It has been a long day of travel and we're winding down our first day in Santa Ana. The day started with an early flight, a quick layover in Atlanta, and a three hour flight into San Salvador. Upon our descent into San Salvador, we flew out over the Pacific Ocean and enjoyed beautiful views of the coast line and farmland. The land is so green and lush.
We were greeted at the airport by Luis Fernando, our Habitat Assistant and translator for the trip. Kevin, Mel and I had the pleasure of meeting him last year. He is an extremely motivated, friendly young man, who is working on his college degree, works for Habitat and owns his own IT business. His laugh is contagious and he is so much fun to be around.
We drove about two hours from the airport to Santa Ana, which sits on the NW side of the country. We enjoyed views of the landscape, the beautiful peaks and valleys, winding through San Salvador during rush hour and admiring the brave pedestrians that walk on the side of the road or hop the cement dividers to cross the highway. Santa Ana was bustling upon our arrival to Hotel Sahara.
Hotel Sahara is a fairly modern hotel, about fifty years old, that sits not far from the public square in Santa Ana. Our rooms have 2-3 people each and a private bathroom. The rooms are on the second floor of the hotel and the third floor is an open-air rooftop patio and an indoor conference room. We sit high enough in the city to enjoy beautiful views of downtown Santa Ana.
We had a Habitat orientation led by Luis Fernando and Alex, another Habitat assistant. We were joined by two other Habitat groups- one from MN, naming themselves "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Hammer", and another from Medina, OH. There are 27 of us total. We will work together at the worksite, however, we will maintain our small groups for the end of the day discussions. We have a diverse group- age and professions. Our age spans from 18 to early 60s, and our professions include graphic designers, social worker, teachers, IT, physical therapist, nurses, PA, and the list goes on. There are so many talents among this group!
After our orientation, the large group headed to Pollo Campero for dinner. PC is a local favorite among Salvadorans. To an American, it can best be described as an upscale KFC. There is such love for PC, that upon returning home to the US last year, we noticed many people with boxes of PC to take to their family back in the States. Because of our large group, we ended up in the playland room. Yes, the children were playing all around us. It was organized chaos, and it was nice to sit and mingle with the rest of the group.
Back to the hotel now, just finished our team meeting, discussed the timetable for tomorrow, and now it's off to bed. We're two hours behind EST here, and with only a few hours of sleep overnight for each of us, the day has been very long. Unless, of course, you are a good plane sleeper, then the deficit isn't quite so much.
We have a full workday in store for us tomorrow. However, let it be known that it has been raining pretty much nonstop since 6pm. I hope this isn't a sign...
To all of our friends and family at home- thank you so much for your support. We bring you all with us in our experience while we are here. We look forward to sharing our stories upon our return.
Buenos noches.
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