El Salvador: Time is flying!

Hello friends, family and supporters!

I made it to El Salvador on June 6th. I hit the ground running that day and have not stopped since. It is time for a little rest! I apologize for the delay in the update. Now that the blog is set up, and I am getting ready to set up some sort of routine, I am hoping to be able to update it once every week or two. 

One of my goals in coming to El Salvador, was to be able to work in sustainable agriculture and other sustainable practices. Right now, we are in the middle of the rainy season and a growing season so I am not doing any gardens right now. I hope to be able to start them when the dry season comes. There have been some skeptics who don't think it is something the people here will be open to but so far, I have been asked at least once or twice a week when we can start the gardens! That makes me so happy! 

The first two weeks here in El Salvador, there were groups here from the States. Many of the people in these two groups are dear friends of mine and being with them when I arrived made my moving experience more pleasant. The first group worked mainly in La Palma, the town where I live. They did some home visits, VBS, nightly bible study and lots of visiting. They also took it upon themselves to help get my apartment set up. We cleaned, painted and bought supplies. I can't thank them enough for all of their help. The second week we worked in San Ignacio, which is a small town just up the road from La Palma. Much of the same work went on in San Ignacio. In those two weeks there were a few baptisms and 2 weddings! Also, the second week, I worked with my friend Laurie Hammer to visit each and every child in our sponsorship program to get their picture, updated information and find out any needs they have. I think there are over 80 kids so that was a huge task! We also got to hand out gifts to some of the children from their sponsors. That is always so sweet to take part in! One of the things I decided to take on while here is helping with the scholarship program and the sponsorship program. We rely on sponsors in the U.S. to make these programs successful. We needed updated information and more organized ways of keeping up with this. In the States, Lenaira Day works with the La Palma Christian School scholarship program and Laurie Hammer works with the health and wellness sponsorship program. I volunteered to help from this end by keeping up with the health and activities of the kids, keeping photos updated, relaying any medical or family issues and taking kids to the dentist. This is a huge task but luckily for me, I am working with two of the best and we are figuring out better ways of communication and organization. THE highlight of week 2 was seeing one of the sponsors meet his sponsor child for the very first time. I love this part of my job!! 

So, week 3 in El Salvador was not quite as exciting as the first two. I settled into my apartment, which is on the site of the church and Christian school. Here I am, for the first time in a foreign country alone. I did get to bring my sweet dog Marley though.  I have lived in 2 other foreign countries...but not by myself. The first week in my apartment, I spent a lot of time just unpacking, organizing and shopping for the things I still needed. I even went on a fairly long bus ride with a local friend to a town where there were better stores to find the last few things I needed and some groceries not found here. By the weekend, I was feeling incredibly lonely and inadequate for the year ahead. It hit me hard, all at once. I think I had at least 3-4 pretty long crying spells that day. It was pretty horrible and I doubt that will be the last really bad day. I talked to a couple people from home. I had a network of people on my side. That made me feel so much better, but it also made me want to be back home having fun with them. I wanted to go out with friends and family, eat familiar foods, laugh, etc. It seemed like it was going to be an eternity before any of that would happen and I felt guilty for feeling that way. So, I tried to think of all the ways I was going to be useful here. That just left me feeling inadequate! Lol. It was a vicious cycle. I felt almost panicked. I just prayed, listened to some music on KLove, received messages from dear friends. I made it through the day and evening. I have had several moments since, but none as intense as that day. I have often wondered what God is up to. He took a girl prone to loneliness and depression, and called her to a land far away to work, not alone...but without people from her own country who would understand her language and her bad days. I am determined to be obedient. I ask that if I every cross your mind, shoot me a note or a message! I am probably needing to hear something from you! 

Week 4 was much better. I got out more and visited some of our sponsor kids. I also accompanied some of the local preachers to a mountain village to visit with the families there who are members of the church and who have children in our program. It was a pretty intense hike! These families have nothing and hike close to 2 hours to get to church. They are so incredibly happy and grateful when people show up for visits. We visited 3 homes and had bible studies in each home. That is pretty common here. Each family greeted us with great love and open arms. I admire the preachers and young people who dedicate several days a week to visiting these remote villages. It has become one of my favorite things to do. I love going to homes. 

Week 5 was full of visits, visits in the mountains, a trip to Honduras, a couple of dentist appointments and preparing for another group to arrive. Ending week 4, a local friend invited me to accompany her and her mom to lunch in Honduras, 20 minutes or so away. We just went by bus and crossed the border on foot and headed to a hotel for lunch. It was a nice little excursion. I got to visit homes again. This time we went to the mountain village of Chuntrum. We have many sponsor kids in this village.

