Sunday in San Salvador

MARK: This week was a roller coaster for us and we're both exhilerated and dizzy from the ride. We found a realtor (Vanessa) whose upbeat attitude and seemingly endless connections quickly allayed our fears of being pushed into a dour, lifeless house by the embassy. Vanessa showed us a fantastic apartment that we fell in love with in a lively active neighborhood called Escalone; filled with shops and restaurants its everything we could hope for.


Friday night we attended a benefit dinner for the local children's hospital (Hospital Bloom) and danced the night away to a wonderful latino band; our new friend Dan Gilbride was the catalyst for both our social foray through his volunteer work with the hospital and our housing solution as he introduced us to Vanessa. We're very fortunate to have met him and hope we can return the favors some day soon.



Today we're lounging around; we had a great breakfast at Shaw's, a lovely chain bakery/restaurant, and will be heading to the gym in a little while. Then off to an orchid show (!) and maybe visit Kevin and Elizabeth at their new house.



Kathleen has been Skyping this morning and we're both still awed by how well it works, particularly the video. That's it for now

Our First Road Trip

MARK: "Yesterday we made our first foray into the wilds of El Salvadoran traffic and tourist destinations. Not kidding even a little bit about wild traffic - one must adopt an "all hazards" approach to the rules of the road to avoid colliding with the cars, busses, cattle, pedestrians, 3-wheeled moto-rickshaws and small barnyard critters that make up the traffic population en route to Suchitoto, El Salvador.



The white knuckle ride into the mountains was totally worth it (in a borrowed Jeep which is a story for a seperate post) as we met the poet laureate of El Salvador Alejandro Cotto who plays tour guide in his amazing home cum museum. We walked around with another couple, Lori and Pedro from Washington, DC marvelling alternately at the view and his collected treasures from his fantastic life and times.

I'm again struck by the grinding poverty juxtaposed against the physical beauty of this place. NEXT POST: Kathleen's gonna write about the new friends from Florida and their brilliant violinist son.
Adios