on a motorbike wearing a gray t-shirt with a red, black, and white GEORGIA G on the front!!!! It made my good day even better!!! It has also inspired an all day Corey Smith jam session! Oh Athens I miss you!

 This is the first day in a while that I woke up with a positive outlook. Over the past week I had reached a point in my time here where I was feeling frustrated about several things and really having a hard time overcoming it. Thanks to some inspiring words from Meagan and Alli and a super long sleep last night I think I accomplished my recent goal of feeling better and regaining my positive outlook on life. Check that off the list! I am excited because change is coming over the next and final 3 weeks here in El Salvador. 5 days from now I will be turning 26! (By the time I post this it will be 3 days!!!) A professor from school is coming into ES tomorrow for a week. I am excited to see what types of future projects we can develop during her visit for future fellows. We need a more developed project for the future and a funding mechanism at some point. I think this could happen now that we have a clearer picture of the community but we shall see what happens! Also on my birthday Kayla’s best friend Jerry Boone is coming to visit for a while! I am excited that someone else is coming to see where we live! It is so hard to explain the farm to anyone and pictures don’t really do it justice. It will be interesting having so many people here in such a small space! But like I said I welcome the change.

I have begun to look forward to my post-practicum adventures and my fun-filled, jam packed summer of weddings and parties and work and school and figuring out what happens next in life. The last thing not so much, but it’s time to decide… AGAIN. Oh Maria I feel a transition coming on which will probably lead to a post-25 quarter life crisis. I know Mama Ruth says I can’t go to school forever, BUT I actually could for a while longer. Seriously though I am not sure what is coming next, but it will come and be just as it’s supposed to be. Until then, I have Sunday playdates with the kids in Santa Clara to look forward to. Last Sunday after our class, we played “policia y ladrones” or cops and robbers with the kids and they and I had so much fun! Any time we saw a child this week they asked if they would see us Sunday to play again. I love that they are so excited to play with us! It makes me happy to play with them! Hember (previously known as Ember) is our daily friend who never ceases to entertain me with his karate moves, swinging in the hammock, putting on my stunna shades and strutting his stuff, or the utter joy he gets from playing on Kayla’s IPod and peering over our shoulders as we work on our computers. Ale, our other regular friend, has not been around this week but Alex was here on Monday! He usually only comes to hang out on weekends when Leonel is here. Since Leonel was leaving for a month and a half, Alex came over for the night. Leonel, Alex, Kayla and I spent the evening chatting on the porch. I also was helping Leonel with a powerpoint presentation he is compiling to show church communities in the US more about El Salvador. I like that he asked Kayla and I for help! It’s the least I could do for all that he has done for us! I have to admit I am sad that he is gone, but I do plan to keep in contact with him via email and possibly may even try to meet up with him in DC when we are both there at the same time. Wednesday morning we wished him safe travels and thanked him for everything as we headed out to meet the promotoras. This week we finished visiting all the homes with the promotoras. Yay!!

2 DAYS now!!! I am picking up from where I left off since I did not have internet access until today. My Sunday was complete with an English lesson or 2, play time with the kids, and the arrival of my professor. It’s always a fun feeling when someone comes to visit you at your home or a place you know in a deeper way than them. I loved showing her around and feeling like this is my home! So Sunday night/Monday morning I am laying in my bed sleeping. I wake up around 2:15 to roll over onto my stomach. The next thing I know I feel a light mist fall on my legs. I was sooo freaked out. For a second I thought it may have been my imagination or a slight dream state, but no I am sure it was not. The next thought was, “Shit do bats pee like humans. I would think it would be more like birds.” Yes I had a mini convo with myself in my head! See the bats were super loud during the night and have been lately. They also have been flying in pairs so I think they are twitterpated (Kayla taught me this word!) and mating…um eww. I don’t know what the mist was but it was gross and we have not had rain in so long. I am getting such a great story from this experience! Our week is full of activities and meetings and I am so happy! I love the busyness of it all. I also feel like the discussion we had with our professor today helped me see some things I have been missing and helps me focus on some new aspects of the project during the remainder of my time here!

