A School Bus full of El Salvadorans

As I nervously packed my bags and said goodbye to my comfy bed again, I questioned going back to El Salvador. Yet, the moment I was shuffling amongst a bunch of hot, sweaty, and tired travelers in the airport here: forced to speak Spanish once more: I immediately felt as if I had returned home. This time around I knew my limits, the obstacles I would come to face, and when to rest. My little room tucked in the back of a jungle-like house remained untouched and to my luck, had little to no bat poop on anything.

Before I went back to the States, I moved from my temporary housing arrangement in with an older lady who takes care of her two grandsons. I've never been a person to like kids, however, the Lord always knows better and gives us what we need. My little family here has brought me so much joy and accepted me as a child of their own. Stormy nights have provided time together, hovering in the living room with the door closed, laughing, and playing games. It's moments such as these that I forget how hot the days can be and that my Spanish is not perfect.

In regards to my work at the Center, I have taken on more responsibility and could not be happier. Tuesday, Thursday, and Sundays I am teaching violin classes. Never in my life did I think I would be any kind of teacher. Yet, these classes eliminate so much stress because we speak in the language of music--something the students and I both understand. Starting August 13 I am hosting a four-week photography seminar. I honestly don't know who thought it would be a good idea to have me speak broken Spanish in front of a bunch of people, but here we are. There are already 12 people signed up for the class!! The seminar will have a set theme and at the end will be hosted an exhibition of the students work. Please pray all goes well with this....

In the meantime, I'm still working frivolously in the garden and in the works to putting together a community garden. Classes and further engagement will take place on this project after the photography seminar. There is a lot of prepping that needs to be done beforehand, but the Lord has provided a lot of help for this passion project of mine.

Lastly, amongst the chaos of class prepping and work at the Center, I am of course continuing my explorations in my free time. Me and a few other women have taken up swimming in the afternoons; which I don't know why I didn't think of sooner for exercise because um duh? This past weekend I went to the beach with a whole El Salvadoran family. What I thought was only going to be about 5-6 people turned into a whole school bus load. Departing at 4am we set off for the beach. It truly was a great, relaxing day and the bus ride back was an actual party....These people actually danced to pumping music for three hours....

Here's to another great few weeks & I hope you enjoy the photos below!

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