el fin de semana

This one is for everyone at Nature Outfitters, and all lovers of Chaco's everywhere. This is what my feet looked like after 6 hours in the jungle.













Don't worry Ma! Me scaling a waterfall with some rope

Well this past weekend could have been the most exciting weekend yet in El Salvador. A group of us went to Juayua for the weekend. When we got there we found a beautiful travelers hotel for $5 a night. We went for a pickup ride to an enchanted night market in an indigenous market. Then on Saturday we hired some guides who took us on a 6 hour jungle hiking up and down waterfalls and mountains. There were amazing swimming holes with tunnels through the hillside which we swam through to other waterfalls. It was seriously like a dream, except for the two police guards posted at the waterfall. They were a friendly reminded to the dangerous reality here. Oh did I mention there is a food festival and open market every weekend too! Shish-ka-bobs, chorizo, and 70 cent beers. Can't beat it.
Praxis in Tepecoyo was really hard on Monday. We made 9 house visits in one day. We were giving survey on community development. It´s been tough getting to know the members of the community because they live so far away (we go everywhere by foot), and the language barrier has been hard too. Some interesting things I learned from the interviews is that the average monthly income for a household of 4-7 is about $90. That's staggering. And interestingly all the families I've met do not have family in the states to send remitences.