first thoughts from El Salvador

Well, I've been here a week now. There is so much to say...

                                                                                     The view from my window...I need to hike some volcanoes!

The country is beautiful. From the moment we landed I knew I was going to enjoy this place. I didn't have any trouble getting through the airport, I wrote on the customs form that my final destination was Belize and said I'd only be here for 90 days and they didn't have any problems with it. I got a new stamp in my passport, not as exciting as Indonesia's but still pretty good :)

The sisters met me at the airport and we squashed into the cab of their working truck and went to a Pupeseria for breakfast. That would be a place that serves Pupusas. Pupusas are the national dish of El Salvador and are basically a tortilla filled (like a pita not a taco) with beans/cheese and herbs (the tortillas here are much smaller and thicker than anything in the US and are made with rice flour I think). They are quite good but the cheese and the herbs have a different flavor that anything I've had before. Also, I had some french fries here at the house that rival what we had in France. Basically the cuisine is big into sugar and salt.

The house is called Hogar de Maria Auxiladora or Home of Mary Help of Christians. From the outside it is not much but it is like a paradise when you step inside. There are 25 girls who live here, and they have their own kitchen, dormitory, showers and wash area, while the sisters have their own portion and there is also a school for the little kids (with a playground and everything) on the other side. I sleep above the chapel, which is the size of many a rural church in the states. They have trees and gardens all around and everything is connected with covered walkways, essentially their hallways are outside. Here are some pictures:

L: This is the halway to the girls dormitory, the kitchen, study and library are through doors on the right

R: This is roughly the middle of the complex, a large concrete area with hopscotch and basketball

This is my responsibility: the garden. They grow mostly radishes and lettuce right now but they have other seeds so I am hoping to expand our horizons soon. You notice that it is like a greenhouse but only the top is covered. Welcome to the tropics. They need protection from the monsoon rains more than insulation.

The girls say a rosary every day and are very well behaved for the most part. This is the chapel where we say the rosary about once a week...it is always open for personal prayer though, a true joy. Maria Auxiliadora is there in the blue light above the tabernacle. This version of the Virgen appeared to Don Bosco in a vision and is daily intoned by Salesians.

Mostly my job here is to teach gardening for an hour every day and hang out with the girls for the rest of the time. Sometimes I help with recreation for the school kids in the mornings but otherwise I am to practice "Salesian Assistance" meaning the style of loving God's children taught by St. Don Bosco: Reason, Religion and loving kindness. I am all for it. In the future I imagine I will have more jobs (they just got a big donation of knitting and crochet supplies that I am itching to dive into with the girls) but this is good now. I am practicing my patience and trying to love in the moment.

My Spanish is faring better than I thought, divine intervention I'm sure. Speaking of divine intervention, I totally said a prayer for Spain literally seconds before they scored the winning goal today. The prayer was something along the lines of "Lord, if one person's disappointment is equal to another's, please let Spain win. I know they haven't been the most faithful to you, but the Netherlands is even more secular. Thy will be done, whatever will most glorify you...but it would be really cool if Spain won." I know my prayer isn't the reason they won, but it was awesome to incorporate God into that experience. He is the reason we keep getting up day after day, weather we are thinking of Him or not. Nothing escapes His notice. The girls and I were very excited about the game and they noticed that their favorite song played during the cup ceremony. For your enjoyment ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRpeEdMmmQ0

They're other favorites right now are Justin Beber's "Baby, Baby, Baby" and Lady Ga Ga "Alejandro" but I won't subject you to those videos ;) Oh they also love everything High School Musical and Camp Rock. I have been translating the English lyrics to Spanish phonetics for them to work on their English pronunciation and I had a really hard time not laughing at some parts of those songs...

That's it for now, thanks for trudging through this long post, more to follow...