Day 1, we arrived in El Salvador Safe and Sound

Despite an early morning, and a connecting flight in Miami, we finally arrived in El Salvador.  We were all bright eyed and bushy tailed, and all of this before 5:30AM at O'Hare.  No issues with the flight out, and then we transferred flights out of Miami.  Once we landed then in El Salvador, no one was flagged for a "random" bag search or anything, luck was on our side.

Tired, now in El Salvador, we rode together in a van/bus to San Salvador for a great lunch with a great view.

 

After lunch, we were able to stop in to a local supermarcado, to pick up some snacks, drinks, and anything else we would need before we move into a much more rural area, a few hour ride from San Salvador.  Most of us picked up water and other basic essentials, because we can not drink the water here.  It will most likely prove to be a tough habit to break, especially when brushing our teeth.  It is funny what we take for granted back home.

Mark Flory, the flower pictures have begun

Now that we are all settled in to our hotel rooms, we met up and outlined our schedule for the rest of the week, as well as some ground rules.  Tomorrow we will meet Bishop Gomez, attend church at Resurrection Lutheran, and travel on our long trip to the rural area where we will be working, called Ahuachapán.

For dinner tonight, we ate a traditional San Salvadorian dinner at a place known for Papusas.

 This was what we all had to eat, consisting of... Papusa, Yucca Fritter, Fried Plantain, Tamale, and a mini Enchilada.

Everyone is so very tired from an early start today, all the traveling, and the expected early start tomorrow.

We are all looking forward to seeing what true generosity looks like with the people here, and to share together in a great adventure.