Oh well.  So I went.  It is a bit frustrating.  It is a two hour drive.  And this particular visit lasted about 10 minutes while the secretary verified that this is indeed what they needed and that now they had everything they needed to review it next Wednesday and hopefully approve it.

So four hours in the car for a 10 minute CSSP visit.  Sigh.

Fortunately, I had another reason to be in San Salvador.  A woman who I ‘met’ via email was visiting her son and his wife and their babies.  She was visiting to help them for a couple of weeks after the birth of their beautiful new daughter. 

I ‘met’ this woman when she emailed explaining that she was going to be in El Salvador and had to bring an empty suitcase so was there anything the Pastoral House could use so she could make good use of that empty suitcase.  Well of course, there are always needs here.  Usually over the counter medicines and/or vitamins.  People come to the door her all the time in need of those items.  And when we have them, we dispense them – unfortunately, the needs are usually greater than what we sometimes have on hand. 

So I had given her a list of things we could use: vitamins for adults and children, cold medicines, Ibuprophen, etc.

Jody and her son Spence met me at CSSP and I followed them in his car to their home.  They live within a block of the U.S. Embassy.  And I found out that they live right next door (literally) to the helicopter pad attached to the home of former president Christiani.  And sure enough, a helicopter landed twice while I was there!  It was a bit surreal.

We had a lovely visit.  I found out we had many Iowa connections.  Jody currently lives in Texas with her husband but she was from Clive and went to Westminster!  And Spencer’s dad even lived on the same street as me in Clive.  What a small world. 

They invited me to lunch and I enjoyed a lovely cold pasta salad with black olives and I THINK artichoke hearts – so unlike the foods here – it was a bit of a pleasant surprise.  And I got to hold a two week old baby.  And play with the cutest 15 month old boy.  He reminded me of my boys when they were babies.

I left about 2:45 and stopped at a grocery store on the way out of town.   I made it home by about 5.  Alicia was waiting for me.  She reminded me that I had promised that we would walk the Via Cruz.  This is the every Friday Lenten procession for the Stations of the Cross that takes place after the 5 p.m. mass.

I was SO tired.  And I hesitated because I knew that it would last almost 3 hours … I was going to try to ‘beg off’ but she told me I had to go read my email.  She told me that after I read the one from her, I would gladly accompany her for the procession.

The memo section merely said “ICK” – Here is what she wrote:

“I just wanted to let you know that you really dodged a bullet today at lunch. That's right. They served Torta de Pescado again. It was awful. I almost died. God must really be watching out for you. And I'm starting to wonder what I did to make God punish me this way. Jesús also looked pained when he ate the Torta. He swished water around in his mouth when he'd finished. I hope you enjoyed your lunch. I'm going to go get a snack.”

I laughed out loud.  A couple weeks ago we had been served this traditional Friday during Lent meal and even I thought it was ghastly.  And even I could not eat it and I can eat almost anything!   Both Alisha and I had snuck as much as we could into the trash and buried it deep that day.  

Pescado is fish… Torta is I’m not sure what.  However it is prepared, it is salty, slimy, mushy, very fishy in flavor and smell and (to me) just plain ucky.  

So I figured I owed her!

So we went.  I had considered asking if we could sneak away about half way through.  The Via Cruz is a procession that we honor and remember the walk that Jesus took to the cross.  During the procession, the leader – a different person each time -  says a reflection, reads a scripture about this particular station, says another reflection, then we say together the Lord’s Prayer, Hail Mary and a couple other little things, and then we all move on to the next Station while walking very slowly and singing). But by the time we got to the 8^th Station, I decided I could keep going.  

By the time we got back, we were quite hungry and I was bone tired.  But I’m glad she ‘guilted’ me into going. 

The best type - that seems to work best here - is a pre-emergent.  It is called "Formula" and at the moment it costs about $59 per 220 pound bag.  This is about enough for one 'manzana' (almost 2 acres) of land. 

