El Salvador Pictures!

Well, I am realizing I probably should have divided these pictures into several posts BUT for the sake of time (I'm leaving for our women's retreat in a couple of hours!) there are a lot of pictures, not in the best order, for you to enjoy below. Let me know if you have any questions or want me to elaborate!

This is where we stayed, the Princess Hilton. . .for 25 dollars a night - what a deal! It was located in the "American" part of town with restaurants that you would find here (even a Tony Romas) - not a realistic view of what the country is really like. . .thankfully we didn't just stay in our hotel the whole week!
Nicole, Noel, and Robb enjoying the breakfast that was included with our stay every morning!

Like I said, these pictures are out of order. . .here we are with students (97 came!) at the "Meet the Americans" party we threw on Thursday night after doing 2 days of campus ministry.
Annette (2nd on left) with students we met at one of the universities earlier that day. There was a clear Gospel presentation given which is so exciting!
Jeff (who became "Jefe" on the trip) and Alan (center) with some of the guys they formed relationships with at the party. . .now we're all keeping in touch through facebook - oh, technology!
Sunday afternoon we were taken to this carnival at "Devil's Gate" - interesting, and slightly crazy!
We went on a little hike together - this was the only time the entire week that it was foggy. . . and it wasn't a cold fog - it was still humid!

Here is one of the Universities that we did ministry at - it was founded as an evangelical university and now it is still a private university but belief in Christ is no longer it's foundation.
Here are Samantha, Jorge (these 2 students came with us from UC Berekley), and my back :) as we are having spiritual conversations in the cafeteria on one of the university campuses. Students are really open to talking!
Our transportation consisted of this van that all 13 of us squeezed into (not including the driver). . .many fun times were had with lots of singing. As you can see, Robb and Joel are getting into it!
Our team was so fantastic - here I am with Nicole and Noel, 2 freshmen from Cal Poly that came along. We're having dinner at a yummy Italian restaurant!
Baby Kate also joined us for the week - she's the daughter of the other staff members that I helped to lead this week with. She was such a trooper!

We enjoyed authentic foods like pupusas and plantinas. . .and other things but I can't remember what they were called. Here Joel is - ready to eat off of all those plates they brought him!
Wow - he went a little over-board! :) Thankfully the food was super cheap and we didn't have to stay and wash the dishes!
Here we are with students who gave us a tour at one of the universities - we went to a total of 4. At this university the guys had to play a game of "futbol" against the school team. . .so thankful that I'm not a guy!
Here we are going a "meet and greet" with students and staff of another university. In the center is the president of the university - who is the former Vice President of El Salvador. . .crazy!
And yet another group picture - we took lots of these during the week! This one includes some of the staff members (and kids) of Campus Crusade as well as Victor and Elly, two students that we formed particularly close relationships with throughout the week.

Here's an idea of how we traveled - it was crammed, thankfully we all are such good friends that it didn't matter!
A typical El Salvadorian market. . . where I tried some of the BEST pineapple ever!
The country is very lush and green - their rainy season starts in May and goes until November. I'm so glad we weren't there for that. . .
but we were definitely there for some intense heat! Robb had a particularly hard time with that as you can see!
We found the ladies bathroom signs to be quite funny at times - here's one with a women with very big hips - taken at the San Salvador airport, shortly after our arrival at 7 AM in the morning!
At another authentic restaurant I had a "guava frozen fruit" - so yummy!

And then the guys and I decided to combine the different flavors of our frozen fruits and drink it at the same time. . .3 of the 4 in this picture (myself included) came home pretty sick - but I'm pretty sure it wasn't because of this particular drink. We think it might be some lemonade we had at the beach. . .bad news!
Not only did we do campus ministry - we also had the opportunity to minister to poor children in a very rural community - unforgettable.
Every kid, no matter where you live, needs help with their shoe laces!
They enjoyed the goodie bags that we put together including paper, crayons, stickers, erasers, bubbles, little games, and more - how fun it was to play and sing with them!
This picture should be at the beginning - because it's the first thing that didn't go according to our plan - how hilarious!! :) Really though, God provided so much protection and safety during this week - the entire trip was basically problem free!

A good portion of our day on Saturday was spent relaxing at an amazing beach! Here are Nicole and Noel enjoying the hammock together. We also swam, ate, napped, shared testimonies, and enjoyed God's creation together!
There was this awesome waterslide that got used a lot by our team!
Oh Robb - this is just one of countless silly pictures that we have of you!
I'll end with this one - how beautiful! The Lord really displayed His majesty and sovereignty throughout the entire week. . .I'd love to tell you more so let me know when and where and I'll be there! :)

Okay, now I'm off to pack and prepare for women's retreat. 180 signed up to go which is so exciting. Pray that God would meet each and every woman where she's at and that she would leave the weekend so encouraged and challenged to keep Him her first love. Have a great weekend yourself!