I’m back! If you did not know, I just spent the past two weeks in Central America. and it was every bit of awesome. I spent a week in Nicaragua, rode a bus to El Salvador, and finished the trip up there. Here’s a post to just share a few of the things we did in the second leg of the race.
The El Salvador part of our trip was a lot different. It consisted of a lot more English, sign language, meetings, and restaurants. On Monday, we went to Chinandega, Nicaragua to board a bus to San Salvador, ES. We saw it stop, grabbed our bags, walked towards it, but then it left! We threw our stuff back in the truck and chased after it. Honking the horn, we alternated between driving behind it and beside it. It was like a movie! Eventually, the bus pulled over, checked our bags, and we were soon seated for the 10 hour drive.
We got there late, but, luckily, we had nothing planned the next day. We took in a lunch, took George to the dentist, and enjoyed the day. We did a few other things, but the biggest thing in the beginning was our trip to the Mayan ruins. I thought it was weird for the Mayans to be in El Salvador, but that’s what they claimed!
The next big thing was our trip to the deaf school. We did a few songs, and everyone participated. It was reassuring to see the deaf understand our music and enjoy the company. It was funny how the talk went though because George spoke English, Jorge translated into Spanish, and then another girl translated into ASL. It was very effective, and I loved watching it unfold. The kids also loved the donuts and soda we brought along.
While we were in El Salvador, we met up with a group of Global Year kids. All newly graduates of high school, they have devoted their first year to living in ES. It was funny to go all the way there and still end up with people from Georgia. They learned a few of our songs, and George shared a few talks with them. It was nice to build some friendships with them, and they were a huge help in setting up our glow night. We had been talking about it all week, but we had to rent black-lights to make sure it was the most effective. While we were at it, we also grabbed a few light lasers. The night was successful, and you can see the pictures I took and a video someone made below:
The next 2 days after our glow night were filled with youth services, practices, and get-togethers’. We had a performance Sunday morning where we got to try out the Spanish version of Hillsong’s “Stronger.” It’s getting better, and we expect it to be a usual in our current lineup. After the service, we had dinner with a family, and I got to see my very first “Day of the Dead.” The cemetery was packed, and I still cannot fathom the extremities that some people went to to honor the deceased.
As we finished our busy week of services and practices, we decided to end it with one more project. We drove to Cojutepeque to work with another deaf school. We performed about 4 songs and gave out tons of snacks. The kids there were very uplifting as you could just feel the joy coming off of them. I showed a few of them their pictures, and it wasn’t long until every kid wanted a picture of themselves. It was definitely a highlight of my time In El Salvador.
I wish I could give every single detail of the past two weeks, but it would simply be too much. The whole trip was phenomenal, and I’m so happy I got to live it.
Watchmysign 