There is another type that is applied about a month after planting ... it is called Sulfato and costs about $40 per bag.  This is not nearly as effective as the Formula.  When people can, they use both. 

These prices change every Monday.  Last year in April, they were $78 for Formula and about $56 for the Sulfato.  I think the prices rise the closer it comes to planting time. 

Most people don't think this far ahead to take advantage of the lower prices.  We did only because of St. Boniface in Waukee (hope they don't mind me naming names!!).  They wanted to buy fertilizer for their partner community.   And that is when we discovered the much lower prices in January. 

Thanks for asking Patti!!

Hooray Alisha.  She likes to walk and experience things.  And she is pushing me to my limits.  And that is a good thing.

Today we had on the calendar that we were going to visit San Francisco.  This is the partner community to Alisha’s church (Westminster Presbyterian).   I was originally planning to drive, but then I thought … she wanted to walk to Alejandria – and we did.  She wants to walk to the cross on the top of the mountain overlooking Berlin – and she will … so why not walk to San Francisco?

So I talked to Miguel (the S.F. Pastoral Team liaison) and we set up the time.  I apologized and reminded him that someone would have to walk back down to Berlin with us – and he said he would do that.  Keep in mind he lives in San Francisco.  So he walked down to the Pastoral House to fetch us, walked back up with us.  Walked back down with us and then had to walk back up again to go home.

What a trooper!

We left the house about 1:50.  And we walked and talked.  It was not a fast pace and quite frankly, not a difficult walk.  But I imagine we walked a little slower than Miguel would have if we weren’t with him.  We took a back path as a short cut around the cemetery but ended up on the main road leading out of Berlin and up the mountain.

It took us about 40 minutes.  Not too bad.  A funny thing – we were on the main road and we could hear a car coming.  It is a curvy mountain road of course, so we move to the side.  Along came a police car.  We smiled as they approached and they stopped and asked where we were going.  They were quite nice really.  They offered us a ride.  But I told them it was good for us to walk to really understand and get to know the struggles of the walk to the nearest canton.   

As soon as we turned the corner to head up the little road to the church where we were to meet some of the youth group, we saw Alisha’s friend Maria and her little girl.  Perfect timing!  Alisha had a letter for her and we had to take photos of course.  They chatted a little while.  Maria is quite pregnant and we oohed and aahed over her large tummy.  She is due this very month. 

Miguel told me the kids were waiting for us in the church.  So while Alisha said goodbye to Maria, I headed in.  What a surprise I saw!  There were a ton of kids there!  They had the chairs all set up in a large circle and they were all waiting for us.  I counted 21 … and we later learned that there are about 30 in total in the church youth group.  This is a huge growth from last year when there were only 11.  How cool is that!

I smiled and said ‘hola’ and in unison they said it back.  So I joked and said it again.  It was like a chorus I told them.  And that we needed to work on the harmony next!

Alisha and I sat down with them and the young man in charge said a few words of welcome and suggested we make introductions.  He said everyone should say their name and how long they have been in the group.  I asked them to also tell us how old they were.  They ranged in age between 10 and 29 but most of them were in their teens.  There were some that had been there since the beginning (over a year) and a couple that it was their first time!

Alisha was asked to say a few words as representative of her church.  She did well considering she was put on the spot.  And of course, I can’t resist saying a few things.  Miguel spoke as did Daniel (the Delegate of the Word in San Francisco).  Alisha asked what kinds of activities they do.  We were told they get together to talk about “themes” (discussion topics), and sometimes just get together to try to support each other as friends.  They are becoming ‘community’ it sounded to me. 

It was a great visit.  We only stayed about an hour but it was enough.  Hopefully they were inspired to continue on and stay together and continue supporting each other.  

So we began our trek back down the mountain.  

The walk was pleasant.  It was certainly not as strenuous as the walk to Alejandria or San Lorenzo.  It is still a two mile hike.  First downhill (maybe a mile) then uphill the second mile.  But there is enough variation in the road – level, not too steep for not too long… but a steady up hill for that second mile.  We were hot and tired when we got back, but not physically drained.  I think we both just felt good about the walk. 

