Rewind....

I apologize to all because I have been terrible about keeping up to date with my blog....Let me see if I can review noteworthy events that have happened in the last month.  My dear friend Tiffany came to visit and we met in Copan where we were able to enjoy the ruins and catch up on what has been happening in the last few years. I hadn't seen Tiffany since we graduated with our Bachelor's in 2008. She came back with me to Gracias and was awesome, teaching my kiddos how to make snowflakes and reading stories to them. They adored her. We went to a futbol game but didn't stay long because there was absolutely nowhere to sit. Also, the crowd was a little strange because they were practically silent until a goal was almost made. Not quite what I had pictured for a soccer game in a Latin country. The next day we went to a nearby town called La Campa. Though the town was beautiful it felt like something much out of a horror movie because of the lack of the people. We saw maybe 5 people in the whole town. There was some very cool pottery and bought some fun things to take home back to the states. Bright and early Sunday morning Tiffany had to leave and we said our "see you laters" knowing that our paths will cross again someday.
Later that day, teachers from Minerva and the other bilingual school, plus a few missionaries all gathered together for a Thanksgiving meal. I have truly never been so grateful for so many things in my life. It was a gathering of awesome food and even more awesome food. It will definitely be a Thanksgiving to remember!
A story that I must include but can't remember when it actually happened was a few weeks ago when I was sitting on our patio, enjoying my usual breakfast of corn flakes and waiting to skype when I hear a very loud pop! pop! pop! and see sparks shooting out. My first thought was gun shots but quickly realized that it was one of the cables that runs ridiculously close to our house.  When I say close I mean  perhaps 3 feet from our railing. The internet goes out instantly as well as the lights. I continue eating and then 3 more pops! and more sparks. I continued to sit there eating until I hear our neighbor shouting "fuego! fuego! fuego!" I run to the railing and see 2 small fires on the wires. My first and only thought was to grab water....I know many of you are thinking water is a terrible idea because it was an electrical fire.....irregardless we had nothing else to put out the fire with and yes the water worked and I am clearly still alive to tell this tale. Never a dull moment in Gracias.

On to Jenna and Kristin take on El Salvador.... After leaving Wednesday after school and arriving to our final destination Thursday about 8 pm we were more than thrilled to be stationary for a bit. (We did stay the night at a border town) After setting our things doing and preparing ourselves to explore the town for some food we leave our room to find some English speaking people hanging out in the patio area. They offered us a beer and we knew we had made some immediate friends. We had perhaps one of the most memorable Thanksgiving dinners either of us will ever experience. Our make shift El Salvodorean family consisted of a couple from Australia, 2 men from LA, and a half El Salvodorean. We enjoyed our meal immensely and of course indulged in some pie, it was Thanksgiving after all. The next day we went on a waterfall tour where it was Jenna, myself, our tour guide Duglas, and his 5 dogs. We were out in pristine nature where it appeared that only few tend to travel. We were hiking in and out of the river and waterfalls, where we actually had to repel ourselves down the waterfall. It was such an incredible experience! We were then able to sunbathe in the base of a waterfall, yup couldn't imagine a better trip. We explored the town and even had a little lounge time before hitting the night market and rabbit tacos in a nearby town. Saturday, we spent hitting the market in Juajua and found some good steals. With our bags and goodies loaded we headed to La Palma, a super adorable town much closer to the border of Honduras. Sunday we were able to check the bright colorful murals painted all over the town and check out all the artisan shops. After one last zapote licuado, we headed back home to Gracias. We had a blast on our trip and are very much in love with El Salvador!