What to Expect?

From snow, to rain, to heavy humidity, two flights, no sleep, a Starbucks coffee that wasn't quite strong enough and a bag of pretzels from the plane, we arrived to El Salvador. The moment I opened the shutter of the plane window and saw the bright blue ocean and the green palm trees in December, it hit me that I wasn't in America any longer! The flight attendants were no longer speaking English and I swear I was the only white girl on the plane. I felt a huge gasp of hot hair when stepping off the plane and was preparing myself for the next two weeks in my head.

If anyone has no knowledge of the country of El Salvador and you just randomly google about it, I kid you not, over half of the articles that come up are either gang-related or in some way are related to violence. Yes, the articles can scare you off but I had his family in my ear the whole time saying "you'll be safe" and "you'll be with us, you have nothing to worry about." I had to and DID trust them! But I'm not going to lie, something bad that could possibly happen was always in the back of my mind. I got off that plane with precaution, holding my purse and bag tightly and watching who was around me until we were all together. Waiting in the long line for customs, I saw the sun shining and the palm trees from outside. There was no air conditioning and the excitement kicked in knowing all of his family members were waiting for us just a door away. We grabbed all of our luggage and went out the doors when we were immediately greeted with hugs and smiles from everyone. Paz (his grandma) hugged me tightly and kissed my cheek and Beto (his grandpa) smiled ear to ear "Hola!" We got in the bus, and off we went.

The whole bus ride, our eyes were glued to the windows. Passing the ocean, to the stray dogs on the side of the streets, to woman selling "co co de agua" to goats and cows passing by. The adventure had only just begun!

Aeropuerto Internacional De El Salvador-

George Bush Intercontinental Airport- Houston, TX "Halfway there!"