And now I know that walk.      

People here are beginning to think about sowing.  The rainy season comes about mid May and that is when they begin to plant their corn crops.  And those with experience are thinking ahead.  There are several church partners who support their community with the purchase of a sack or two of fertilizer for each family.    And communities that are really organized brought a ‘solicitude’ to the Pastoral House last November in hopes of fertilizer so their church partners could have time to fund-raise.

And now I want to tell you why a gift of fertilizer is so important.

Jobs are scarce.  60% of the folks in and around Berlín are unemployed or underemployed.  $3 per day is the minimum wage declared by the government – but in reality, there is no minimum wage – a typical income is $1 per day – IF one is lucky enough to even have a job.  And there is no minimum wage for agricultural workers.  Farmers might make $25 - $125 per year!

And pretty much the ONLY work in the cantons is agricultural.

Soil is almost totally depleted because of generations of abuse of the land: first by the Spaniards who stripped the land to grow indigo and cotton. Then when that was no longer a viable crop, more deforestation and slash/burn techniques so the land could support the coffee crops.  That really took its toll.  Now it is corn and beans. Farmers alternate these two crops on their little plots of land as the seasons change. 

And it is subsistence farming in the rural areas of Berlin.  People use their harvest to feed their families all year long.  And if they have a little corn or beans left over, it is sold for things like school supplies, food items they cannot grow themselves, their medical needs, etc. 

Without fertilizer, the harvest is less than half.  And that is NOT enough to even feed their family let alone have any left over to sell.  

Now here is another problem for farmers:

Most farmers are not the recipients of the gift of fertilizer so have to buy it.  They have to… otherwise there is hardly a crop to be had when all is said and done.

So they either sell a few chickens if they have any… or sell a cow or a pig (or 4) if they are lucky enough to have one.  

But if they have a cow, that provides the family’s milk … so they really don’t want to sell that.

So the majority of people take out a loan. 

No big deal you say.  EVERYONE has credit card debt! 

Let me tell you about debt here in this country - at least from the perspective of the small and poor farmer in our cantons – which would be the vast majority of people.  First I will give you my opinion (my humble opinion):  debt and credit companies are like a curse here.  

Let me tell you how I really feel and why: the credit companies take advantage of the desperate needs of the very poor farmers by giving them ‘easy’ loans to buy their fertilizer (we’re talking maybe a $60 or $100 loan).  They dispense those loans like candy.  “Sign here my friend” …

It is too easy.  You put your cow up for collateral…your house... your first born (I wouldn’t be surprised – but probably not).   If you own your little piece of land you might have to put that up for collateral.  

So the season passes, your crop is growing well and all seems good.  Then a hurricane hits the coast and the heavy and constant rains here in the mountain destroy the crop.  

Or early in the growing season, really heavy winds come and the budding bean plants lose their flowers and therefore their potential for fruit.

So you end up with a meager harvest.  Now you cannot feed your family nor sell a little for your other needs … and now you also have a $60 debt that you cannot pay.  Oh… I almost forgot to say: this loan will have about a 25 - 45% interest rate.

And you had put your land up for collateral – or your cow.  So now you are in danger of losing that.  

And it is inevitable.  Without a crop, you cannot pay your loan.  So you’ve lost what little you had.

It’s another manner of manipulating and taking advantage of the poor.

And like I said… without a generous partner church helping out with fertilizer, the majority of farmers here are in this sinking boat.

