Huisisilapa
We arriv
ed in Tacuba last night after an amazing day in paradise... as a treat (after living in a small village with no bathrooms or clean water for a còuple days) our profesor arranged for us to spend the day at this amazing beach house. We had to take a two hour bus ride and then walk or ride in the Land Rover the rest of the way down the beach. The house was the second to last one on this spit and was stunning! Hammocks, beach, a lagoon out back, swimming, beautiful black\white sand beaches, amazingness. It was such a treat. I even dare to say that I got a little tan!Going back a few days.... we left San Salvador the morning of the 21st and dro
ve to Huisisilapa, a small community of about 150 families. We arrived exhausted and were immediately placed with our host siblings (people about our age), introduced to the host families and then had the day to hang out with them. It was amazing how much Spanish you can lose in a week - I had been doing fine until we went to San Salvador and didn´t have to speak it much, but thankfully it started to click again by our second day in Huisi. I lived in this little house with 13 other people, including 5 adorable little girls under the age of 9. Let´s just say it was a busy and tiring few days! We hung out with the communities, had parties, helped paint their electricity poles with murals, hiked to a finca and learned how to harvest sugarcan, swam in the really dirty river, played soccer, and spent a lot of time with our host families. It wa
s really incredible. I was so overwhelmed the first 24 hours because of the language barrier and lack of any privacy (my host sister refused to let me by myself at all!), but the last two days got better and I felt more settled. Huisi has the most adorable little kids and we just played and played and played. I also have a four-year old boyfriend now, Josue.... :) Our last night we had a little dance and he was laying in a hammock, being really shy and I finally got him to come dance with me (which was really just him standing their smiling and holding my hands. He is the cutest little thing! 
Much of the Huisi community was involved in the war of the 80s. My host dad was a guerilla and they knew 45 people who were killed during all the violence. So crazy.Huisi is a fairly poor community and on our last night there, we got to give our families some of our stuff. I gave me host sister some things and then gave the mom some of my medicines... it turns out that she has some similar conditions to what I have and does not have any medicine to help... it was so cool to speak in Spanish, understand that, and have the resources to be able to help just a little bit. I also had two host brothers, both teenagers and extremely sweet. One of them is an incredible student and is working so hard in school - every time I saw him, he was doing homework, reading, or studying. When we visited the UN in San Salvador, they had given us huge books on the employment situation in El Salvador and then one day in Huisi, Carlos (my host brother) and I had an awesome conversation
about just that. It was really neat to be able to give him that book and encourage him in his studies. He was thrilled that it was all in Spanish and said it was exactly what he was studying at school, except they didn´t have any books. It was incredible to see how God lined everything up for me to be with this family. My host mom gave me an incredibely beautiful table tablecloth that was made by one of her daughters... such a generous gift and it pretty much made me cry.
A bunch of our group has gotten really sick in the last few days... two people overnight in the hospital, four others just to the clinic to get shots... some sort of bacterial infection that isn´t allowing any of them to keep anything down. Thankfully, with the meds the hospitals have here, they are able to start getting better quicker. Two of our guys had to stay in San Salvador for an extra two d
ays just to get well, and another person stayed in the hospital last night. It´s a bit weird to not be the one needing medical attention while traveling, but I´m really thankful I have been fairly healthy! Prayers for our sickies would be so great, if you think of it.
This morning most of our group went to El Imposible, a hike with 7 waterfall jumps. I was bummed to not be able to go, but I didn´t want to do nine hours of plane travel in a full body cast... jumping 20 feet from a waterfall would equal multiple dislocations! So Breanne and I stayed back and had a lazy morning, laying in hammocks, catching up on homework and listening to music. We just
walked into town behind this beautiful parade - about 20 trucks decorated with fruit and flowers, each one with a full band and people throwing candy. It was a procession to celebrate the harvest, an event that I guess happens each year. It was so beautiful to walk down cobble stone streets to the music from the trucks, getting caught in the middle of piles of kids diving for candy and walking with the crowd to follow the parade. Needless to say, we stood out a bit as the tall, white, females...
about just that. It was really neat to be able to give him that book and encourage him in his studies. He was thrilled that it was all in Spanish and said it was exactly what he was studying at school, except they didn´t have any books. It was incredible to see how God lined everything up for me to be with this family. My host mom gave me an incredibely beautiful table tablecloth that was made by one of her daughters... such a generous gift and it pretty much made me cry.A bunch of our group has gotten really sick in the last few days... two people overnight in the hospital, four others just to the clinic to get shots... some sort of bacterial infection that isn´t allowing any of them to keep anything down. Thankfully, with the meds the hospitals have here, they are able to start getting better quicker. Two of our guys had to stay in San Salvador for an extra two d
ays just to get well, and another person stayed in the hospital last night. It´s a bit weird to not be the one needing medical attention while traveling, but I´m really thankful I have been fairly healthy! Prayers for our sickies would be so great, if you think of it.This morning most of our group went to El Imposible, a hike with 7 waterfall jumps. I was bummed to not be able to go, but I didn´t want to do nine hours of plane travel in a full body cast... jumping 20 feet from a waterfall would equal multiple dislocations! So Breanne and I stayed back and had a lazy morning, laying in hammocks, catching up on homework and listening to music. We just
walked into town behind this beautiful parade - about 20 trucks decorated with fruit and flowers, each one with a full band and people throwing candy. It was a procession to celebrate the harvest, an event that I guess happens each year. It was so beautiful to walk down cobble stone streets to the music from the trucks, getting caught in the middle of piles of kids diving for candy and walking with the crowd to follow the parade. Needless to say, we stood out a bit as the tall, white, females...
posted by KacieAnne @ 2:30 PM
2 Comments:
I am so glad you are having such a variety of adventures, and staying safe and well! I can only imagine what wonderful pictures you are taking, and I can't wait to see them!
See you in just a few days! Of course I will be praying for you and your friends to have safe travel, great health, and a wonderful last couple days in El Salvador!
Love, Mom
i spent some time in Huisi as well. very nice people!
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