I am heading to San Salvador on Friday after my birthday celebration on Thursday night on the farm to celebrate again with the girls on Saturday at the BEACH!!!!! Woots:) DC see you in 1 month! SF see you in 23 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

xoxo

Coley

The G’s and a Lesson in How to Become Famous in El Salvador

Gratitude and Generosity

When you are student in Public Health and plan to make it your career these words are bound to cross your path and mind often. You can’t enter the field of Public Health with aspirations to realistically “save the world” as I often tell people when they just can’t grasp what the field is. I often find myself saying “no I am not a doctor” or “I don’t give people medical care” or “I work with communities”. While my PH people know that we will not save the world simply by working in the field, we also know that in order to enter into this field you really have to care about people and their well-being, and if you’re at all like me you probably care too much. You also find yourself in these situations that remind just how grateful you are for what you have and where you are from; and are often astounded by the generosity of people who have so much less than you. Each day I am here I experience both of these feelings. The kindness of the community around me helps me remain conscious of all that I have been blessed with. While I have my moments of complaining or whining or crankiness, I also remember that I am still thankful for what I have though feeling these things is normal and okay. In the words of 2 of my besties “Everything is not always sunshine and rainbows” and it shouldn’t have to be, but keeping the good in perspective with the difficult is equally important.

On Wednesday evening we drove into San Salvador from Santa Clara for an event the following day. On the way Leonel offered to take us to the beach!!!! My dream come true!! As I have said many times before he is the nicest man on the planet. He goes above and beyond any expectations and always does really nice things for us! I must add that he is really interesting to talk to. He has so much knowledge about the people here and the country’s rich history that is missed in google searches online. I learn so much from our conversations on history, religion, politics and am so grateful to be able to talk to him. Sadly he is leaving for the US next week and will not return until after we leave, but that’s for another time. So we arrive at Costa del Sol!!! The road that leads to the beach is lined with private residences and hotels that have large gates covering their entrances. So we drove until we found a small local fishing entrance. They offered a deal on parking, a table, and changing facilities so we took it!!! And the best part is that it’s on the beach and we supported a local fishing industry! I love helping local businesses no matter where I go. The sand was black, the water bluish-gray, and the tide was rolling in causing never-ending waves to crash onto the shore. Can you think of better scenery? Ah to be there again! Kayla and I swam; aka dodged waves, frolicked, and tried to stay afloat, for the better part of an hour. Then we went back to the table and had beer and water with Leonel and one of our wonderful and insightful conversations. From there we sat for a long time just relaxing, gazing out over the water until close to 6pm when the fishing boats returned from a long day at sea. After Leonel purchased some snapper from the fisherman, we headed off to have papusas and hot chocolate for dinner. YUM Picture piping hot corn papusas overflowing with gooey cheese, beans, and spicy meat. Happiness!

On our way from the restaurant to Leonel’s home we took the Autopista Camalapa. This is the main highway from the airport to San Salvador. As we were driving down this road I thought back to exactly 5 weeks earlier when we were driving along the same road around 8pm when we first entered El Salvador. At that time I was full of excitement about being in a new place, anxiety about the unknown of the country, and readiness to begin a new adventure that will help enhance my public health experience and help define my career intentions. Now as I was driving on the same road I had thoughts of how comfortable I am here, how much I am enjoying meeting and getting to know the people who I have, and how things are not always as clear as they seem or as you think they should be. A lot has happened in 5 weeks…it will be interesting to see what is to come for the final 4.

Thursday was for relaxing and catching up on work we could not do without internet. In the evening we drove into the city center for the event in honor of Romero’s death. Oscar Anulfo Romero was assassinated in 1980. He was a religious leader in the country who aspired to unite the people of El Salvador encouraging peace, unity, kindness, humility, and other such qualities so much so that the people refer to him as a martyr. The celebration was one of peace and joy. Local religious leaders from all types of churches gathered and spoke to the crowd and local bands played songs to honor the evening. The night was very moving. I really enjoyed standing in front of the National Cathedral among hundreds of people listening to the outpours of love for a man whose life impacts the lives of Salvadorans 31 years after his death. Throughout the crowd were several reporters from the news stations around town. This is how I became famous. One of the reporters approached Kayla first and asked her “You speak Spanish?” She said no as she did not want to be on TV at the moment. Then he moves over to me with the same question. Well little did I know that the camera was rolling at this point. So I also did not want to be on TV so I said “NO” as well but in order to emphasize my response I bulged my eyes out, opened them wide and shook my head “no”. HAHAHA I bet I looked hilarious. Well people saw me doing this that I know! Luisa, one of the promotoras talked to us about seeing me on TV on Thursday when she saw us this morning. Oh well...my advice to you is if you want to be “famous” just look ridiculous and it’s in the bag!.