And this time of year, the mosquitoes are absolutely horrible.  I have had larvae swimming in my pila twice now.  For those of you who don’t know yet, a pila is a large water holding receptacle – usually built out of cement.  It holds water for use when there is no running water.  People do their dishes, laundry and bathing at a pila.  Every house has one because water often does not run and it is a normal part of life here …

The first time I noticed the larvae in my pila, I was leaving to take Chon (our Spanish visitor) back to the airport.  Idalia said she would empty my pila and scrub it out and refill it while I was gone.  People really do take good care of me here!!  The second time I noticed the larvae, just this week, I decided to blast the pila with bleach.  I was a bit freaked out by the thought of having washed my hair with that water.  Uck.  I poured about 2 cups of bleach in my pila.  That did the trick.  Now when water runs, and I can turn on the tap to fill my pila every other morning, I let it over-flow for a couple of minutes.  The beginning stages of the larvae float.  My logic (actually I think it was Mike’s logic) is that with the overflowing of the pila, the floating larvae would go down the drain.  Good thinking.  And so far so good.  No new larvae this week.

Anyway – Otilia and I attended this meeting.  It is good to make appearances to these kinds of things because it shows community involvement by the Pastoral House.  I’m all for that.  We are, after all, beneficiaries of some of the activities and works that the city does.  And dengue prevention could sure benefit us all!

The first meeting on the 23^rd was informational: what dengue is: the symptoms, how it is spread, how to prevent, etc.  The local doctor presented us with this information.  The very same doctor who signed our letter of support that we need to present to the Ministry of Health and the Customs Agents at the airport to be allowed to bring a ton of medicines in for the Newton Medical delegation that comes in March.   After this information was presented, he briefly talked about what they were planning to do to prevent the risk here in Berlin.  After about two hours we ended with another meeting set to take place today (Friday).

Today’s meeting was more interactive and productive.  The attendees of these two meetings were from a variety of institutions: ProVida, the Police, City Hall, Red Cross, the Commandos (EMS people), and a variety of committee people: representatives from the city water committee, environmental committee, civil defense committee, etc.

Today we all put our heads together about how each of us could do our part to combat our mosquito problem.  They had a plan … a day to pick up trash, check pilas and then fumigate every house and business in town. 

The plan is to use the older high school kids in a day of service picking up trash.  They would be provided rubber gloves, large trash bags and drinking water.  We needed adult supervisors for this.  We are then having a group go door to door to check pilas and homes for stagnant water issues.  Then on the day of fumigation, we needed to secure enough fumigating whatchamajiggies, with properly trained people to run them and people to help temporarily evacuate homes for the fumigators and other technical support. 

It was good to listen to everybody – when a need for this or that came up, people would speak up and say that their organization could help with this or that.  The Pastoral House committed to helping with 100 of the 500 photocopies needed for the survey for 500 households, 100 large trash bags, drinking water and 2 people to help out on fumigation day. 

It was a good meeting.  And fumigation day is set for this coming Tuesday.

By saying ‘spend time in Berlin’ I don’t mean that our visitors come here for a vacation.  We’ve had several young people stay at La Casa Pastoral over the past years.  My son was among those numbers.  Paul actually spent two summers here.  Most of our interns volunteer their time teaching English at one of the nearby schools.  Paul spent his mornings at Brisas del Sol (Kindergarten – 4^th grade) and his afternoons at the local high school with not only some high school students, but also a couple of teachers who wanted to learn.    Some interns alternate time between one of the little elementary schools nearby and the physical therapy clinic around the corner. 

Alisha has been with us for two weeks now.  Her first week here, we also had my sister visiting and a woman from Spain who was getting reacquainted with people here and working with the Pastoral Team.  We did a lot of traveling for Chon.  We visited a couple of the cantons of Berlin, visited a couple of co-op projects to the south and west of us and we visited El Mozote.  So Alisha was able to tag along on those trips. 

At this point, she has survived her first full week of teaching at the local “boys” school.  This is a kindergarten through 9^th grade school.  And yes – just boys. 

Everyday has been an adventure for her.  Seemed like her schedule changed daily.  But I think it is set now so she can better prepare for her classes.  She seems to be enjoying the work and the children.  I have a feeling it will only get better for her.  She is very organized and has great lesson plans.  And now that she seems to have a routine and is more comfortable with how the day should look – I think she will soar. 

