Welcome to El Salvador!

We arrived without issue a few days ago to the El Salvador airport outside of the capital city, San Salvador. We decided to come a few days early to see a little bit of a new country and experience a different culture. Yesterday we visited the National Anthropology Museum as well as the Museum of Modern Art.

We have found the food to be excellent and the people to be extremely gracious and helpful. We have been generally able to communicate with our limited Spanish and their limited English. Hotel staff speak fairly fluent English; however, this is not the case in the general population.

This morning we were able to meet our preceptor, Dr. Earl Rogers, for breakfast and discuss our work to come. He encouraged us to see the country and enjoy a day before beginning some long and hard, yet, rewarding work.

Later, we took a taxi ride with driver, Romeo, to El Boquerón (literal translation to “Wide Mouth”) a volcano and national park. It was approximately a 40-minute drive from the city ending with a steep climb to the rim of the crater. The park was lush and beautiful with flowers and vegetation. We saw hummingbirds and butterflies on our trek to the top.

We found the crater surprisingly symmetric, steep, and preserved. Romeo informed us that the last eruption was in 1917, and although the country boasts 12 volcanoes only two remain active.

After the exciting stop at the volcano, Romeo drove us to Joya de Cerén, a recently discovered (1970’s) anthropological site exemplifying Mesoamerican culture and life around the 6^th century. It was buried by volcanic ash and rock, but rediscovered in the 1970’s by a bulldozing project! Today the World Heritage Convention through the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization protects this site. The intricacy of the construction and the seemingly advanced techniques and artifacts were fascinating.

Although we saw both interesting as well as beautiful sites today, our travels also exposed us to the great poverty that this nation experiences. Some of the most unsettling or difficult visions were of starving animals (dogs, cows, horses), dilapidated and unsanitary living conditions, as well as many people walking, sitting, and living just on the road-side on the way up to the volcano. Homes are primarily made out of scraps of metal, plastic, and wood. We were ultimately left feeling although the country is full of beauty and rich history, it is clear why we are here to help, and there are many challenges this population faces for the future.