First weekend trip home

Aye.....me = slacker.

So life has been a little crazy recently and I was super busy preparing for my trip home. Some of you know, others of you don't, but I was home in the states last weekend for my friend Nikki's wedding. The week before was busy, busy getting prepared for what I thought was going to be 3 days of a sub (I'll get to that later) and then I flew home last Thursday. I got into Chicago late Thursday night and then left Friday morning to drive to Iowa. The wedding was wonderful and so amazing to see some of my best friends. On Sunday, I drove back to Chicago to fly out at 6am Monday morning. It was definitely a whirlwind weekend and I was back in El Salvador before I knew it :)


All of us with our hair done in downtown Cedar Falls :)


Rehearsal Friday night.


Everyone all fancied up!

The biggest news is the terrible rains we have been having here. It started the Tuesday before I left and was getting steadily worse. I was able to fly out no problem but school for kids was actually cancelled on Thursday so I thought, great, one less day for the sub. Well while I was gone, I found out that the rains continued and got REALLY bad. The MINED (ministry of education) required all schools to close. We have still not started school since I have returned. I got back on Monday expecting to have to jump right back into things but have had some time to adjust. We have had to work some half days and I have started another 2-week masters class so have had that every day. It's not like I have just been sitting around doing nothing haha. It was a great weekend to go away though because I didn't miss any days of school and was planning to miss 3!

We will be back to work on Monday and I have next week of the Framingham master's class and then I will be finished with that. I had class all day today and then am running another race tomorrow morning. The other excitement is that I officially have a ticket home for Christmas and Jose is coming too!!! We will be home December 19th-December 31st so mark your calendars!

First trip with the American Society

So this weekend was a busy one. The end of the week turned out well and Friday I went out to dinner and then to bed early. Saturday was an all day trip to Suchitoto. A beautiful city in the north of the country and then Sunday was a day trip of kayaking on one of the estuaries down to the south beaches, so I was all over the country. :)

Saturday in Suchitoto was a trip with the American Society so it is organized through the embassy. We left around 8:30 from San Salvador and started in the town with a guided tour. We went in the church, wandered around the streets and stopped in some different art shops and old hotels. After our tour of the city, we went to a store that makes Indigo. The lady described the process of making it step-by-step. It was very interesting. From there, we went to lunch on a spot overlooking the lake. We had lunch and then went down to the lake for an hour long boat tour of the lake. It was relaxing and beautiful scenery. On the way back in, there was a big storm brewing up off to the distance that was getting closer and closer to us. There were big bolts of lightning coming down and we were out in the middle of this lake with a metal roof over us so we were a little scared but our guide didn't seem to be concerned so we continued on. After the boat trip, we headed back to the city and I eventually got home around 6:45. It was long day number 1 of the weekend.

The view on the boat in Suchitoto.


View from where we ate lunch.


The lady describing the indigo to us.


Here is the main church in Suchitoto.

On Sunday, we got up VERY early to go kayaking. Jose and I were in one kayak, Colleen and Gina in another and our friend Steve in another. It was a big group of about 15 kayaks. We paddled out for a few hours to an island and then hung out on the island for a few hours while the tides changed and then paddled back in to have some lunch. It was a great trip but Jose and I are not expert kayakers and were getting VERY frustrated because there were crazy currents pulling us all over the place and we couldn't stay straight. Then his paddle broke and we almost got pulled out to sea haha. We had to get towed in by one of the jet skis....it was a little embarrassing but essential. We would have been long gone!


Gina, Colleen, Steve, Me, and Jose

This week is off to a good start and on the downhill now. This weekend, no big plans but I'm sure I'll find something. Then only 3 days of school and I'm home. I'm super excited to come home but also a little stressed about missing 3 days of school. That means lots of planning and lots of things to prepare. I've only ever missed a half day...never even 1 full day! It will be so worth it though! Well hope everyone is doing well, miss you all!