Emily Visits us in El Salvador

January 2005

Sunday January 9, 2005

After a real busy three weeks in the states, we returned south on Friday January,  7.   With a very early departure from Portland and a 3+ hour layover in Houston, Texas, we arrived in El Salvador after 7PM.  Bob (of Horizons) met us at the airport with our car and it was a quick trip back to Bahía.  Emily (our oldest granddaughter) changed into her swimming suit and spent over an hour in the pool while Bill got the dinghy in the water and ferried most of our luggage to the boat.

Saturday we spent some time cleaning all the dust off Lanikai and unpacking.  Then it was time to go to the rancho to meet Wendy.  It took only a short while for Emily and Wendy to loose their shyness.  There was no stopping them then as they played in the water and the sandy mud along the shore.  By 1:30 Bill and I were getting hungry so we moved on to the hotel and its pool where Emily spent the rest of the day in the water.  We did make her take a short break from swimming to eat a very late lunch.   We got her out of the water just as the sun was setting and took her out for Pupusas, which she loved and ate 4; Bill and I could only eat 2 each. 

Today we were up earlier than yesterday and after doing e-mail on the radio, Bill and Emily went out and filled two water jugs at the fuel dock where the water was only slightly brackish at the low tide.  I used it to wash some clothing.  While it was drying we dinghied down to Tarazed’s land base to visit the cats and see the chickens.   It was then a quick stop at Lanikai to pick up our towels and toss the clean clothing below and we were off to Puntilla to swim in the lagoon that has formed there in the last two years by the build up of a sandbar.  Emily had a great time playing in the calm water and the sand at its edge.   We ate lunch further down the estuary at a restaurant over the water, all enjoying fresh fish.  Emily then played in the water with a group of other children that had also eaten at the restaurant.  We ended the day with a swim in the pool and Pupusas at Pupusería Emily.

Wednesday January 12, 2005

Monday we drove into Zacatecoluca for some grocery shopping and a chicken lunch at Campero’s.  After lunch we returned to Bahía where Emily jumped into the pool while Bill ferried the purchases to the boat.  Emily and I also walked over to the beach and jumped the waves.  We returned to the estuary side in time to swim and visit with the other cruisers that were there for Happy Hour.  We ate dinner onboard for the first time since our return.

Tuesday, yesterday, Emily woke up with a bad tummy so we spent the day onboard with a sick child.  She slept much of the time and Bill spent the day at his computer with the IRS forms. 

Today  Emily took a long time to finish her school work but afterwards we went off to the pool for a short before-lunch swim.  After lunch back on the boat, we went over to the rancho and picked up Wendy to go to the pool and swim with Emily.   They enjoyed the pool and some french-fries before it got late and Wendy had to be returned home.

Saturday January 15, 2005

Thursday Emily and I took her paints over to the rancho so that Emily could paint with the children over there.  Poor Emily is still not feeling too great, so we only lasted at the Rancho a short time, but in that time she painted then walked the low tide mud flats discovering some hermit crabs.  I decided to return her to Lanikai while the tide was out and so the dinghy was sitting on the dry.  I thought no problem.  Just put down the wheels and drag it to the water.  All that did was land me in the mud as I pulled on the painter.  I then raised the wheels and dragged the dinghy through the mud on its bottom to the nearest water.  We got back to Lanikai and a swim removed the mud so all was well.  Late in the afternoon a new boat, Bruja, arrived so Bill took Emily and I in the dinghy to watch it come in.  It was bumpy in the boca but there were no waves in the channel so the boat had a calm entrance.

Yesterday Emily woke up with the “runs” so it was off to the clinic for us.  There is a clinic nearby to serve the locals, and other cruisers have made use of it in the past.  We had to wait our turn, but the doctor, who spoke no English, was nice and seemed to know what Emily’s problem was.  We got some medicine and returned to the Hotel for a late breakfast and Emily’s first dose of medicine.  After a long nap on Lanikai Emily woke up chipper again, the first time since Monday.  We walked over to the beach and had a wonderful swim in the ocean jumping the waves as the tide rose.  When it got close to high tide, the waves got rougher so we moved in to the pool before returning to the estero side.

Saturday Emily did her homework in the morning but after lunch we drove over to Zacate to pick up e-mail.  We sent off more photos of Emily’s visit (to family and school class) and picked up her next week’s spelling assignment.  By the time we got back to Bahía is was too late for an ocean swim but Emily enjoyed an hour in the pool before we headed over to Marisol’s restaurant for dinner.  Poor Emily could not have Pupusas with us but enjoyed a plate of rice.

Sunday January 16, 2005

Today we dinghied over to the rancho and picked up Wendy then it was off to the beach for Wendy, Emily and grandma.  We jumped waves, collected shells, played in low tide pools and generally had a great time for about 3 hours.  Then after a short swim in the pool we returned to the estero side to await pick up by Bill.  While we were waiting Emily dusted most of the sand off her new found shells.  Those shells were further cleaned back on Lanikai after we all had enjoyed a good lunch.  We relaxed the rest of the afternoon and Emily did some coloring.  It was very windy today and we had a wet ride in the dinghy to and from Marisol’s where we again enjoyed Pupusas for dinner.  Emily was allowed one, which she enjoyed immensely. 