Instead of going house to house, one family had everyone come to their home for a study at their home. There was quite a crowd there. At the end they served us coffee and cookies. Now, mind you, these people struggle to put food on the table every day for their families and they provided coffee and a cookie for everyone. I wasn't sure the coffee was made with purified water, and I wasn't sure if it had been boiled or not so I drank it really fast. Because, you know, everyone knows if you drink it really fast you won't get sick! :-) Just kidding. But I wasn't going to turn down a cup of coffee offered by a super grateful family. I love the people of this little village. This is where we built a house in December and installed the 2 liter solar light. I will do a separate about the dentist experience from week 5. It was really awesome! The last thing I will write about week 5 was my "never say never" experience. As many of you know, I quit my teaching job in order to have this opportunity. One thing I said when I closed that teacher door is that I would "never" teach again...and I was NOT going to get roped into teaching English! Well, on Friday of week 5, the local preachers called me into a meeting. They had something to talk to me about. Well, as it turns out, they are starting a bible institute. There will initially be 4 students. It is a 2 year program. They wanted to incorporate English and computers. So.........ya......they asked me if I would be willing to teach English! I couldn't turn them down. I didn't even think about it. I am excited about the opportunity! It is only one day a week for 2 hours. I can handle that! So, it looks like I am a "classroom" teacher again afterall! So, week 5 was pretty amazing.

Week 6! Ok, I'm not going to lie. I was super excited, and ready, to have another group coming from the U.S. I wanted to speak English, have casual conversations without effort, hear stories I can relate to, meet new people, have some familiar snacks and get some things I had ordered! So, last Friday night I got my bag packed and headed out Saturday morning to catch the bus that was picking them up at the airport, about 3 hours away. Marley went along with me. The group was mostly from DeSoto county, Mississippi, where I used to live so that was an extra bonus! There were only 2 people in the whole group that I had met on previous trips. We worked in a town called Citala. We visited homes, had a VBS and and evening bible studies. I helped translate the whole week. They were a great group. To say that I feel spoiled at this point is an understatement. I had ordered a few things, including a 2nd pair of Chacos (the shoe every traveler, hiker, etc should have), a new camera to replace my broken one, some velcro, etc. I would have been completely happy just getting those things. Mind you, I had to have these shipped to someone I didn't know. We friended on FB and many messages were exchanged regarding her sponsor child and my things being shipped to her house. I was in for a HUGE surprise when they all got here. A very good friend of mine sent 3 packages that were sealed shut. One said "open Oct. 31st" (halloween), another said "open November 27th" (Thanksgiving) and the last said, "open on a day you are feeling blue." Really?? Who can be so thoughtful. You have no idea how excited I am about these packages. You see, she knows me. She comes here regularly. I work with her in the children's programs, she listens, she is compassionate and caring. Not only did she send those, but she sent me a cotton blanket, mouse traps and other things she knew I needed just because she read into every conversation we had. She paid attention to every message we exchanged. I was in tears when I saw this stuff. To top it all off, someone else from the group, a person I had never met before, friended me on FB before the trip and paid attention to every post I made and asked me to list some snacks I would like to have. I did not realize she was paying attention to my FB posts as closely as she was. When they arrived she had made sure I had quinoa, peanut butter, essential oils to make bug repellent, etc. I was blown away. It felt like the biggest Christmas ever. And I still have those 3 packages to open. I couldn't ask for more. I wouldn't ask for more. I received things I didn't even think about asking for. I didn't deserve all of this. I hope I can, in some small way, be as thoughtful and helpful as these people. Showing kindness when they didn't even know I was missing home really bad. You just never know how far your kindness will go. Don't hold back. There were many highlights to the week, including yet again, introducing new sponsors to their sponsor child. I can't express enough how blessed I feel, even though I am probably at the peak of culture shock and missing home. Having a group here for a week kind of kept me on the roller coaster of being excited at ease of friendship and communication, then missing home and all things familiar when they leave. But, I am happy I got to meet new people again. People who share the same love and compassion I feel for the people of El Salvador. People I will have lifetime friendships with. 

This is a long blog post. I apologize for that. Now that I have this all set up and no more groups are coming for a while, I plan to have more frequent updates and other posts that are just nuggets of life in El Salvador. You may see posts about mice, critters, sweat, dirt, blessings, poverty, paint bucket washing machines :-), recycled bottle projects, the adventures of Marley, etc. Thank you for stopping by today to share in my life! Thank you for supporting me, loving me and encouraging me. Although I am here without a team of people of my own culture and tongue, I know I am not here alone. Please leave comments, messages and emails as you think of me. If there is anything in particular you would like me to write about, let me know in the comments below! I will do my best to do a post for you! Pray for me. I am praying for you!

Love from El Salvador, 

Kristi