After our night with Romero, Leonel took us to a taco place for dinner. Let me tell you this place blows Surfside and all other taco places out of the water. Taqueria Tapatio was AMAZING so much so we want and plan to go back at least one more time before leaving the country! Leonel taught us cute nicknames that girls give their guys here (melon) and then in return the guy refers to the girl as (bon bon). I wanted to share because they’re just so cute and funny. Friday we made plans to go out with the girls. During the day we worked and then saw The Black Swan in the afternoon…trippy. We got ready and felt girly again (YAY) and grabbed dinner. Karla and Marce picked us up just after 9pm and we headed to their friend’s house for a pre-dancing party. The condo we went to was gorgeous! It’s owned by a diplomat and was so nice. We sat on the balcony, overlooking the city and chatted. I almost felt like I was with my best girl friends drinking wine on a night before going out. We had wine, beer, snacks, cute clothes, music, and lots of talk about guys. The only difference from my nights with friends was the Spanish and Spanglish language we were chatting in. Otherwise you had 7 girls getting ready to go out on the town! It was so chevere (cool). Around 12 we headed out to the disco and danced for a few hours before coming home. It was so much fun!

The farm life has returned…

Coley

Farm Fever

What to do with free time...read and think.

“We accept the love we think we deserve.”

 “Not everyone has a sob story and even if they do, it’s no excuse.”

I have been spending a lot of time reading since my internet stopped working 1 week ago. I have been reading for my DGH assignments, for my ES assignments, and even better a thrilling Spanish book “El Sexto Sol” and finally “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” The last on the list is where I got these quotes from, both of which struck a chord with me and have lasting impact if you think about them for a while.

Life without internet is okay. You don’t stop breathing, the world continues on around you, food does not lose its taste, all contrary to popular belief, but boredom ensues. You become less easily entertained by things that waste your time, more disconnected from the strikes you never knew happened in Libya and you become 8 emails behind in replies to people you owe one back to (sorry ya’ll I promise they are coming soon!). While internet is not a necessary factor in life it is a desired one especially when you are in the middle of rural El Salvador on a farm with one other person (who is awesome) and a 2 kids who come to visit daily, and a groundskeeper, roommate and cook…OH and you’ve had it (although slow) for the past 4 weeks since arriving. It’s amazing the types of things you find to pass your time when g-chat disappears and the Face space is not tempting you to waste hours looking at people’s profiles. If you’re like me with all this time you think way too much, begin reading 4 things at once, have random dance parties, do insane workouts, and watch movies in bed at 9pm before falling asleep by 10:30. A late night is 11:30! CABIN FEVER! And sadly we have no idea if and when our internet will return based on the hour spent at the Tigo store this morning in Usultan where the nice, long eye-lashed salesman told us that he is not sure if they will work but there is a strange problem with the system that almost never happens. Well wouldn’t you figure it happens to us! But I am hopeful!

In my last post I mentioned something I learned about drinking wine…well let me tell you that on Saturday Kayla and I drank wine.  We sat on the stumps in the field and watched the sunset and chatted with our wine. It was fun! Have I mentioned the beautiful landscape as our backdrop? So our Saturday was complete with wine, a delicious Sivia dinner and a HUGE-O dance party on the porch. We danced to old school music, top 40, hip hop, and a popular latin song in the light of the full moon with fireworks and a volcano as our backdrop. AMAZING! The farm fever was major this weekend as our second weekend in a row passed in the same hammocks, on the same benches, and in the same forest green plastic chairs as the past 2 weeks and weekend (which I LOVE but too much of anything can be bad). We attempted to play softball on Saturday with David and his league. He told us to meet him by Doris’s house at noon. So we dressed in our red shirts and headed out without lunch (me and no food = cranky) and waited and waited. By 12:30 we wandered around until we found him down the road on the back of a truck where we waited for another hour for 3 players and a coach to show up… but not enough to play so we headed home to our hammocks for the rest of the afternoon. At least we attempted an outing. I must add that Max, our house mate came home to our dance party on Saturday night and rhetorically asked, “Are you all bored?” in reference to our awesome dance party! I guess we were pretty obvious! Bored is not really the right word it’s more geographically isolated…which is worse I think. All we really want to do is go to the beach on the weekend for the day especially because El Salv has some of the prettiest beaches in the world and they are SO CLOSE to us!!!!!!!!!! This HAS to happen soon!

Now that I have been officially welcomed by the stomach bugs in El Salvador I am even more ready for San Salvador this weekend! Oh we are off to where the roof connects again!

Woots,

Nicoley