Trinity UPC & Friends El Salvador Delegation - Day 1

Trinity United & Southcentral Regional Partnership Delegation - Day 1
Travelling to El Salvador from Trinity United Presbyterian Church in Indianola are Margaret Blair, Betty and Maurice Dyer, Larry Lepper and myself, Denise Core. Also, joining us are two pastors exploring a partnership between multiple Presbyterian churches and a caserio of Berlin - Rev. Betty Sandy from Clifton Heights Presbyterian Church in Des Moines and Rev. Linda O'Connell from Lucas and Chariton First Presbyterian Churches.

Where to start... at the beginning of the day when we met at the airport for our 5:55 AM flight. Our pastor, Rev. Dave Endriss was there to send us off! Flights were uneventful and we even got breakfast on the flight from Houston to San Salvador.

We were traveling the streets of San Salvador by 1:15 PM after we were retrieved at the airport by our Presbytery's Mission co-worker Kathy Mahler, Alisha Lundberg, and driver Alfredo. Alisha, a member of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Des Moines, will be living at the Pastoral House for 10 months and teaching English in Berlin. She has a Masters of Social Work from the University of Iowa. And will be blogging about her experiences.

We dropped our luggage at the Los Pinos Guest House and change into our hot weather clothes since it was 90 + degrees (and 6 degrees below zero when we left Iowa). Our first stop was for history and scenery at Door of the Devil. A beautiful area named by the Spanish Catholics who opposed the religious practice of sacrifice rituals held in this area by the Mayan people. Then during the 1980's Civil War, the militia used it for massacres. Some of us hiked up uneven steps of stone to a high point where we could see the Pacific Ocean, Lake Ilopongo, San Vicente volcano, the village of Panchimalco and parts of the city.... through the haze. We had a wonderful treat of sipping fresh coconut milk direct from the shell, then had the shell split for us to enjoy the meat. Which is not as sweet and crisp as the ones we can get at home, but still tasty and quite refreshing!

After a short break at Los Pinos, we walked to a neighborhood restaurant El Sopo Tipico. We all had a variety of food that included pupusas, beans, rice, avocado, cheese, cilantro/tomato salsa AND a whole fish - way to go Maurice! Then we took a short walk to Pops for ice cream (in full view of Dunkin Donuts, China Wok, Burger King, and Wendy's)! It was a lovely evening for a walk and then a night's sleep with the five women in one room and one bathroom.

Day 3 - San Miguel

I'm back... it's still chilly here, again this evening. It was hot today when we drove to San Miguel. We took the Pastoral Team's pickup truck - it's a red Toyota, the pickup of choice down here. I did something that I couldn't do at home... rode in the back of the pickup all the way standing up. There's a metal railing to hold onto. It's the law that you have to have your seatbelts on in the front seat of the car or truck, but you can stand in the back of the truck. Go figure. But, we got to see the place where they make the water filters. We got a demonstration of the whole process of how they're made and how they work. It was kind of an out-of-body experience to stand back and see the following stenciled on them:

Compañeros of Central Iowa, Club Rotario, Indianola

And what a great opportunity we had to actually see the gentlemen making them.

And then we went to the hardware store to pick up the tools for our families in our sister canton, Casa de Zinc. Unfortunately, they didn't have all that we'd ordered or paid for, so we'll have to make another trip back. It was a lot like a Home Depot – very modern on both the outside and inside – a little different than all we'd been seeing prior to that time.

We traveled back to Berlin and then had lunch here at the pastoral house – another wonderful meal from the sweet ladies here that are taking care of Kathy and all of us. After lunch, we excused Dave to go take a nap, as he did not sleep well last night. The rest of us and Cecelia walked up town... and when we say walk UP town, we mean it! This is a very hilly little town, right on the side of the mountain. Everywhere we go, we go up and down and wind around on very narrow roads. Dramamine is my friend! Thanks to Karen M. for giving me the advice of taking it every day! We bought more items for our Casa de Zinc families and walked back. After another short break in the action, we crawled back in the pickup (and no, I have not been standing in the back since the way to San Miguel this morning.)

This time, we took a very long windy road down a very long ways to El Recreo - the sister parish of St. Boniface in Waukee. Yes, I got to see the wonderful church that you helped build for them, along with the museum! What a great experience that was. And I took lots of pics for others to see. (Yes, I've already taken close to 400 pictures in 3 days. Thank goodness for digital cameras!)

We thought we were going to run out of gas before we got back to Berlin because all the way down the hill the gas tank read "E", but when we started back up the hill, we had nearly a quarter tank again! Kathy was going to be upset with herself if we had run out, as it would've been a first for that. So, she and I went to get gas when we got home again.

And speaking of Kathy Mahler – today was her birthday! We knew it, so sang to her in both Spanish and English at breakfast time. Of course, she was hugely embarrassed, as she gets at times like these, as she hates to be the center of attention. But I need to tell you that she NEEDS to be at the center of attention because as a part of her first delegation as a full-time mission co-worker, I can tell you that she's doing a wonderful job! She is so good at this job because you can tell how much she loves it! It fits her like a glove. Without her, this trip would not be nearly as great or informative. And her Spanish has improved immensely.

And speaking for myself again, I didn't realize how much I missed her. I didn't properly say goodbye when she left in January, as someone came into the office and she snuck out. But, we didn't want to do it again, as it was hard enough to say goodbye in the fall of 2007 when she came down and in the winter of 2008 when she came back. As all of you know who know her, if you know her, you love her. That sounds like a song coming on... but not really. It's just the truth. And we knew that we'd be seeing each other again soon, so we didn't need to say goodbye formally... good excuse, anyway!

Well, I think that's all for now and I'm going to bed, as is everyone else now. (and yes, it's only 9:00 p.m. But it's been a long day in a lot of wind and fresh air. Looking forward to that shower tomorrow morning. :-)

– Betty

Day 1 - Des Moines to San Salvador

I am traveling with the Trinity United Presbyterian Church delegation from Indianola - 5 of my good friends - Mary MacKenzie, Denise Core, Larry Lepper, Blair Lawson and my pastor, Rev. Dave Endriss. This is a trip of a lifetime for me... having my airfare paid by Compañeros. My continued thanks goes to all of them for giving me this opportunity.

We were about a half hour late leaving Des Moines, after having our plane de-iced (remember - it was 1 degree that morning!) and then having to wait for the batteries in the plane to reach a certain temp. Really??? I guess even big planes have problems starting in the nasty Iowa weather!

After a long afternoon in Houston and 6 hours of walks and naps, we finally headed for San Salvador. We arrived on time and went right through Customs and got our luggage with no problems. We got out to the street to hugs waiting from our Mission Co-worker to El Salvador, Kathy Mahler - a wonderful welcome! However, something smelled funny when Blair was the last to join us... it seems as though we got to be the very first ones that had problems transporting coffee flavoring to El Salvador.

Those of you waiting for more Snickeroo coffee may have to wait a little longer, as a goodly part of that bottle ended up on Blair's clothes and soaked up his suitcase! Actually, we didn't lose too much... thank heavens, but it was a smelly ride to the guest house in San Salvador. (I think our driver, Alfredo, in the dark blue micro-bus marked Becky's Tours wondered what on earth Kathy had gotten him into! At the guest house, we were welcomed warmly by someone with a great name... Beti. It was a wonderful place and after some cold adult beverages, we were off to bed after a long day.

-Betty Dyer
Des Moines Presbytery Office Manager
and a member of the Trinity United Presbyterian Church in Indianola