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What a whirlwind of a week...

So, I arrived in San Salvador, El Salvador on Tuesday afternoon and was picked up by a PRESANCA employee. (I gotta say: the whole strolling-out-of-the-airport-and-seeing-a-stranger-holding-a-placard-with-your-name-on-it scene was rather anti-climactic if I do say so myself) This was probably due to the fact that besides the deliciously sticky 95 degree tropical thunderstorm going on, about 2 dozen OTHER people were holding up placards among the couple hundred anxious faces of family and friends waiting just beyond the doorway. Regardless, I finally found my name and headed to la mancomunidad de PRESANCA to meet some of the ElSal staff. Later on, I finally made it to the hotel which was gorgeous...it had a living room, full kitchen, full shower, queen size bed, flat screen TV and a view of the historic San Salvador volcano. 

View of the San Salvador volcano from my hotel room

In the morning, at the Real Intercontinental San Salvador Hotel (beautiful hotel, kinda reminded me of a Four Seasons) there was a Health & Environmental Awareness Conference that PRESANCA presented at. Big names in environmental policy from all over Central America were there....and I was horribly underdressed! But, it was all good. Then that afternoon, we drove out to Honduras to the city of Ocotepeque. $3, a signature and a stamp in the 'ole pasaporte and that was all it took...easy enough :)   

[Now, I'll briefly detail my one-night experience Hondo. I was initially pleased with my bellman's zealousness and desire to go above and beyond...but after the 3rd time of coming to my room with towels, soap and pillows (of which I already had), sitting on my bed, asking about my travel plans and if I was alone, I started feeling quite wary. Call me paranoid but I decided to stack all my hotel room furniture in front of the door. I mean, really, just in case 'creeper-man' found his way to my room for the 4th time later on in the night. Pero, todo esta bien, nothing happened but, needless to say, I was happy to be out of that room.]
 

I conquered the hike...and only slipped twice :)

Today was off to the wild blue yonder and into Guatemala! (Another stamp in my passport, YAY!!!) Anyway, we did some CRAZY driving around and around the enormous mountains of Honduras and Guatemala. What seemed like a drive that lasted forever, I found myself in a truck that was literally adding passengers with every stop along the route. When we reached our destination, along with myself there were 6 people in the cab and 7 in the back. Yep! I was in THAT truck *sigh* Again, incorrectly dressed for the occasion, me and my silvers sandals started the half hour walk up the rest of the mountain. The team and I then assessed the progress of a small health center being constructed for a community of about 100 who live out there.

Children from a mountain community in Olapa, Guatemala

So, we left about 2 hours ago and now I'm relaxing in my third hotel room of the week... this place is super cute!!!! 2 pools, a view of the mountains in the distance, tropical plants everywhere, and the music styling of 3 parrots who will repeat literally anything you say!

A quick snapshot of the pool area at the hotel in Esquipula, Guatemala

Anyway, that's that for now, a lot to go over but I guess the only thing is the spanish overload! Seriously, its a lot to take in and sometimes my brain can't handle conjugating any more verbs so I just stop listening. But, in just 2 days, I can tell I'm more easily understanding conversations so, as they say poco a poco or, little by little I'll get there.

So, I was bouncing around the truck as we made our way down to the city and I realized that I would have slept in 4 different countries in 4 days. From my home in the US on Tuesday to ElSal on Wednesday,  Hondo on Thursday and Guate tomorrow morning, I'd say I've had a pretty productive week....despite the fact that I haven't actually DONE anything. 

Tomorrow starts the real work: I'll be itemizing the strategies of all 3 countries' SAN policies (Politicas de Seguridad de Alimentario y Nutricion: Health & Nutrition Security Policies), the laws put in place to enforce them and the current gaps in the actual progress. At least I have a beautiful pool to sit beside to read five 30-page documents tomorrow :) That's all for now, my friends. Cuidate, take care!