El Salvador Day #17

Day #17 Saturday, January 19, 2013

Today was a free day for us. Brittany, Olivia, Bailey and I spent the morning braving downtown Ahuachapan and the outdoor and indoor markets. It was quite an experience. None of us are close to fluent in Spanish but we did very well at figuring out where to go to buy certain things, what street to go down to get to certain stores, flagging down taxis, and getting back home safely! 

We all gathered together for lunch at the house and swapped stories about our morning adventures. For example, Brittany showed us her workout Barbie swimsuit that she found for $2 at the market. We found some great deals! 

After lunch, Anna, Angie, Olivia, Bailey, and I went back downtown but around the central park area to look in a few other shops for some specific souvenirs that some of the others had found that morning. Then, we went over to where our tutors teach so that I could meet up with Rachel, my tutor, and give her a gift. I love love LOVED getting to spend time with them again. If anyone reading this ever goes to El Salvador and needs to learn English or Spanish, use the ALC. They are great teachers and incredible people! It was really great to be able to see some of them. When we got there, their students for the day were on break, but when the students got back, we were able to talk with them some as well. We practiced our Spanish with them, while they practiced their English with us! Then, we decided to play a game of Hangman with them, like we did with our tutors in class. Turns out, we were all to smart for each other and each group got stumped all but once each. We ended up having to call it a tie because it was time for their class to be over. Again, I am super thankful for the time that we got to spend with them, not only this day but, during the whole trip. I am going to miss them very much! 

After we left there, we went and grabbed some dinner to go at a little taco shop around the corner. We talked with the boy at the register while we were waiting on our food to cook. He name was Kelbi, he was 18 and was a student there. He knew some good English, especially for not taking any English classes, and he was very friendly. I talked with him some about our work with the church and some of the things that we had done during our time there. I am very thankful for the small amounts of Spanish I do know, because it allows me to get to know the people that, otherwise, I would not be able to communicate with. We made a short stop at the Super-Selectos and then headed back to the house. When we returned, we were surprised to see Lingenfelter returned from his family beach trip, and to see a second dinner on the table. We ate played a few games and then called it a night.