Day 3: San Salvador Awaits

We woke up on Wednesday and had a quick breakfast and were quickly transported to San Salvador. Here is a map so you can kind of see the general area of where we are.

San Salvador is much larger than Santa Ana. It is a few million people and much more modern than Santa Ana. There are large buildings, interstates, and just about every business you can think of, McDonald's, Wal-Mart, ALDO, Steve Madden, CitiBank, Marriott... everything, including Tony Roma's even if we don't have them in the US anymore. Another interesting tid-bit, there are no lefthand turns and lots of round-a-bouts. And the drivers are way more efficient on round-a-bouts than in the SGF.
Once again, we had a very full day. We began by being transported to our host families to drop off luggage. It is at this point that the driver accidentally snapped my main handle on my back... which will not make transporting luggage from here on out fun.
My host family lived too far away to drop off my luggage, so I dropped it off at Christi's house and then we went to our first visit. This day was packed with all sorts of places that I was very excited to see.
The first was the Escuela de Comunicatión Mónica Herrera. This is a small university in San Salvador that specializes in graphic design, branding, promotions and marketing. The facilities are gorgeous. Most bachelor degrees in El Salvador are specialized throughout all five years without general education courses. It is mandatory that bachelor degrees are five years.

While we were there, the students were hosting a TedTalk event. We sat and watched some of the tele-conference.

After the meeting, our host introduced us to a couple of people who work for a local NGO (even an US ex-pat) call Con Textos (www.con-textos.org). This organizations works in three separate areas of education. One is a teacher training program, another is a program to help with learning concepts and integrate iPads into classrooms. They were very awesome and had great ideas and plans.
Following the escuela, we went to the Universidad Centroamericana (UCA) to tour the Monsignor Romero Center & Martyrs Museum, a museum on campus which told the story of events of the war in El Salvador. Before our tour began, we walked around the campus. It again was beautiful. I might have fell in love. Just a little bit. (I feel like I'm cheating on OTC). All of my good pictures of the campus are on my phone and I can't upload them right this moment... but just go to www.uca.edu.sv, you will fall in love too.

The tour of the museum was very intriguing. We learned a lot about events that led up to the war as well as a very specific event where six jesuit priests were killed as well as a housekeeper and her daughter by the government. It is a very important part of El Savadorian history. You can read more about the specific event here.

The rose garden where the priests bodies were found

We followed the museum visit up with visiting the National Museum. This showed us the agricultural and anthropological history of El Salvador. Our guide was once again wonderful and told us a lot of stories regarding the history. All the people in El Salvador are rich with storytelling and filled with memories of the past. Very respectful of the stories before them.

Sundial

The sundial was correct

We then went to our host families. I met my host at her café, Kala's, before making the way up the mountain to home. Upon meeting Eli she immediately offered me a latte and complimented me on looking so young and thought I was 23. I'll take that any day.

She closed shop and we drove up a mountain to the home she shares with her husband, Jorge, who is a local OB/GYN. Their house is very gorgeous. It overlooks a valley and you can see the whole city on the drive up. Eli owns a coffee plantation and also has honeybees on her plantation. (For breakfast on day four, I had fresh mango and papaya from her trees, honey from her farm on bread and coffee from her plantation. Very natural and sustainable breakfast.)
I had a short time at the house before we had to make the way back down the mountain to go to a Rotary meeting. At this point, exhaustion really hit me. Not having a quick break in the afternoon to shower and refresh really did me in. And we're only to the 3rd day! I feel like I have spent 10 days here already.

The meeting went very well and all the members were very welcoming. We not only gave our presentations, but heard another presentation of an area non-profit. The organization reminded me a lot of the children's charities in the ozarks, like Boys and Girls Town and Good Samaritan Boys Ranch. We also met many very interesting Rotarians, including one who Jimmy refers to as the International Man of Mystery... he deserves a Dos Equis. Thank you to Hector for being a terrific guide!

Sorry for the delay in posts (especially sorry to the Rivieras!)! I currently do not have wi-fi at the house I'm staying. We're in the middle of day four... lots more to come.
I'm currently in the backseat of Fernando's car finishing this post! Have to find time where I can!

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