The traveling process was long as my and Kristen's moms, with her brother in tow, took her, Brandon and I down to SLO, passing the baton to Melissa Thiede, with Ashley Sickler and Matt Johnston as well. We got there late, woke up early and flew to Houston, had a layover, then flew to El Salvador, arriving at about 9pm their time (we're Mountain time). We got asked a lot more questions than we anticipated by immigration officials, which was comical for some as most officials spoke no English. But once we got through we had maybe 12 quite boisterous friends waiting for us, composed of national staff, their family members and students. They were all wearing Vida Estudiantil (their name for Campus Crusade for Christ on college campuses) shirts and holding huge signs saying stuff like "Bienvenidos Gringos" or something. This welcoming attitude and great hospitality has been a very common theme for us here so far.

As that travel day, I spent the next pretty tired and out of sorts, as we went on a shopping spree for all kinds of stuff. It was really funny to have the director's wife, Luchy, taking us through the grocery store and telling us everything we should get. She practically did all the shopping for us, it was great. And I've NEVER bought so many vegetables and fresh food in my life. Luckily we're not having to cook it for ourselves, cause get this: our house came with a maid. Before you judge, let me explain. So in this country, if you have enough money, you're expected, as a benefit to society, to hire a maid for your home. We decided we could foot the $40 a month per person for this, and be able to focus more fully on ministry without worrying about cooking or cleaning. We're so blessed :) And now we have Julia living with us or "Abuelita" ("grandma") as we call her, an endearing title.

On our second full day, Thursday, we went to one campus, Evangelica, for the Vida Estudiantil weekly meeting there. We helped set up, then invited students sitting around campus to come. This day more than any other, our Spanish skills were put to the test as we had to communicate with most students completely in Spanish. I've been finding myself frustrated trying to understand what people are saying, while having an easier time speaking the language, the opposite problem of most others. We had 10 students show up, but there were 10 of us STINTers, and like 5 staff or VE volunteers. Julio is one of the Evangelica students that has gotten really involved and is the biggest student helper. He speaks flawless English (praise God) as he grew up in Texas after being born in Mexico, then coming here for college. I was excited after the meeting when he started playing music from my favorite band, Anberlin, a not very well known American rock band. In the hour-long meeting we watched videos, played a game, prayed for each other and sang a couple of songs. Then we hung out in the room for a long time sharing food and drinks. This community-building aspect of things is really important to them here, and people will spend lots of time together, usually over or around food. Oh, and we also got in front of the group and introduced ourselves, telling our names and hobbies. I was lucky enough to be able to share all that in Spanish. As long as there were no audience questions, I knew I was good.