Thursday January 20, 2005

We arrived back late last night from a trip to Copán, Honduras.  Tuesday we had a nice, although drizzly, day at the ruins.  Emily was gung-ho when we first arrived, climbing pyramids and house mounds one after the other.  She was hard to keep up with, but just before lunch she faded fast.  We ate lunch in the cafeteria and Emily got her energy back.  We managed to cover the entire ruins in one day and even had time to visit the nearby residential ruins as well.  There has been quite a bit of new excavation at the residential site since our last visit almost 3 years ago.  They have recently uncovered several tombs under or near some of the residences and are slowly figuring out who lived there.  It appears to be the area where the Kings and their families lived along with other important government officials.  Each family’s quarters were built around a small plaza so there are many small plazas at this site.   Both nights we stayed at Hotel El San Carlos at La Entrada at the crossroads to Copán and about an hour’s drive away from the ruins.  We arrived there late Monday as the border crossing took us three hours but on Wednesday the crossing took even longer as we arrived just as the aduana (Customs) left for his lunch break.  Last night we arrived in San Salvador just before dark and stopped at a Domino’s Pizza along the way for dinner. 

Today I did much laundry while Emily did her homework.  Since the tide was almost high we took a dinghy trip to see how Tarazed is progressing at their land base.  On the way back we stopped at the fuel dock for more fresh water.  Emily did some art work and I printed a few pictures for her and we ate lunch while we waited for the tide to turn and start its trip down.  Emily and I then went to the beach to spend two hours jumping in the waves before we returned to the estero side to visit with our friends.  A group of us cruisers went out to Pupusería Emily’s for dinner.

Friday January 21, 2005

Today was a big school-work day for Emily.  She caught up on the week’s assignments while we waited for the tide to turn so that we could go to the beach with a low-ish tide.  While we took the trip to Copán we did not do any school work so it was quite a feat for her to get caught up.  We finally made it to the beach after 3PM and had an enjoyable hour jumping in the waves.  On our walk on the beach back to the hotel we noticed lots of tiny snails, then we saw a few larger ones, still only dime size.  We picked up one of the larger ones and a small one seemed to fall out of it.  We picked up some of the other larger ones and more small snails, complete with tiny shells fell out (not much bigger than a house fly).  The larger snails had white shells but the babies shells were mottled brown.  Both Emily and I thought that it was quite interesting.

Sunday January 23, 2005

The last two days Emily and I spent more time in the surf off the hotel.  We continue to find the baby snails in the tide line but have not seen anymore of the larger ones.  Yesterday we went over to the rancho for a bit and Emily and Wendy played in the water and the mud nearby.   Today we stopped by Kimtah and Jan arrived with her puppy.  This occupied us for long enough that it was lunch time by the time we left so Dick, Gail and us went over to Marisol’s for lunch.  After lunch it was off to the beach for a few hours of jumping waves and watching Emily play in the sand.

Monday January 24, 2005

Today we ate breakfast at the hotel and got a fairly early start to Zacatecoluca.  While Bill did e-mail Emily and I did some grocery shopping and then sat in the ice cream store and read.  After Bill finished with the mail we took off toward San Salvador to purchase large bottles of honey near the airport and to try to get photos of a sugar cane truck for Emily’s journal.  We only found a cane truck to photo just as we were about to give up and were almost to Arco on the second time around, but we did get a good photo.  We returned to the boat in time for a late lunch, a little school work and then took our big pile of school supplies to the little school on the island.   Today was the first day of school after their summer break and the supply of pencils and paper was much appreciated.  Emily was surprised to see the many grades in essentially the same room. 

Wednesday January 26, 2005

Today and yesterday, after morning homework, Emily and I went to the beach to jump waves.  Emily is taking advantage of her last days with us to get in lots of swimming time.

This evening was a birthday party for Brant, Bruja.  All of the cruisers showed up including the new ones that had just arrived.  In the last three days five more boats have crossed the bocana and anchored here, so we had a nice crowd.  Marisol’s opened her restaurant for the occasion.  Bill and I enjoyed a fish dinner and Emily got her last Pupusas.

Wednesday February 2, 2005

I am back on Lanikai after a quick trip to Oregon to return Emily home.  We left El Salvador last Thursday in the early afternoon passing thru Houston and arrived back in Oregon about 8:30PM.  Gretchen met us at the airport and we arrived in The Dalles at 11:30PM after stopping in Troutdale for a late dinner.

Gretchen and Doug were off for the rest of the week so I helped with chores around the house.  On Saturday Doug and Gretchen got married at a nice ceremony on the banks of the Deschutes River.  The sun even came out for the occasion!  I took the two little girls, Emily and Alexa, to get their hair done and picked up a grocery store flower bouquet for each of them to hold.  The boys, Jacob and Nicolas, carried the rings on ribbons around their necks so all the children were involved as well.  The Episcopal priest married them in a short ceremony then we all moved back to the warmth of Gretchen and Doug’s home for the reception.  Since there were so many children, the reception was simply pizza, chips, punch and wine (for the adults).  Two piñatas were filled for the children and a relative made a very delicious wedding cake.  It was loads of fun and not too much work for anyone.  I had the children to myself for Monday and Tuesday while the parents worked and we had fun together.  Tuesday was Gretchen’s birthday, so after dinner the grandchildren and I frosted a cake together for her.  Alexa and I had gone to the store earlier in the day to pick up the cake, frosting and colored sprinkles.