Yesterday morning we ate early and boarded the two vans for San Salvador, where Salvador's home church, CCI, meets in the large ballroom of a Holiday Inn. There was wonderful music, which we sang in Spanglish, and the message was delivered to us by a Kansan who translated into our wireless headsets. His voice was like the announcer on the 18th green of the Masters, and began to put me to sleep, but the preacher (with Latin preacher hair and all) was quite animated, and preached a powerful message about being open to God's promptings.
After church we stopped at a pharmacia to replenish our immodium supplies before going to a Pizza Hut at a large upscale mall. It was the largest PH I've ever seen, with seating for about 250, and packed
because of the World Cup game on the monitors. We ate way too much, and the lemonade managed to "revenge" those who weren't already afflicted. Misery loves company.....
We then visited an artisan's market, where there was some serious shopping going on. I managed to find a decorating gift for my lovely wife, who I've missed very much, and a small practical item for my son. No spoiler here.....
After the market, we drove to the large volcano overlooking San Salvador and hiked to the top. It was so amazing, with the wind blowing the clouds through the crater, giving us occasional glimpses of the crater floor and the city below outside. It's a rain forest, so the plant life was gorgeous. The last major eruption there was in 1917. My Pathfinder watch said we were at about 5,700'.
The the group divided mostly by age (I was the exception) and we young ones went zip-lining, while the seniors went back to Salvador's home to relax. The experience was way more exciting than the one we did last year in Costa Rica, with longer, faster runs down the mountain. Everyone survived, and we have lots of pictures and video to eventually share when we have more bandwidth. I was so grateful for my rain jacket.
As I write this, we're in our second day of heavy downpour from TS Alex, so there is probably flooding in El Tunco and San Alphonso again. We're holed up until 10am when a small group is going to Remar orphanage to work with the children, while the rest of us begin preparation to make repairs to the roof of home nearby. Most of us haven't surfed since Friday, so we are getting a little itchy for a paddle-out. We'll see.
Last evening our pre-devotional dinner was delivered fried chicken, fries, and cole slaw. Delicious!
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