We got an early start this morning since we've got to make it all the way to San Salvador.
Everybody took dramamine except Laina who refused....until after throwing up 3 times in the first 1 1/2 hours. We finally put some dramamine in an ice cream and made her eat it!! No more throwing up for the rest of the trip.
Whoever was the best in the car got to pick where we went for lunch. The kids did an amazing job and it was very difficult to decide. We finally chose Alysa who wouldn't pick because there were too many restaurants to choose from in Guatemala City. All the kids made a joint effort and chose Applebee's. (American restaurants are a treat for us!) Guatemala is such a different place than Xela. It is a much faster pace.
The drive from Guatemala to El Salvador was still good but the kids started to get a little goofy! The border crossing went well we think. Hopefully there won't be any problems getting back into Guatemala.
El Salvador has some amazing trees that grow over the top of the road. Chris said that he had no depth perception. He kept slowing down for the speed bumps (they are everywhere in Guatemala) just to realize it was a shadow from a tree!
Compared to Guatemala, the roads are excellent here! There was even a four lane divided highway. I wasn't paying attention to the road and when I looked up I about freaked out that Chris was trying to pass another car on a blind curve. It took me a second to realize that there were two lanes going our direction and the lanes for the opposite direction were on the other side of some trees somewhere that I couldn't see!
The buses here are a lot different also. They are the really long school buses but they are low in the back and high in the front for some reason. They use a different variety of accessories on the buses here and the paint jobs are quite a bit different. Cole really liked the shark fins on the top of the buses!
On the drive, we realized that we didn't have directions to the hotel. Chris had looked up the location but hadn't written them down so at least he had a general idea of what part of the city it was in. While randomly driving around, we found the temple so Chris knew the hotel couldn't be too far away. We found a shopping mall and spotted the Holiday Inn a little ways away. We stopped at the mall for dinner while the rush hour traffic died down a little. Wow, there's Subway, Wings, Papa Johns pizza, Quiznos, etc. What to choose...what to choose!!
We noticed right away that the people here are a lot different physically. They are much bigger than in Guatemala. We didn't feel like the giants. There were no people wearing traditional clothing either. It was a little strange to see people running around in tanktops and shorts!
Another difference that we've seen is that there aren't people selling stuff on every street corner.
Friday, March 26
Chris spent the morning touring the San Salvador temple while the kids and I stayed at the hotel. The employees seemed very eager to practice their English. The second they saw us, they were rushing to see if they could help us with anything. Chris left the van for us to use, but I'm not too motivated to drive in this big city!!
After breakfast, the kids went swimming in the pool. The pool was pretty deep for them so they actually played on the steps, except for Morgan. I opted to sit on the side but ended up soaked! The kids had a blast until it was time to get out and get ready to leave.
At check out time, there was still no sign of Chris and our phone didn't work so the kids and I packed up all the bags and loaded the van then went to wait for Chris in the lobby. We were pleasantly surprised to see him when we go back into the lobby!
By that time it was after noon, so we figured out how to get to our next hotel, grabbed some lunch and headed to Costa del Sol.
The drive was a lot further then we had anticipated but we managed to get there with only a couple of U turns. My navigation skills are improving slightly here since I can somewhat read the signs now. (Chris might disagree!) The scenery was a lot different from up in the mountains. There were cashew trees, sugar fields, coconut trees, etc.
(A cashew tree. The orange thing is the fruit and the brown thing on the bottom is the cashew nut.)
It was so incredibly hot and muggy when we got to the hotel. The kids complained and Morgan said it was the worst hotel ever until she saw the balcony and outside. Then her tune changed real quick!
(Views from our hotel room balcony)
It was so hot so we automatically cranked up the A/C then left for the beach before it got too dark out.
Morgan trying to pick a coconut. Cole tried to climb some of the taller trees but didn't have much luck.
There were little gazebo type things all over the hotel property with lots of hammocks. They were so comfy!
Alysa found one of the many empty coconut shells left along the beach.
(This picture is specifically for the Hunsaker siblings benefit!)
A washed up jellyfish.
Cole's shell that still had a creature in it.
I like the shadows/reflections of the kids in the water left on the sand.
Alysa and Laina took a while to warm up to the water. They would go close enough that when a wave came up they would yell, "nanny, nanny, boo, boo" and run away from the water. Morgan was pretty brave and Cole tried to be brave. We had fun finding all the shells along the beach and I even caught Chris "clam digging" with his hands when he found the little air bubbles left on the beach!
It finally got so dark that we decided to go try out the pool for a while. On the way back, Alysa said, "Thanks for taking us to the beach and letting me know that it isn't that scary." (Referring to her last time at the beach when she accidently got dunked!)
The pool had a nice area for the girls to play in that wasn't very deep. Morgan practiced her different strokes and floating, and Cole tried to figure out how to float. It brought back memories of swimming at the Lunds! (We miss you guys!!) Chris and I just enjoyed how warm the water was. There was no need for a hot tub for sure!!
It was dark, late, and we hadn't eaten dinner yet so we made the kids get out. We learned a valuable lesson today.....do NOT turn the A/C on full blast when you are going to be coming back to the room soaking wet and having to shower after being in warm water for so long! It was freezing!
