Coast Photos (57)
San Salvador 1 (16)
Volcan Izalco (14)
San Salvador 2 (32)
It is tiny, and I bet most of you can't name one country that borders it with any amount of confidence (there are three that do). The only central American Country with only one coastline, El Salvador is often overlooked by the traveling crowd as having little to offer that would be that much different from everywhere else they have been, or everything else they have done. I was, admittedly, thinking about skipping over it in the mere interest of time, but thankfully I was saved from doing so.
Back in college I was part of Campus Crusade for Christ, and went on a missions trip to Mexico City my last year. Out of that experience I made some wonderful friends, one of which, Kristen, is working this year for Crusade in San Salvador, El Salvador. So I couldn't pass up the opportunity to meet up with her in Central America while passing through.
Just visiting Kristen would have been cool enough, but I was blessed with meeting the whole team of 4 guys and 6 girls from the States, another traveler/brother from North Carolina, as well as numerous Salvadorian amigos as well. It ended up being an awesome week, a huge blessing to me in my trip, and a ton of fun as well.
The Crusade stint team is working in ministry on various college campuses in El Salvador, committing at least a year to the project. Meeting up with them was a bit surreal, because they were the first familiar faces I have seen and the first group of people I have some sort of connection to back home since leaving 16 months ago (since my parents don't have Skype, I haven't even been able to see them). They are an awesome group, and I was glad that while I came to visit one friend, I left with so many more. I was only there just a short time, but I can't tell you how they encouraged me with their friendship. It was exactly what I needed at that point in my trip. They provided a place to stay, fellowship, and Abuelita, the guy's very sweet maid/cook that whips up some mean meals and does your laundry for you.
Some of the stinters at Hillsong...major fans.
Bean, Brenna, Jenna
Jeff, Trevor, Chepe, Bean
David was also staying there, a brother and traveler from North Carolina. He is traveling now down towards South America on a sort of Missions trip, which you can check out at http://salto-de-fe.blogspot.com/ if you want. We hung out a bit, being the two with no responsibilities, unlike the stinters.
David and I
Through the Stint Team and David, I was able to meet a handful of Salvadorians, which it was awesome to get to know them personally and learn about their culture and country. Since leaving Bolivia I haven't really been able to know people for that long, local or otherwise. So it was so a great time to be able to hang out with this group, which would be awesome to do anywhere, but was even cooler to do in El Salvador.
I was able to see some of the cities attractions while I was there, including Puerta del Diablo, a wonderful lookout point outside and above the city.
More of the Stint gang with some of their college friends, Puerta del Diablo.Top: Me, Jeff, Random dude to right
Middle: Chepe
Bottom: Kristen, Marijke, Student (sorry, don't remember the name), Jenna, and Marvin?
Photo Fun on Puerta del Diablo
David & Eli
Ei & I
The Buddah (Eli & David)
You know us now.
We headed out to the Pacific coast for some fun in the sun for a couple days, renting a beach house with a huge yard, its own pool, and right there on the beach. Needless to say, it was an awesome time soaking up some sun, playing on the beach, kayaking, running over Salvadorian rodents, and sipping on some coconuts while watching the sunset.
L - Me sipping a coconut
L - Jeff, Marijke, Chepe
R - David
L - David, Lauren, Eli
R - Me
L - Jeff and I
Blanca, Eli, Jeff, Me, and Lauren
One sunny Sunday, David, myself, and two Salvadorians headed out and climbed Volcan Izalco. It sits next to the beautiful Laguna Coatepeque, is surrounded by lush green landscape, and has views out to the coast and to volcanoes on the mainland. Izalco is active and barren, with some holes venting steam on the way up. A good day with good views, it was an enjoyable trip.
L& R - Both David
Me, David, David, and Juan Carlos
We also hung out in pupuserias, went to engagement parties, baked cakes, and most importantly, had an awesome time with it all.
L - Salvadorian Family
R - Street bum...I mean me...
David and I, making our cake
Eli helped too, and we made a pyramid. Thanks Stinters!
Tati, Eli, David, y Yo
I wished I could have stayed longer in El Salvador and spent more time with my gringo and Salvadorian family, but I am needing to get home (Mom and Dad are clapping). So thanks Kristen, Lauren, Brenna, Marijke, Bean, Jenna, Jeff, Chepe, Trevor, Brandon, Dave, Eli, Tati, Blanca, Victor, Chume, Juan Carlos, David, Pepe, Katerina, Claudia, and Hanna (y todos los otros que me olvide!). You all are awesome. Que Dios les bendiga y cuide!
of the Maya's expert stone carving. The complex art is found among step pyramids, altars, plazas, and a Mayan ball court, though much has been restored to counteract the relentless forces of nature that had reclaimed much of the original structures. The jungle growth has been tempered and cleaned up, but numerous trees can be found sprouting up through stone structures. Earthquakes caused the collapse of the ornamental stairway. The nearby river wandered over and washed away many secondary buildings and began in on the main complex, leaving a vertical 
cross section of the construction behind before being diverted by modern efforts. It is still evident, however, that Copán became an unusually affluent city by Mayan standards, coming a long way from the one-stone-structure town it started out as in the 9th century BC. Growing to perhaps 20,000 inhabitants, overpopulation may have led to its ultimate demise, though its people and its history remain mysterious, as do the Maya in general.
picture its large structures, painted brightly in colors that contrast distinctly with the surrounding jungle green, one enters a mysterious world where fact and fantasy become blurred. The ruins begin to come alive, and one can nearly hear, see, and smell an old scene. Slowly the crumbling rocks find their rightful places, thatched roofs and stands and other temporary structures appear, and the general chaos of any inhabited place becomes evident. Children play in the plazas, distractedly dodging chattering women and milling livestock. Smoke rises from the morning fires and wafts away into the clear morning. Men prepare for an intense ball game to be watched by the ruler of the city and his court, perched high upon his throne, the mob of commoners down below closer to the action, jeering and heckling.
the sounds and colors and smells of which still echo faintly amongst the invading jungle and dead stone piles. Who were these people who accomplished so much but disappeared so abruptly, leaving little behind to aid those who came to walk their grounds many hundreds of years later? It leads one to wonder if a similar fate could find our modern civilization. We consider ourselves far more advanced, but then the Maya were the accomplished people of their day, and whatever brought about their end, it is evident it cared little about the many accomplishments and wonders the 
Maya had wrought. Intricate stone carvings, large structures vainly painted, it all was slowly reclaimed by nature's unfaltering patience; what hadn't yet succumbed has only been temporarily protected, or rather, the process has merely been reduced. Might some modern historian or tourist wander throughout a future forest of steel and concrete and trees, trying to decipher just who we once were? It is a sobering thought, especially amongst the ruins of a long and lost civilization. 
