So I have been here in El Salvador for almost two months now and find out where I will be sent for my permanent post in just a little over a week! I have had so many touching, amazing experiences here so far and cant wait to experience more when I move to my site.
Last weekend we went to an amazing municipality called Ahuachapan to Barrio Santiago where there is a charming little hostel right on the beach. I went with 6 other PCV and we had a great time. The beach was gorgeous and we had it all to ourselves! We went body surfing, turtle watching at night and just an overall chill, fun time. I am continuously surprised by how different each part of El Salvador is. Two weekends ago I went to Morazan for an immersion day visit. There it was mountanious and filled with coffee plantations and pine trees. It reminded me a little of home with the pine trees and the air was so cool and fresh. I got to hike to a waterfall and visit a PCV who is in the end of his first year there. It was definitely an experience but overall a really great one. I learned a lot about the real life of a PCV and what the day to day activities are. Its not always glamarous but the people make it worth it. Every time I meet someone new or play with kids here, I am reminded again and again why I am here and why I ultimately want to do international development.
I am really excited to be going in three weeks to my site but also a little nervous. I dont know what the community will be like or where it will be. But I think the biggest thing is that I dont want to leave the host family I have in La Mascota. They have been overwhelmingly welcoming, warm and loving. I definitely feel like an adopted part of the family. Its not even just the host family I dont want to leave either - everyone in the community is just starting to get to know me and open up to me. I feel like I am leaving right when I am starting to settle in just a little and its frustrating - but it also gives me hope that in two months in my new site I will hopefully have connections and friends that I wont want to leave either and that will be great as well since I will be there for TWO years!!!
Overall, I feel (as most El Salvadoreans would say I believe) blessed to have been chosen to be a volunteer in El Salvador. Its an amazing country so far with so much history both recent and past and I still have so much to explore and discover.
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