EXPERIENTIAL FIRST:

The bus system had been a complete mystery to us. However on our first day of classes we took the bus to and from school. We now have used 5 different routes to get around San Salvador. It is important to plan ahead when riding the bus to have a couple of dollars to hand over if robbed and to only carry necessary money.
The bus trip from downtown San Salvador was a missed photo opportunity with narrow one-way streets filled with vendors and buyers. The driver maneuvered through tightly crowded passages as night fell. We returned home much later than planned.

We experienced our first earthquake last week. The tremor was long and hard. Everything shook, especially us. The internet reported the center just off the coast of Sonsonate 40 miles away as 5.9 on the scale. All of San Salvador felt the quake.

Having legal identification in your possession is crucial. Yet with the risk of robbery carrying your passport seems irresponsible. Recently police stopped our van as we returned to the city from our rural community. Nancy did not have her passport but our Salvadoran friends in the van clarified our status. We were allowed to continue, but now that we travel alone we make sure that we can prove that we are legal immigrants. Nancy could have been taken into custody.

The black rain has begun. The sugar cane fields are burned before the men cut the stalks and load the flat bed trucks with mountains of sugar cane. The cane stalk is dry, over ten feet tall and highly combustible. With the strike of a torch, the field becomes an intensive inferno with the flames spreading faster than a man, woman or child can run. The black powdery ash rises thousands of feet into the air, travels many miles and rains down when it starts to cool. Last weekend our city neighborhood was “rained” on and the season is just starting.

Our first Thanksgiving Day in ES was different. School and homework as usual, with a special dinner of beef roast stuffed with vegetables, mashed potatoes, spicy avocado salad, and rolls; very delicious and celebrated with our host family.

The rooster: Each neighborhood has a rooster that should be eaten. Our rooster is just one yard away. He begins his morning call at 3 am and continues at intervals until 1 pm. Nancy has a theory that the rooster knows everyone’s name. Each call by Mr. Rooster is directed to an individual by name. My wake up comes at 5:45 - Nancy’s comes at 6:15.

It has been a good second week of our lives here. We look forward to the next.