I’m excited for her. 

And she gets to be here  for four more weeks.

Not all of her time is work.  She has managed to catch a couple of naps in the hammock … she started out reading, but the inevitable happens.   It can’t be helped!  ;o)

And one of these days, we’re going to take a walk up to the cross.  Not sure how she convinced me I wanted to join her on that.  And Saturday she asked Cecilia if she (we) could walk to Alejandria with her.  All we need to do is find sne to walk back with us.  But that should be easy enough. 

We started out with a relatively normal Sunday: getting up and getting ready for church… everyone showing up at the Pastoral House for church and the chit chat that stems from that.  It was Blanca’s birthday so we presented our presents and I put one of our peanut butter cookies that Alisha and I had made the night before on everyone’s breakfast plate as a symbol of celebration for her.  Balmore really liked the cookie and got up for another one! 

Alisha and I attended church together.  Today, the singing was particularly painful.  It was loud and nasally and very off key for the most part.  Even the priest a couple of times looked like he was in pain.  But we endured.  And hopefully better people for it.  But maybe not… there might be a special place in he—for those of us who complain about church music. 

After church, we strolled to the market. 

Not sure if I said yet, but the park is all torn up.  They are remodeling.  So we had to walk around by way of the police station. 

Alisha asked if there were always people in military garb and full armament standing around.  I told her yes… in front of the police station there are almost always police or military standing around.  Military personnel also serve as local police – rotating from town to town helping out.  One does get used to it after a while.  And actually, their presence is welcome for the most part.  People behave better in general.  

Today was quite busy.  We saw lots of people we knew – including my new little friend Brian.  Brian is a little boy of about 9 who now seeks me out.  I met him when St. Boniface was here in January.  He found us in the ice cream shop.  He wanted ice cream.  They bought him a cone.  He told me he was hungry.  And so were his brothers.  I bought them pupusas that day.  So now when Brian sees me, he comes up to give me a hug and to see if I will get him a pupusa.  I’m a bit of a sucker so often do.  He is just a ragamuffin of a child.  He is always filthy and barefooted.  He said he lives with his brothers because his mom is in San Salvador working.  He breaks my heart.      

So now, Brian is always there with a hug.  And he sometimes gets pupusas and sometimes not.  But he always has the hug and smile.  Check out Alisha’s blog: http://alilorraine.blogspot.com – she has a great photo of our little friend and she writes a great blog.

We each bought a shirt.  Twin shirts actually – but in different colors.  We couldn’t resist for $5 each.  They are gauzy and embroidered and summery nice.  And she bought a couple of gourd scoops.  And I bought a gourd water bottle.  We’ll hang it in the Pastoral House museum.   We say Haydee and Mily and a few other people we knew and just strolled. 

We got back to the house by about 11:15.  And that is basically where any useful activity ended.  It was just Cecilia at home.  And we were all feeling lazy.  Hardly anyone was ringing the door bell.  I don’t think the phone rang even once.  Alisha and I both finished a book.  She even fell ‘asnooze’ in the hammock for a short time.  I puttered with a few emails, helped Mauricio with some English pronunciation, read, played Hearts on the computer for a bit.  Read some more…

What a day.  Not sure I like not having much to do.

I certainly don’t mind being a chauffer.  It is a part of my job really.  Especially since I’m realistically the only one who drives here…and is available ‘free of charge’ – always a good thing!

But I know the distance.  And I’ve never driven there – I’ve always been a passenger in a Microbus with our hired drivers.  And on top of that – I’m usually fast asleep before we even get to San Miguel!

It is about a 2 and a half hour drive ONE WAY.  And with the uncertainty of my ability to navigate – well – I was a bit preoccupied!  But of course, I want to go, too.  And it is an important place to learn a bit of the atrocity of the Civil War here.

