El Salvador in 50 pictures

My apologies if you're stopping by here with little time.  I'll try and keep this short, but i have to share some of the great things God is doing in El Salvador that I got to see and be a part of.  In the week before Thanksgiving, 40 people from Valley Christian, the school where I teach, traveled down to the region of Baja Lempo, a rural setting 60 miles south of the capitol, San Salvador.  We broke into three teams in three different villages where there are children's centers that we support.  We brought with us much needed educational supplies, hard work and lots of love.  My goal in going was to record some of the local musicians, encouraging them by validating their efforts and leaving them with CD's to sell to raise money for their music classes at the children's centers.  A great guy and now an even better friend, Bandy, came along to help.

Visiting the Children at Presidio (1 of 3 villages)

Please do not feed the children.

On approach. This is the coastal region, to clear up any confusion.

This is a Rode NT2-A Microphone (Thanks Preston!)

We took down 9 Mics, mic stands, 2 small monitors,

cables, and a sweet SKB rackmout case with a space for

my laptop, a power conditioner and the M-Audio Ultra 8R.

Here's Bandy in the cockpit.  you can see the SKB Case 

housing the goods, and the MacBook Pro on top.

Our first meal...Yum!  Carne Asada, Rice and veggies.  We 

did not eat this well again on the trip.

The Gate to Presidio

We recorded three groups and 50 songs in two days 

and left them with 100 CD's.  MacBook is amazing, and God

is even more amazing for his care and provision.  The whole

thing went way, way to smoothly for us to take any credit for it.

This is the first group, and lets just say, it got better from here.

We visited some homes out in the villages. I know you've

heard it before, but they are so happy with so little. I've got

a lot to learn.

Look at those eyes!

Fun on the swings. Ahhhhhhh!

Lunch time on the farm and the animals are hungry.  The 

women made us fresh tortillas for each meal. Yum!

This was the second group we recorded. They laid down around

12 songs.  this duet had beautiful voices and were accompanied

by the instrumentalists from our third and final group.

We recorded all day Thursday, all day Friday, and 

mixed all night to have the CD's ready for Saturday, when 

the final celebration would take place.  Bandy is very excited

and energetic in this picture. Very.

Corn is one of the main crops grown for food in the region. 

Severe weather has taken out much of the crop this year, 

leaving many wondering how they will feed their families.

The guy on the left asked me if I wanted his shirt tucked in

or un-tucked for the picture, and then I saw what he was 

really asking when the fat pistol appeared just above his belt.

A typical house in the region.

A baby pig can be purchased for around $20 USD and after 

a few years will provide a lot of food.

We snuck out early one morning from the school compound

where we were sleeping to watch the sunrise at the river.

this picture was taken on the way there before the sun rose.

Jeff Westrup, where do I start....this man rented me a room

for the past two years, and during that time he has become 

family.  His humble, generous spirit challenges and calls me

to a deeper walk with Christ.  It's hard not to feel the love

when you're around Jeff.  He was the fearless leader of this 

trip, and serves as the Service Learning coordinator for Valley.

These shots were taken as he was addressing the crowd 

at the final celebration in Amanda Lopez, the village where

we did the recording.  If you ever think it might be Jeff but 

aren't quite sure, just look for the hand motion.

One of the projects at Amanda Lopez was a "Palm" tree,

where the green handprints of the kids made the leaves.

A game of pato, pato ganso is always fun times!

In case anyone was looking, i found the origin of 

"skinny cow" ice cream and dairy products.

The river at Sunrise

Adam trying to part the river.

The vines hanging in the dark on our way 

to the river give a cool perspective

We arrived in the capitol on Sunday afternoon and did

some shopping.  I thought about shoplifting...for 2 seconds.

Senor Romero's grave under the cathedral.  He is a 

tremendously important figure for many people in

a war-torn country still licking its wounds.

the amazing dichotomy is startling.  Huge, rich Cathedral

adjacent to abject poverty.

Instead of his hand, Bandy left his visage. Very nice, Bandy.

Nice looking rooster.  Too bad it can't remember what it looks

like when the sun is coming up.  But just to make sure he doesn't 

miss it, he crows all night long.  A broken Cock is right twice a day, right?

The coffee farm had an incredible view of the valley,

all the way to the sea.

A portrait of a young man who lives and works on the Coffee farm.

The Professional.

The volcanoes in the distance pose for a delightful scene.

Jeff calling in the airstrike on the satellite phone.

And by airstrike i mean touching base with some parents stateside.

I was there, really

The falls at the bottom of the valley.

Just Beautiful. And over saturated.

The pool was tons of fun

We found the BatCave.

Putting the beans in to be shelled.

Adam Hernandez kept us safe the whole time.

He was also helpful when I created translational 

messes while trying to speak spanish.  

Where they store some of the dried Coffee and Corn

Local botonist Scott Tamminga points out the settia of the Pointsettia

Alba is the head contact for ANADES, the organization 

we partner with in El Salvador.  She was so kind and joyful,

helping us through the whole trip.

Bandy, Jeff and I were given these awesome shirts by the 

people of El Salvador.  Talk about a humbling gift.

A traditional El Salvadorian dance troupe dances a traditional

Mexican dance.....huh?

They've got some pretty ones down there.

Finally, the foldgers' shot of the donkey carrying the coffee.

A worker on the coffee farm.

Alright, so i really tried to narrow it down.  I started with close to 2000 images, and tried to narrow it down to ones that would show the flavor, not show students (I don't think it's legal to put them on my blog) and would bring a little bit of what God is doing to the surface.  I'll keep working on this, helping it make more sense, but I had to get something up in the mean time.  thanks for stopping by! Feel free to leave a comment or any questions you might have.