El Salvador Facts

Some facts about my favorite Central American country...

• El Salvador is the smallest (about the size of Massachusetts) and most densely populated country in Central America (6.1 million people)
• El Salvador is on the Pacific Ocean, bordered by Honduras and Guatemala.
• El Salvador started using the U.S. dollar in 2001 along with Ecuador and Panama to curb inflation.
• Last week, Santa Ana was nearly 9 degrees cooler than Baltimore!
• El Salvador is prone to natural disasters, and had two major earthquakes in 2001, resulting in over 1000 deaths. The remnants of the earthquakes can be seen throughout the country.
• Approximately 25% of El Salvador's population lives in the United States, working here to support their families back home. Large populations of Salvadorans live in LA and DC.
• El Salvador's religious population is Catholic 52% and Protestant 27%.
• The El Salvador beaches are known for great surfing conditions.
• Traditional Salvadoran cuisine includes pupusas- thick corn meal stuffed with cheese and beans. The food is not spicy, consists of rice and beans at each meal, and it is delicious!

Getting ready....

We are getting ready for our trip. As of today, we leave in 18 days. Last month we had a BBQ at Kevin's, which allowed some of us to meet for the first time. Since then, Paul has been sending out weekly team building questions via email that allow us to get to know each other better before we meet again in El Salvador.

Our group spans 3 states, with 9 of us being from the Baltimore area and worshipping at Christ Church, a friend from Michigan and a friend from Florida. Three of us were part of the group that went to El Salvador last November. All of us are looking forward to being part of this experience.