We planned to do the usual visit: first to El Mozote to see the memorial and the Garden of the Innocents near the church.  Then we would drive about 15 minutes to Perquin to the Museum of the Revolution.  Then we would do lunch in our usual little hilltop restaurant.

I had my own little plan.  Since I’d been to the Perquin museum probably 15 or 20 times, I decided I would try to catch a half hour of nap. 

We ultimately made it to our destination.  Needing to stop and ask a couple times only to find out we were on the right path.  I wasn’t recognizing the scenery – but as I said – normally I would be fast asleep during this leg of the trip!!   We visited El Mozote and within a half hour we were ready to move on. 

I easily found my way to the Perquin museum.  We parked – paid for Chon, Alisha, Aminta (who also had never been) and Blanca to go in.  Idalia and I were going to wait outside.  Well – after everyone went into the museum – a sign caught my eye.  It said something like “encampment” with a hand painted arrow.  I had heard that there was a mock-up of a guerrilla camp in Perquin.  I just figured it would be quite a way outside of the town so hadn’t even asked about it figuring I’d never get to it with a delegation in tow. 

So I ambled over to the sign and a woman pointed me to a place across the street.  And there was the entrance!  So I walked over and saw there was an admission price (75 cents).  I told Idalia I was going to go check it out figuring I would have 20 minutes to a half hour while the others were in the main museum.  Heck with sleeping.

I walked into the area and was greeted by a man ready to give me a tour.  His name was Efrain.  He proceeded to guide me to several sections of the camp to explain what they were.  He had a decided limp and his left arm hung almost uselessly.  I found out he had been shot: the bullet went through his head and damaged his spine affecting his whole left side.  It didn’t slow him down though.  Well – he did walk slowly but not too. 

This place really reminded me of Living History Farms in Iowa.  It had a place displaying the clandestine Radio Venceremos, a kitchen, hospital, operating room, resting shelter, meeting shelter, escape tunnel, hand made bridges – 3 different styles to cross over high ravines.  Here I need to say that I was quite scared to cross over, but I did it anyway.

Everything was portable and camouflaged with trees, tarp, leaves and dirt. 

All through the tour, Efrain explained what everything was.  There was an unexploded home made land mine with big signs saying ‘look but don’t touch’ – and bomb shrapnel.  There was a big 6 meter deep by about 4 meters round hole in the ground where a 500# bomb fell but did not explode.   The hole was amazingly big for a non exploding bomb. 

I didn’t see the entire encampment because time was passing and I didn’t want to make those at the main museum wait for me and as it turned out, I got to our meeting place within 2 minutes of the group.  When they found out where I was, they wanted to see it as well.  So I went back with them.  I did not have to pay a second time and Efrain was our guide again.  They were glad they went.  And I really think this should be a part of the museum experience when we visit El Mozote and Perquin.  We as North Americans, for the most part, have NO idea what life is like during a war: the constant fear, the constant need for moving about to not be discovered, the harsh and dangerous environment, the filthy conditions in which they had to cook, work, relax, perform surgeries, raise their families, etc. 

I’m so glad I stumbled upon this place.  And I’m grateful for all the people that are keeping the history alive.  Those that lived the horrors and find it important to tell the stories in the hopes that those horrors never return.   They are courageous men and women.

The sad part of it is – those horrors are still happening – in many countries and for many of the same reasons.  People want to live with dignity and without repression.  People want to work and to get paid fairly for their work.  They want to feed their families.  They want to speak freely, praise without persecution.  Justice and fairness.  It seems so simple.  Why does the world make it so difficult?

We took the road through Alegria and Santiago de Maria to get to the CA2 highway.  That took about an hour.  From there it was only 16 miles west and a little more south to the building which houses the administrative offices of the co-op.  That took maybe a half hour.  We did have to stop and ask several people where to go.  Thankfully Chon is quick to say: let’s ask.  Once at the Co-op, we met Miguel and Oskar.  They explained the history and process of their co-op.  They started out small, taking out loans to get supplies and a little land.  Now they are self sufficient and very successful.  They operate with any credit.  They own acres and acres of land and produce sugar cane, corn, watermelon and a few other things for selling.  In addition, every family involved has a small plot of land that belongs to the co-op but is for the private use for each families own consumption needs for tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers or whatever.

