Our Schedule
00 Not too surprisingly for a trip to Latin America, there will be a lot of going-with-the-flow when we are in El Salvador. So, what follows is a *rough* outline of our plans (which I will update as we go):
Sat, May 17: Shortly before noon and with a hired van service, Rob (and Tio Lucio!) will meet the CFS group at the country's airport, just south of San Salvador. Once the group has picked up luggage and gone through customs (about 45 minutes), we'll pack the van with students and luggage. It is a pretty three-hour drive from the airport to Metapan and we will take large roads, avoiding the capital city. We'll get to Yesenia's grandma's (Mamita Mila) house in Metapan in the late afternoon and lay out our sleeping bags. Then we'll have time to relax and explore the immediate neighborhood. Saturday evening it's dinner at a local restaurant - Antojitos - followed by well-deserved sleep.
Sun, May 18: Around 4:00 in the afternoon friends from La Isla will pick the group up from Mamita Mila's to take us to La Isla. The ride to La Isla from Metapan is about 15-20 kilometers (9-12 miles) along even dirt roads. When we get there, students will be welcomed by the community and introduced to their host families. Everyone will go back to their new homes with the host families and spend the next several hours unpacking, getting to know the family and, in all likelihood, being fed pupusas. In the evening, we will convene as a group to check in and probably offer a short walking tour of La Isla so everyone can get oriented. Students will have dinner with their host families and, as will be the case most evenings, we will meet at Casa HQ (Rob's host family's place) and have a little check-in powwow. Bedtime after that.
Mon, May 19: At 7:00AM we will start construction on the playground sandbox in what is becoming a little central park for La Isla. Some of the house may also begin work on a house we will be building for a homeless guy in La Isla, Mauricio. As a general rule, we will work on our construction project 7:00 to noon daily, avoiding the sun at its worst. We will have lunch with our host families and afternoons will generally be open - play with host family kids, go to the river, play soccer, return to the worksite if we feel like it, go for a walk... whatever. Dinner with host families (usually around 7:00 these days as most host families are involved in an adult education program that goes from 5-7) and then a group pow-wow. Play it by ear after that but with hot sun, hard work and no day light savings time, I tend to be pretty tired by about 9:00.
Tuesday, May 20 - Friday, May 23: Weekdays will look a lot like Monday. One of the days we will come into Metapan for the afternoon.