Dinner wasn't too enjoyable for some of the pickier eaters in the family! It was typical food from the area and consisted of tortillas, rice, beef, veggies, fish, etc. I was impressed that Cole and Laina both ate the fish. (It was delicioius!!) The hotel included all of our meals and drinks so the kids were very excited to go to the "bar" in the pool and order a soda pop. We each had a hammock to sit in and drink our sodas and enjoy the peaceful, warm breeze.
Saturday, March 27
The day began very slowly since everybody was exhausted! In the morning the only noise we could hear was the crash of the ocean waves and some birds. It was very calm.
We put on our swimsuits once again and headed to breakfast. Laina was so tired that she wouldn't get up and ended up going in her pajamas! After everyone ate, we headed for the pool. (Yes, I know we're supposed to wait an hour!) Alysa had made a friend the night before and he was there. He spoke English and latched on to our family...literally as you can see in some one of the pictures!
We played for a while and then headed to the beach where we continued to collect shells, play in the sand, play in the water, and have an overall great time. Laina fell once in the water and got covered in sand. Her entire swimsuit was full of sand. It probably didn't help that her favorite thing to do was to sit in the sand and wait for the water to come up to her. Even though we rinsed off at the outdoor showers, her suit was still full of sand! We probably clogged the shower trying to drain her bath water!
While we were working to clean Laina off, Morgan and Cole disappeared. It didn't take long to find them sitting at the "bar" with their lemonades. They had so much fun going and ordering their drinks.
The day continued with a drive back to San Salvador to go to the children's museum. The kids were so excited to go but were a little disappointed when they realized that it wasn't just a playplace to run around and jump on stuff.
One of our little princesses.
The television activity.
The bomberos (firefighters).
My favorite butterfly in the butterfly sanctuary.
The little grocery store. Alysa and Laina particularly liked this area!
The kids got to help paint the car and the wall.
Morgan and Cole liked the gravity house. I do have to admit that we had to leave before somebody threw up. It was pretty crazy.
Everybody was miserably hot and tired by this point in the day so we went to check in to our hotel and then walked to get ice cream. When we got back to the hotel, everybody just vegged in front of the t.v. and didn't even want to leave to get dinner. Instead, Chris went and picked up some food (as well as some Dr. Pepper and A&W rootbeer that we had found here!!) and we ate in our rooms and went to bed. Being on "vacation" can sure be tiring!!
Sunday, March 28
Oops! I left Cole's shell (the one with the creature still inside) in the van. It STINKS!! Cole got in so much trouble until I admitted that I was the one that had put it in there!
We weren't supposed to cross the border until 4:00 so we made a little pitstop on our way back to Guatemala City. This is Tazumal. It is one of the Mayan ruins in El Salvador. It was pretty fun to get to see it (yes, mom dragged the kids to see ruins against their will!) and I think the kids even had fun climbing the parts of the pyramid that weren't blocked off and climbing the crazy trees!
The cemetary.
This was the weirdest tree trunk I have ever seen!
We got to walk through the woods on a little path.
Cole being a boy.
We can't go anywhere without a tree shot of all the kids!
After we finished at the ruins, we stopped at a couple little shops outside the gates. The kids each got a little souvenir and then we tried some more typical food. The place that we ate at had a huge avocado tree. I was very tempted to see if I could climb it and pick some!!
Yucca, chicharron (pork), lettuce and hot sauce.
Chris is sad to leave El Salvador because the roads are so nice and straight and smooth. He got to use the cruise control for the first time in over a year!!
So everything was going way too smooth. We got to the border without any problems to find out that they won't stamp it to extend our visas. At the end of the year, they changed the laws so that if you travel between Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and I think Belize, they won't extend your visas. You have to go to Mexico or further south. UGH!! We just spent 72 hours out of the country and they won't stamp our passports!! Guess we might be headed to Mexico in a few days!
Monday, March 29
We went back to the distribution center this morning to see if they had gotten their shipment of garments in. (They recently dropped the price down to about $.65/piece here!!) They had and I was able to get what I needed as well as some other odds and ends. The Chaneys (the other couple working on the temple) were there also on their way back to Xela. We discussed our passport issues for a little while and then left to visit the immigracion office. Chris went in and explained what happened and they said that if we could get photos taken of everybody and paper worked filled out, and copies of all of our passports and be back in 45 minutes they might be able to help us. Talk about a whirlwind 45 minutes. We made it though, and everything worked out. We dropped Chris off and then I was supposed to park. I don't have as good of a sense of direction as Chris does and I ended up going in circles all over the place trying to find the parking lot and the building that Chris was in. I was SOOOO lost. At one point I saw a Turismo (tourism) bus and just hoped that they were heading towards the airport to get me back in the general area of town. It was horrible. We did somehow manage to get back and found Chris on a street corner. They got all of our information and said they would have it processed and ready by 4:30. So much for getting home at a decent hour. I guess it beats another three days out of the country. (Yes, it would be fun, but we need some rest, a regular schedule, and some home cooked food!) We killed the next several hours with a trip to Price Smart (Costco) and the mall. Chris parked in the parking lot this time, then walked over to get our passports, and then it was time to head out of the city during rush hour. It was such a long drive home, but at least the kids were reasonably good and some even slept for part of the drive. Oh, it is so good to be back home for a little while!!
