Step One - Barbed Wire and Guns

Hi guys!!

Ok, so we know a lot of you have been clamoring for a blog already, but when we first got here, we had a lot of traveling to do right off the bat, and we doubted that any of you really wanted to read about planes and buses and borders (although the border swine flu checks are mildly interesting). Now, though, we have a few things under our belts (that´s what she said) so we´re ready to talk!

First things first, Steph's mission to get Johanne thoroughly out of her element has been a success. The barbed wire atop most fences and armed guards at the entrances of many buildings has really thrown her for a loop, but she seems to be adjusting well. When people get on buses with/attempt to sell us machetes, she barely even flinches anymore, which is definitely a good sign!!

As for our adventures, you'll be glad to hear that, so far, we haven't done anything stupid. On Friday, we went to Parque Nacional Cerro Verde. It's about an hour and a half away from Santa Ana, where we were staying and the drive down was interesting to say the least... people don't seem to enjoy slowing down, looking where they are driving, or avoiding major potholes - not even on a windy, uphill road. Oh well, we got there alive in the end. The park is surrounded by three volcanoes - Santa Ana, Izalco, and Cerro Verde - and we were able to get a good view of all three. Most of our day was also spent in a cloud, which was pretty cool... the cloud would drift in and out of the clearing where we were and, accordingly, the weather was either really hot (no cloud) or really cold (cloud!). As we were waiting for the bus to bring us back to Santa Ana (it was arriving in a mere 3 hours), we met Luis, a Salvadorean who now lives in the States and was home for a visit. He offered to drive us back to Santa Ana and show us some sights on the way. As he was accompanying a group of school girls, we didn't feel too threatened by him, so we agreed. On the way home, he took us to Bello Campo, a collection of "igloos" to rent. They were obivously made of brick, not ice, but whatever, they were cool.

Then, he took us to see Lago de Coatepeque... To get the best view of the lake (i.e. right next to it) we had to trespass on someone's property. Luis assured us that he knew the cousin of the sister of the caretaker and that the owners only came there on weekends, so we just went along with it. The lake was very pretty but, seeing as we were afraid of being chased out of there by gun-toting Salvadoreans, we didn't object when we left after only a short visit. On our way out, many of the school girls took the opportunity to stuff their pockets full of mangoes and coconuts which were falling off the trees...

We are now in San Salvador, where, yesterday, we got chased through the Craft Market by over-zealous shopkeepers who absolutely needed to show us every single item in their shop... of course, every shop has the same stuff, so this got really old, really fast. Today, while you all (apparently) sat around in cold weather, we went to Lago Ilopango, to sit on the beach, swim in the warm water and attempt to get some kind of base tan for our upcoming week on the beaches of Honduras! We failed, but we´re working on it...

Hope all is well at home, despite your being very cold (haha).

Steph and Jo