El Salvador, Part One

March 10th, 2012
1-6:00pm
It's impossible to tell where the sea ends and the sky begins.
Floating on fluffy white popcorn clouds gazing down on humanity; is this how God feels? Way up in the vastness of nothing, sky the only thing beneath him? Flying always makes me pensive. I feel so small staring out the little window, wondering how the earth is so big, and wondering what it would feel like to fly like a bird with the wind in my face. Touch down, the sweaty nightmare of customs is a punch in the face; a jolt to reality, and being back on the ground isn't pleasent after the sleepy flight. El Salvador is hot. The muggy air makes one languid and sleepy. The shacks and garbage (sometimes the same thing) are perched next to flashy billboards advertising cellphones and shoes is sureal; its such a dramatic contrast of wealth and poverty. It hasn't kicked in yet. I'm struggling to hold in my irritation of those around me, I'm not sure why my patience is so thin. I pray for tolerance, if I can't achieve patience. On the bus now, I struggle to stay awake. Resistance is futile as I finally succumb to to the stress of five hours of sleep from last night and the rocking of the noisy bus. My head is jerking up as I still struggle to listen to the nice missions man talk, but I fall asleep. Only a light doze, but I still miss all the rules and agenda for the rest of the day. Oh well, I'm generally semi-confused anyway. So after lugging my luggage (oh how funny...hah) up a flight or two of stairs I find myself in a quaint room, simple but perfect for my taste. Astonished, later I learn that this is one of the best in Santa Ana. Things are definently different here. With a sweet roommate, air conditioning, and a bed I'm set. What else do I need? Well....a nap would be nice.

9:10PM
Five hours of sleep makes one very hyper and weird. Especially me! After seeing El Salvador from the roof of this beautiful hotel and driving through it to get to dinner I am amazed by the middle class. It's such a small part. There is poor and really well off/rich. You don't see much of the middle class.
At the mall for dinner I mangle my spanish, but hey, at least I'm trying! My roommate is fluent, I'm very jealous....oh well, not everyone can be from a Latino country!

March 11th, 2012
9:15AM

Waking up I don't kn ow what to expect from the day. It's still very surreal and odd, I feel like I'm on vacation, or just passing through. Since it's sunday we go to church, and we were told to wear skirts, apparently the church is a little more conservative here. It feels nice though, a little less hot than pants, and around here you need every bit of coolness you can somehow find. Sitting here in a shaded, leafy hiding place I'm listening to church bells ringing and sounds of  birds chirping mingled with the noise of traffic and some loud spanish music. Sheltered in my place of solitude, unknown to the world around me I ponder my life and how it will be affected by this trip. I hope it is.

March 12th 2012
4:55PM

I am dirty everywhere, from my white grubby feet to my tanned dirt smeared face. I can barely find a clean inch of skin and definently there isn't any part of me that doesn't smell bad! Even after a cold, amazing shower I find dirt. Up my nose of all places! It seems the dust has permeated everywhere. Today was a learning experience. You don't have to be in Africa to find intense poverty. I feel like we have this image or preconceived thought that Africa is the only really major "bad" place. But you don't have to go overseas or travel too far to find poverty. El Slavador reeks with need, quite literally. But while people live in awful condition, their spirit doesn't reflect them. They are so sweet!!  The people of Los Heroes and Los Angeles 1 are so trusting and genuine. And lovestarved! All they want is someone to care, to love on them. Of course the whole "I can barely speak Spanish" creates a huge barrier but love is truly a universal language. A smile, a hug, says it all. All morning I just walked around talking to people. Mothers, children, chickens, whoever looked like they needed someone. It was amazing, but awfully draining. Working on building one of the houses was less draining, which is what I did all afternoon. Its amazing, once the floor went up the walls followed so fast. I wielded my hammer like a true Herbert!! :) So finally I'm clean and relaxed and as I lie in bed thinking about the day, images of dirty, barefoot children fill my head, the story of the raped 3rd grader who is now a mother haunts me, the love starved adults who never got love from their parents, the lists goes on of what I think about. I preay that I never ever forget the things I saw today. May I never fall into complacency.

March 13th, 2012
8:52PM
I feel sick. Hopefully I won't throw up. Mama and PC think it was too much sun.