Traveling Far

Another season, another country and another long travel day by Focal Point Aid. After 10 hours of travel (half the time it took us to complete our first plane ride to South Africa) we are sitting comfortably in the Perkin Lenca Hotel De Montana tucked away in the mountains of Perquin somewhere near the El Salvador-Honduras Border. The first sign that El Salvador is not exactly a hot spot for vacation travel was while we were riding on the airplane...it was less than half filled and we were the only native english speakers on the flight. We found amusement watching the airline staff dilligently call out each row for boarding even though though their were only a dozen people waiting to get on. It certainly made for a pleasant flight. The flight went smoothly, Immigration went smoothly, Customs went smoothly, then we tried to pick up our rental car. Start with a language barrier plus the standard rigamorole of rental companies, then add 100 degrees in the shade and our good mood was put to the test. But we were finally here and we left San Salvador with our air conditioned car, malaria pills and a large stock of bottled water.

The impressions of El Salvador change with each town and village we pass on The Pan Americana highway. It has been 16 years since the 1992 peace accords officially marked the end of the war here, but you can't avoid the remnants of the damage that the war has left behind. There is a permanent feel of temporary in most of the areas we pass. In the last 15 years, El Salvador has had many setbacks in their post war developement. Mudslides, hurricanes and earthquakes have left much of the region moving from temporary home to temporary home. El Salvador has more seismic activity than any country in the region (because of this fact, the area around San Salvador has been called the "Valle de la hamaca" , the Valley of the Hammock). Some are just tremors, but some are large and dibilitating disasters like the ones in 1986 or 2001. Now former aid camps and refugee villages have been turned into towns of run-down huts or alluminum sheets propped up to make shelters and endless piles of wood that used to be somebody's home.

Along the way, we passed a few urban centers with storefronts and market places. The road between was packed with roadside stands selling papayas or plantains. One unfortunate trend we witnessed was the trash. The infrastructure of El Salvador still hasn't figured out how to dispose of garbage. It has ended up in piles on front lawns or lining the roadside. Development has made its mark however and there is a strong workforce, something of a transportation system and the endless advertisements painted every few feet along the highway.

As we expected, the feel of El Salvador changes drastically as you get into the mountains. The province of Morazan is in the northeast corner of the country and is known for its beauty, agriculture and its place as a guerilla stronghold during the war. Many people have first hand stories about their recent history and we look forward this week to learning as much as we can about the cultures that have repopulated the region.

One final note about our trip here before we begin. It is the rainy season here and as we drive into the hotel and meet up with our hosts, it is pouring down buckets of rain. We expect rain every day while we are here, but usually only at night. Thanks to Ron Brenneman, his family and his staff at the hotel and his school for their welcoming us into their world. We expect a productive week here and hope you all back home enjoy our dispatches.