Day 1 – Wednesday June 15
Arrived at the San Salvador airport at 11:15am. Went through
customs easily and waited for my bags. As always, after seeing lots of bags go
by that were not mine, I have a little apprehension that my bag did not make
it. But the bag arrives and I leave the terminal.
I see a throng of locals crowding around the barricades that
have been put up – they await the arrival of their loved ones. A blast of hot,
humid air greets me as I try to find the people who will pick me up. Taxi drivers
are shouting at me, trying to get a fare as they see my look of bewilderment.
But it is a look that tells of my initial confusion and discomfort of trying to
find my way to the front of the terminal. Just as I get to the curb, I hear my
name called – Mike and Bob have just pulled up in Bob’s old,
desert yellow Jeep.
I
get in and we take the drive back to San Salvador, about a 45 minute trip. We
talk the whole way, so I barely see the countryside. I notice a row of roadside
stands with huge, neatly stacked piles of coconuts. Most of the drive is like a
parkway with trees planted in the median. There are occasional glimpses of
houses, but as we near San Salvador, more houses appear. We come to a stop
light and there are people selling food and mosquito zappers. Bob tells them gracias and we drive off, arriving at
the hotel a couple minutes later. 