Like I never left

It's almost like I never left El Salvador even though many things have changed in the year since I was last here.  I've seen many familiar faces and gone to many familiar places.  Even after going to museums and historical places I've been to four or five times before, I still learn new pieces of information and gain new insights.  The familiar faces are a year older (this is especially evident in the kids) some people have moved on to new places, some new faces have appeared, and I have seen more and less of others.

I'm going home tomorrow, but here's a bit of a recap of the trip.

I was here with 9 other Americans- my friend Julie's family and friends of Julie and Adam (Julie's husband).  Some have been here before and some were here for the first time.  Six of them went home this morning already.

I missed out on the first day of activities with the group because my flight from Chicago to Houston was canceled and they couldn't fit e on a flight that would get me into Houston before my flight to San Salvador left.  Our days have been jam packed with learning and going all over San Salvador and even outside the capital a couple of times.

And then there was the wedding!  Julie and Adam's second wedding ceremony on Sunday was a great second wedding ceremony.  Everything went pretty smoothly and there were about 400 people (more that 2.5 times as many people as were at their American wedding!).  Julie has been coming to El Salvador for 10 years now and she's pretty famous in the Lutheran community here, so they all wanted to celebrate her wedding.  The ceremony wasn't too different from a traditional American wedding, just significantly longer.

As we have been going to visit different places I have gotten even more excited for my next trip in a few weeks.  I can't wait for the people from my church who are coming to meet the people here, to experience what life is like here (to the extent we can), to learn about the history of the country, to witness the faith and hope of the Salvadorans.  I keep noticing things that I know certain members of the group will connect with or will enjoy.  I keep saying I'm excited and it's true, but I wish I had a better word to describe how I can't wait to come back to El Salvador in a couple of weeks with my church group!