This was a wonderful visit.  The spirit of the co-op is community and unity.  There is no “me” in a co-op.  People work united and for a common good.  Yes, individual people are earning a wage for their work, but the concept of reinvesting – not only in replenishing seed and fertilizer (organic) and the needs of the co-op to operate, but also in education.  A proud point for this community is that the co-op is paying for some of the teachers in their school because the government will not because of ‘lack of funds’ – does this sound familiar?  They are very proud of the fact that they now have a school that serves the students through ninth grade.  They also reinvest in the well-being of their workers.  If someone is sick, there is a fund to assist with medical visits and medicines.  They are also educating their youth beyond high school – some even studying in Cuba, and Oskar studied in the States (in Cedar Rapids, Iowa as a matter of fact).  These students are expected to come back to work in the co-op.  Oskar (who studied in Iowa) is the current Co-op president - the youngest one in its history.   

What a fabulous example of people working together.  The co-op provides jobs, education for their youth, care for the health of their employees and economic security.  They are also firm advocates for loving and respecting the land by using environmentally friendly farming techniques in the use of non-chemical fertilizers and crop rotation.

After this visit, which lasted a little over 3 hours, we found a little restaurant (relative term) for a quick bite before we got ‘lost’ going to our next visit in Nueva Esperanza.  Chon thought she knew the way.  And she knew most of it, except we missed the turnoff.  We only went about 8 kilometers out of our way (about 15 minutes one way).  Once we back tracked to the proper turnoff, it was less than a mile to the community.  

There is another co-op there.  Among other things, they have cows and a cheese production facility (one room).  The person we wanted to talk to was not there – Chon had no way of contacting him, so we basically drove there with the hopes of running into him.  We visited a while with the man’s wife, ‘enjoyed’ the extreme heat, and some of us enjoyed a bit of very tasty, hot coffee.  We could see the results of the cheese co-op – and several of our group actually bought a bunch of it.  But they only make the cheese in the mornings.  

We decided to go home the more direct route.  There is a road (relative term) that goes from the CA2 through La Quesera and up the mountain to Berlin.  The time was the same due to the quality of road but fewer miles.  The 26 miles from Nueva Esperanza back to Berlin only took about an hour and a half.  I was hauling pretty fast up that mountain and probably cut off 15 minutes of driving.  By this point, I was very hot and tired.  We all were – I had 5 people standing in the back for all this driving today and 3 in the hot cab of the truck.    What slowed me down often was the need to allow the massive herds of cattle to pass us on the roads.  We probably had to slow down for a dozen herds of 30 or more each. 

I started this blog last night but didn’t get very far.  I think I was asleep by 8:10.      

I need to go to San Salvador to pick up our ‘student intern’ Alisha.  She’ll be here for a month and a half volunteering in the boy’s school up the street.  But since she is coming in after dark, I won’t drive.  We’ll spend the night at our usual little guest house and then drive up to Berlin tomorrow morning.  And Alfredo (our trusty delegation driver) will make sure we all get where we need to be safely. 

Before we get to Los Pinos though, Sandy and I will drop off Chon (our visitor from Spain) and Blanca to the UCA (University of Central America).  They have some business there. 

I’m worried that I will get us totally lost.   Looking at a map, it really does not look hard to get there.  But I know better. The city is so hard to drive in.  There are so many places you cannot turn left.  And you have to go way out of your way on a myriad of little side streets to get back to a main street.  Sigh.

But from the UCA, it is more direct and with fewer turns.  And it will just be Sandy and me so fewer eyes seeing how badly I get lost!  Haha. 

So we’re off soon.  And we’ll be back tomorrow afternoon (Tuesday).

Wish me luck!!