Next Adventure!

I'm leaving for El Salvador this Friday night and I am finally getting excited about it! I've had so much going on the last few weeks that the trip has felt as if it was forever away, but yesterday morning I woke up relaxed and realized I was leaving for my trip in FIVE days! I will have submitted my graduate school application before I leave, my homework will be done, and I will be free to just enjoy my time in El Salvador.

I'm going with a group of people I don't really know, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I'd consider some acquaintances, but I'm more or less doing this by myself, for myself. Because of this, I can only hope that I'll get to spend some time with my own thoughts while I'm there and kind of "re-find" myself. I'm not lost, but I've been so overwhelmed this semester that I've kind of forgotten how to appreciate myself. I want to read and write and think and just work with my hands while I'm there. I want to leave technology behind for 8 days and just focus on each and every moment of each day.

I don't know what to expect on this trip, just like Costa Rica, other than some new experiences that I want to be as open to as possible. We will be living with a host family, and I want to challenge myself to use my spanish every day. We will be sleeping all together in a huge guest house, I want to spend the nights on a hammock outdoors and reflect on what an amazing life I have been given. We will spend four days building a classroom by laying brick by hand for hours, I want to feel what it's like to put my time and energy and services into something that is going to bring success and education to children for years to come. We are going to travel to Mayan ruins and the National Cathedral to visit the grave of an El Salvadorian martyr, I want to learn about a new culture and incorporate some of their values into my daily life. We are traveling to witness a Good Friday procession, and I want to learn about God. We spend our final day at a beach house, and I want to relax and reflect.

Simplicity. I'm not looking for much. I'm just blessed to have the opportunity to travel twice within the span of a year, and I just crave the new experiences. I'm bringing books and paper and pens for my free time. It's not a break to catch up on sleep. It's a break to live and appreciate every moment of every day of this wonderful opportunity.