Adios, El Salvador

Hi! This is Janice Young, guest blogger this evening. It is our last day here in El Salvador and we leave with mixed feelings. We had a great day site seeing in two small villages. The first one, La Palm is in the northern part of the country and is home to an artist's community started by Fernando Llort. His art will be familiar to many of you who have seen Central American art in any market. It features simple forms - animals, flora, and domestic scenes outlined in black and colored with intensely bright colors. We were very fortunate to be able to paint a small box or object and bring it home as a souvenir - although our painting technique was very crude compared to the actual artists.

The second village was Suchitoto, an historic village highlighted by an old early Spanish church built in 1770. It is in the process of being restored, but was still very beautiful. The town was also filled with local craft vendors, and art galleries - and I think everyone found something to take home.

As the devotion reader this morning I shared a poem that I wrote throughout the week, which highlighted some of the things we did, and some of the things we laughed about. Ask your favorite team member to explain! Here it is...

Team Salvador - Sept. 2009

Some of us are married, some of us are not,

Some of us come from the northern cold, some prefer it here where it is nice and hot.

For some it was digging very deep holes,

For others it was twisting wire around re-bar poles.

Some rode backwards in the van with Ramone,

Some go a little confused between sopa and jabon.

Some of us have scrapes, cuts, and bruises, but luckily no stitches,

Some liked to feed and pet the local ______. (female dogs :)

Some went up and down the scaffolding - sometimes with, sometimes without the benefit of a ladder,

Others did whatever, for the job it did not matter.

Some watched in awe as a man cut down a tree with a machete,

Most of us left the cultural celebration with our hair full of confetti.

Some have the beautiful gift of song,

Some seemed to get the dancing all wrong.

Some of us like the Salvadoran food,

Some of us might need a burger and fries (or pizza) to put us in a good mood.

But when we leave El Salvador and we must part,

This country and its people will forever be in all our hearts.