I'm now writing from El Salvador. I finished up my language school and felt an immense amount of gratitude for the opportunity to study Spanish and particularly for the wonderful people I met while in Antigua. Some of my fellow students really inspired me to continue following my own dreams. A wonderful British couple who are retired and sailing around the world reminded me of the many, many amazing places left to see in the world. They along with a new found Seattle friend that I manage to meet in Antigua not in Seattle helped encourage me on this path of dissertation writing. It is a long and tough road to the PhD and there are so many people who help to keep me going. I was surprised to find in a language school in Antigua some added support to keep going on my dissertation. I am ever so grateful for these friendships and inspiration.
It is amazing how much you learn and experience when you leave the comfort of your own culture and your home. Antigua was a wonderful experience and I hope to return. I was able to go out with friends the night before I left for El Salvador and celebrate such a great experience. Then at 4am I was picked up by a mini bus and taken to my main bus terminal in Guatemala city. When my mini bus driver learned I was headed to El Salvador he told me to be careful of Salvadorans. I told him that there are people in El Salvador that I consider my family- he was quiet after that. I am still surprised by the racism and stereotypes that exist around the world.
Anyhow, I road from Guatemala City to San Salvador on a nice bus. I left so early in the morning to make sure that I crossed the border at a decent hour and wasn't on the roads after dark. Just a little extra safety, especially as a woman traveling solo. The only moment of slight incident was at the border when a group of men wanted us to change our money. The waited outside the passport office to surround people as they walked out. As a solo traveler I made sure to wait until someone else on my bus was ready to walk out and then quickly followed that person out so as not to be all alone in a circle of money exchangers. There was no incident but I try to be smart about my travels.
In any event, I arrived in San Salvador and met up with my advisor and one of his masters graduate students. We have been getting our research underway so stay tuned and I'll fill you in on what we are up to and how the research goes.
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| Looking back at Guatemala from El Salvador |
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