Saturday Jan 5 and Jan 6.

Well we got settled in our new digs and then started the day in Aqua Caliente.  As usual it was about 90 degrees during the day but there is a nice breeze and it is not humid.

The six of us all eat at the home is Marta.  She is the school principal and two of us are sleeping there.  In this case it is John and Cathy Tucker.   Food it great that is all prepared by Marta and two other women that came to this town just to take care of our food needs.  I guess is one of the many great things about the Padre, in that he always has a plan and it always works.

The plan for Saturday was to go to the school and plan on what we were going to do for the big first day of teaching English on Monday.  Since this was the first time the group from Kent has tried to teach grades 3 through 7 at one time it was challenge.  Eventually we decided on a curriculum and completed the necessary flash cards and songs for the big day.

After that I decided to find an internet cafe and check my email and write my blog.  This in one not far from the colegio and the cost is a whole one dollar a hour to use it.

After using it I started back to the house and was stopped first by a man who wanted to talk about the US. He was  in the US for 19 years and had a great business in Boston area.  I think it was in landscaping and had a lot of employees.  He said the taxes were too high and came back to his home. Now he has a new baby but said that finding a job is very hard and if there is work they do not pay much.

After talking to him I was stopped by another man.  He as a barber shop in town.  He is about 25 years old. And guess what.  He has been to the US 4 times and deported every time.  He worked in Boston in the building trades making about $30.00 per hour.  Now is cuts hair in this little town of 10,000 for $1.50 per cut.  He says he is going to try again to go to the US.  The problem is the cost is $9,000 to get  there.  So again he says that jobs are tight and the jobs they have pay very little.  So I guess if you make $20.00 per day, everything is expensive even a beer at $1.00 per bottle.He also has two children one here and one in the US.

So it goes as the struggles of the people to take care of their families.  They all seem very hard working to me.  But to find opportunities is difficult. In this last man's case he spoke English very well, but does not have an education. He said he did not go to school because his father did not permit it.  Very confusing to me.

Also on Saturday another man any myself went to a local furniture store to try and buy a mattress for one of the other teachers.  They where staying in a nice house but the bed had just a thatched mat on it. So it was hard.  We got there 5 minutes before closing time and we could not make the deal that soon to closing time.  Maybe we will try on Monday.

Sunday,

Went to the 10:00 Mass at the church in the middle of the town. The name of the church is San Jose. This is the church that was restored by Padre Fuentes in 2006.  It truly is beautiful and a plaque is displayed on the wall that shows the appreciation of the people to his work to make this the center of activity in this town.  In any case, the Mass at ten was full with all types of people.  A very nice touch at the end of Mass was a little girl siting on a chair at the front of the church while holding baby Jesus.  I would say that at least one-half of the people cam up to her an kissed the statue and put a few coins in a basket.  I thought it was very nice.  Of course during the offering of Peace there were so many people that wanted to shake our hands.  After Mass the same thing.  They are so warm and appreciative of us being there.  It is very heart warming.  I might add that most people come to church in their Sunday finest.  Suits, nice dresses and high heels.  I guess to them Mass is a very special time and they want to show there love for God in this way.

After Mass Pat DiMauro and I walked to a building that was built in 2005.  It was built as a hotel but never used as such since there is no business  demand so the owner says for it.  He says he spent $400,000 to build it. He lives there.  He is also from the US and lived there for 23 years.  He wants to sell it.  It would need a lot of work but I think it has some potential to be a high school for the Padre's future plans.  So we will see.  I need to talk to the Padre about his.

After that it was time at 2:00 to go to Mass with the Padre way up in the mountains near Aqua Caliente.  We we all piled into two pickup trucks and away we went.  I unfortunately had to ride in the bed of one of the trucks along with some kids that went along with us.  As usual the road is winding and just dirt and full of holes.  The good part of this is that was we continued up and up it got cooler and cooler that was a nice change from our town.  We reached the church in the middle of a field. It has just been built.  It was very nice.  Again the church was built by the local people but the funds came from the Salvadoran people that live in the Boston area.  The Padre serves as the weekend priest there and he goes in some others as well.  We arrived and the whole church was already full.  We also met up with the other Pilgrims that are visiting from Youngstown.  When the people found out that the Padre had arrived they all stood up applauded.  That is how happy they were to see him.  We all marched in as a group and took a place of honor next to the altar.

As usual the Mass was full of praise for God and the Padre talking to the people about how proud he was that they had built this church and how by working together so many things can happen.  He is always inspiring and you can see the interest on the faces of the people that they listened to his every word.  Again during the peace offering so many people came up to us to thank us for coming.  It is so hard to understand how they can feel this way toward us.  After Mass we had to stand at the entrance to the church and all of the people walked by to say thank you again for coming.  Then the best part.  Suddenly there was a whole spread of great food to eat. All prepared by the local people at their expense.  We had chickens, beans, broccoli , soup and tortillas.  All very good and very much appreciated.  As I said we are always fed well.

About 8:00 it was time to get back into the truck and head down the road again.  I of course was in the back again with the kids.  I used the time to practice my very poor Spanish with kids that were in the First grade and the Sixth Grade.  Also fun.

And so ends our first weekend in El Salvador.  Monday will be the the challenge of teaching to about 100 of the kids from the colegio.

Thanks for reading about my little adventure and I hope it will give you some understanding as we go on the mission of this Padre who I have grown to admire on so many levels.