July 9: Apopa, El Bosque, Pouring Rain

On July 9, we drove to Apopa.  We went to Betty's house.  She got up at 5 AM that day to make us sopa de pollo and grilled chicken. Betty loves plants and has many beautiful plants in her home.  The soup and grilled chicken were delicious!!  And her grandson is darling!  We all enjoyed holding him and playing with him!

That evening we went to El Bosque.  It's so pretty with outdoor games and food.  I really needed to use the bathroom.  Michelle and I went in and there was no light.  (It took me several minutes to realize I could turn on the flashlight on my phone.  Duh!)  The stall I entered had no toilet seat.  And no toilet paper.  I asked Michelle if her stall had some toilet paper and she said no, but I desperately needed some and we had some in the car. So I asked her to go find her dad, get the keys and get toilet paper.  I had the worst diarrhea in my life.  I'm sitting in this dark stall (even with my flashlight, it was still dark), no toilet seat, and a mess.  Michelle comes back several minutes later and it has started pouring rain.  She can't find her dad.  I don't know what to do.  I admit that I cried for a few minutes.  But fortunately Betty's daughter was there and she brought baby wipes.  It was not my best moment.

The girls ate delicious nachos, but my stomach was too upset to eat anything.  And it was pouring rain.  I mean POURING rain.  We sat under a covering and everyone ate and talked.  It stopped raining for a bit so we walked around...but it was muddy and the games weren't reopening and then it started to rain again.  Hard.  So we headed to the car and headed back to our house.  Betty's family came with us and gave us atole de elote and I took a tiny taste.  I liked it but I felt so sick that I only took a tiny taste.

Betty's family was SO kind and so loving.  And they have so little.  Cement floors and metal roof.  But their kindness and love and generosity meant so much.

One thing I thought was so interesting was that in El Salvador, there are buses.  But there are also lots of trucks that have bars in the back and people ride there in the back, sitting or standing.  Some just had a couple of people riding in the back, but some trucks would have the back crammed with people.