EL SAlvador: El Sal at last

Finally in El Salvador!

Travel started very early this morning at 2:30 am. We were at the airport 4 hours before our flight, but it turned out to be a good thing because the line behind us to check in was hugeee and there is no way we all would have gotten through if we weren't first. We were laid over in Miami for what was supposed to be 2 hours but ended up being about 4 due to an accident with our first plane. Once we had boarded the plane we were informed that a windblown luggage dolly had left a deep scratch in the tail of the plane and they weren't sure whether or not the plane was safe to fly. After assessing the damage for approx. 30 mins, we were unloaded from the plane, forced to wait,a nd then reloaded onto another plane, which we sat in for 1.5 hours before takeoff. However, once in the air, the flight to El Sal was short and sweet (only 2 hours 20 minutes). The descent into the airport was incredible - it's all rolling hills and farmland around the airport - no buildings or infrastructure of any sort!

At the airport we unloaded ALL our luggage

a fraction of our luggage...

After collecting our luggage, we went through customs which was actually very smooth and easy. We were immediately met by a group of Peace Corps staff who shuttled us along. The minute we stepped outside we were hit by a wall of heat. Oh the humidity! The temperature is about the same as what it's been back home these past few days, but humidity probably hovers around 100% at all times during the rainy season. After sweating profusely by the side of the road for a while we were loaded onto a gorgeously decorated school bus for our 45 minute ride to San Vicente (a town outside of San Salvador where the PC training center is)

In San Vicente we were led straight into the training center where all our stuff was put in storage except for small overnight bags.Until Friday we are all staying in a hotel near the training center. This is nice because the hotel rooms have AC, cable television, electricity, WIFI and showers! I imagine the move to our host homes will be quite the shock after this, but that's okay with me! Our meetings today were abbreviated since we were 3 hours late, so we were quickly led to a local restaurant for a delicious dinner. We were served fresh pico de gallo (chopped tomatoes, onions, and chiles), a quarter of an avocado, and a rice and beans mixture with a little pork. The rice is cooked in the liquid from boiling the beans, and it was really really delicious. Alongside our meal was a orange juicy type of drink and some delicious local hot sauce. After dinner we were served mini containers of fresh watermelon for dessert. YUM

One thing interesting here is how early it gets dark. We are way closer to the equator here so sunset is much earlier. Although we missed it tonight, by the time we got out of dinner (730) it was pitch black. This is conducive to all of us going to bed ASAP since we have been up since 2 am (or midnight El Sal time) and have to get up for training by 7 tomorrow morning.

[Sidenote... it appears that the insiders in El Sal actually call it Salvador, not El Sal. We'll see if I make that switch, I'm very used to saying El Sal at the moment.]