The Beach

We went to the Atami Beach Club yesterday. It's a perk for the faculty - the school provides a membership. The beach is about 30-40 minutes away. It takes longer to get home because it's all uphill. The picture is Susan and Maggie sipping from their first coconut.

The club has two swimming pools and a water slide (a big hit with Mags and Will - 6 rides for $1.00). You rent a cabana - a thatched roof hut with a table and two benches. They set up four woven hammocks for you (not Pawley's Island hammocks, but still very nice.) And then you just enjoy the breeze.

The club itself is on a cliff. The sand is black - crushed volcanic rock. The beach is rough but perfect for surfing. The surprise was the tidal pools - big concrete pools built on the shore's edge. So you can safely swim in salt water right next to the raging sea. It's worth every step of the long climb back up to the beach club.

Note to my mother - we saw one fishing boat, probably a shrimp boat. But we also saw men on floats out in the ocean shrimping. When I say float, I mean inner-tube! We waved to them. What a way to catch shrimp!

James is out right now trying to find the Episcopal Church. Once we master the route and find out the schedule, we'll try services in Spanish. I'll let you know how it goes.

Maggie's photos

We have no idea what this flower is, but the gardens around the houses are full of all kinds of blooms.
Maggie poses in front of more neighborhood flora.

Will looks pretty comfortable pool side. Large coconut trees are on the other side of the pool.

Progress

Today we got internet and cable t.v. for our little house. The dining room table is now our office as well. We are headed out to shop again (always an adventure). It's amazing how little you can fit into eight suitcases (really only seven if you count the one that didn't arrive), and how much you need to run a house. Tupperwear, tinfoil and a colander are big on our list today.

Tomorrow we take our first trip to the beach. After a stressful week of meetings, language barriers and big rain storms, we look forward to a day of lounging in a beach cabana. Maggie can't wait for her beach-side hammock. Will just wants out of the school compound (complejo).

The highlight of the week for James and Susan was discovering the faculty lunch room. We're not exactly sure what we're eating, but it is hot, cheap ($1.50) and home cooked.

Off to fight the afternoon traffic. Salvadorans drivers make NASCAR drivers look tame.

We are here!

The Dunlaps have safely arrived in El Salvador! Unfortunately, James's entire wardrobe did not successfully complete the trip. He is taking out his frustrations by driving like a wild man. The baggage search continues, along with tons of paperwork to make us official. In the meantime, Maggie and Will sit by the swimming pool waiting for school to start.

We are also anxiously awaiting the ripening of the bananas on the banana tree in our back yard. Life in the tropics is not too bad!

Off to teacher orientation - will write again soon. Susan

Testing uno, dos, tres...

This is a test post. This is only a test. If this had been an actual post, I would have written something interesting. We now return you to your regular programming.