The start of our new life

The 6 boys from Casa Concordia loaded our 8 suit cases into the pickup truck, jumped in the back, and we were off to our new digs. We arrived 20 minutes later just outside San Salvador in Mejicanos, were greeted by Margarita, her university son Omar, and another student Casey is from New Mexico and is working on his Ph.D. in the political science and international relations of El Salvador. Most conversations are in Spanish and Casey is bilingual.

Our bedroom is on the second floor of the guest house (tiny but comfy) located in the back courtyard, with complete (cold water only) shower/toilet facility, meals and house keeping provided. It takes 4 keys to enter the house from the street to our room in the back court yard. The first door is the street door into the garage area, the second is the door from the garage into the home, the third is for the patio door and the fourth is into our room. Yet the neighborhood is safe. A large shopping plaza is two blocks away. There is a beautiful soccer/futbol field close that is used for many games happening at one time, and for national teams to use for competitions. In the early morning, it is used by walkers, joggers, runners and exercisers.

The side walk by the soccer field is filled with street-vendors selling food, clothing and house hold items. We are warned never to eat from these places since the food items lack proper storage practices. Some street vendors sell vegetables grown in the city along the river banks. The rivers receive all the city sewage and the growers water the plants with the river water. However local grocers have high quality fruits and vegetables to purchase.

We both sleep well, the street is much quieter than Casa Concordia, but we awake to our new alarm clock, the neighbor’s rooster.