Samuel's Adventures: Friends, fun, pop, and REALLY red shoulders

That sums it up pretty well...

So yeah, we had a week of vacation. Most of El Salvador has vacation during the first week in August, meaning no schools, and few businesses are running.

A looong time ago, Jason Peachey had mentioned during a Skype talk that he might bring down some visitors. Neither of us were sure if it would happen, but it did! We found tickets and when it was all said and done, I greeted Jason, Randall, Andrea, Duane, Mary and little (and very cute!) Doran at the airport. (Don't mean I wasn't glad to see the others, but I wouldn't go so far as to call them cute. :) That would be a little weird.)

Anyway, they arrived on Wednesday afternoon (July 29) and got settled into their respective rooms with all kinds of geckos, mosquitoes, and beetles. Just ask the girls about all their creepy-crawly friends.

Thursday they sat in my school room for a while, then the guys got started tearing down an old outhouse. All my little boys were glad to help with that as well! If you ask my kids if they want to study or swing a hammer, the hammer will win pretty much every time.

On Friday we had the spelling competition. And then after that, all the kids went home and vacation had officially started! We celebrated by drinking a lot of pop (soda, whatever) out of glass bottles and just lounging around and playing games. And we tried to do at least a little work each day as well so we wouldn't appear to be too lazy.

On Saturday morning we traveled to Texistepeque to visit our old high school teacher, Daniel Lapp. We had two cars (it was cheaper than renting a van, long story) so I asked Duane if he would drive the other car. I think he had a bit too much fun, since there are pretty much no limits to the driving down here except the limit of not wrecking the vehicle! Upon arrival, Daniel's gave us a tour of their new home and then afterwards took us, along with three Faith students who were there with their daughter Rachel, to Metapán to do some sight-seeing and shopping. Some of us ended up buying hammocks and other souvenirs. Then we came home, ate pupusas, drank more pop, and played a game or two of Settlers.

Sunday. Church day. Or not-understanding-one-single-word day. Some wished they would have brought books or something. Won't say who. :) Then, badumbadumbadum, it was time to go to the beach! After we made sure (or thought) we had all our necessary belongings including the boogie boards, games, and pop or course, we were off--without the most important thing to take to the beach. SUNSCREEN! The lack of that played a big role in the latter part of this post's title. :)

But yeah, the beach was nice. Amazing, in fact! True, you don't get to experience much genuine culture at the beach, but... it was fun! And relaxing...

And yes we got sunburns. Much of the time during the day was spent out in the waves or in the swimming pool in our back yard. So much sun + much water = very much red. Just ask Jason!

The rest of the time we spent making meals and eating them, playing LOTS of games of which Duane won most, talking about almost everything, and making AJ (Austin Beiler) jealous over Skype during his free time at Bald Eagle Boys Camp. Poor guy.

The second night at the beach we went outside to light a Chinese lantern. We were all standing around trying to get the thing lighted in spite of the breeze when Edwin, the manager of the house, told us to come and see something. He showed us a large sea turtle in the process of laying eggs and covering them over. After it was satisfied with the job, it wandered off again into the ocean. We were all amazed at being able to see something like that and not even in a zoo!

Oh and I ran straight into our screen door never realizing it was closed. They said I was running and then I stopped in my tracks and sorta bounced back into the air. Randall about was running low on oxygen after that incident...

On Tuesday night we started home, again with Duane driving one car and me the other. We had planned on arriving back home before dark, but due to a massive traffic jam it got dark before we even reached San Salvador. Duane and I had no way to communicate, so I'm not sure what would have happened had I lost him in the sea of cars. But thanks to God's protection, we were able to stay together and arrive safely home.

The very next morning at four we all got up to take Duane and Mary to the airport. I wished they could have stayed longer, but I'm thankful they were able to stay as long as they did!

Throughout the rest of the week, we continued our schedule of working some in the morning and then relaxing with a cold drink when it got hot. Thursday afternoon we took a break and hiked up a volcano called El Boquerón, to see the crater and eat pupusas at a very nice place on the side of the volcano overlooking the whole city of San Salvador. Oh and the food is always delicious as well! They make the best pupusas in Central America--huge and with cheese all over the place. Not Central America, the pupusas. Never mind...

I should maybe back up a bit to include a funny Jason comment. On the way down from the volcano, we encountered some squirrels high up in some trees. Jason sees the squirrels and immediately wonders "I wonder how squirrels travel without passports?". Don't ask me which nook (or cranny) he pulled that out of.

Friday we worked long and hard to finally finish our week-long project so that we could have a free day on Saturday. Andrea gave us plenty of moral support by sitting on a blanket nearby, reading a book, getting a tan, and bringing us cold drinks. We couldn't have done it without you, Andrea!

Saturday was zzzzzzzzz day. And also some more drinking of pop and playing of games.

And just like that it was time for the rest to start packing. Sunday afternoon we went to the San Salvador guest house with Alvino and Edna Miller who so nicely came and brought us due to our lack of transportation. We stayed there for the night, ate some very good Chinese food that evening (which we shared with everyone we could via photos so that they could feel included), then went with Alvino to the airport early Monday morning. And that was it! Later that same day I was back in school. It was a little tough getting back into it, but I made it.

Already looking forward to my next visitors! Hint: It's James and Alverda Weaver.