Isla Meanguera in the Golfo de Fonseca

Back in mid-September during the independence holiday here in El Salvador on September 15th, we made our way to the far eastern coast of El Salvador to the Gulf of Fonseca (2.5 hr drive from San Salvador) which is bordered by El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. We caught a local boat in La Union out to an island called Isla Meanguera -- an hour and a half boat ride, which was it's own adventure, including a two plus hour wait for the tide to rise, boat to fill, and then with various stops along the way... The main tourist destination on the island is the Hotel La Joya del Golfo owned by a U.S. - Salvadoran couple and offers quite the little oasis. http://www.hotellajoyadelgolfo.com/ We had a great time hanging out on their lovely dock - fishing, reading, swimming, hammocking (definitely a word here), and eating really good food. Cole enjoyed catching little fish with Richard the owner and his daugher Rachel and feeding it to their cat George. And we took a little boat ride out to see more of the area, fish, and hang out on a very private beach area where we could swim in calm ocean water. I did a little kayaking. All around we enjoyed another trip/adventure into a different part of El Salvador...a small country with a lot to experience!

Chloe

Our dog, Chloe, of 10+ years passed on Friday, October 14th in the morning. We miss her greatly and are very thankful for the years we had with her and all of the adventures - from hikes up mountains to swimming in rivers, lakes, and oceans to the simple daily, weekly walks around the various neighborhoods, paths, and streets we have lived on over the years.

Here are a few picture memories over the years - may you rest in peace Chloe...

Cole's start of the school year...

Cole started up school this year at EA https://www.amschool.edu.sv/easite/ with an Orientation on August 11th and then full-day Kindgergarten on August 12th - teacher Ms. Isabel or "Ms. Isa" to the kiddos (a new teacher to the school from the States). At the Open House we learned about the "responsive classroom" and Reggio Emilio approaches she uses ~ very hands-on and interactive and should be a great fit for Cole. This year he has 4 other kids in his classroom that are native English speakers; last year he was the only one. Cole is very adept at Spanish - has not missed a beat since coming back. Infact, at the beginning of the year, he was eager and willing to help Ms. Isa "translate" or bridge for his friends who are still learning English. :-) Cole still plays mostly with his friends/classmates from last year out on recess (which my new office now looks out onto!), but making other friends.

He is doing really well - very excited for this year of reading and writing (definitely a lefty now) ~ and enjoying soccer (on-campus) and yoga (off-campus) as after-school activities. There is also a Cub Scout program organized by parents working in the U.S. Embassy in which he will be participating 2 - 3 times per month and Cole has 3 friends from class that are a part of the Tiger Scouts program. It will be a good year for him. Here are a few pictures from the beginning of the year, including the first day of school (pic with mamá), walking to school with papa, and the recent Independence Day parade at the school (September 15th national holiday - the same day for all Central American countries).

Copán, Honduras

Back in El Salvador ~ Cole and I arrived on July 26th and joined Rich who arrived a few days earlier to meet the new teachers.

Our first excursion out of San Salvador this school year was to the Ruinas in Copán, Honduras for the Augostino break (August 1st - 5th) - the week after is when all teachers (Monday) and students (Thursday and Friday) start up school. This trip was with three other families and organized through our friends the Moores who work at the U.S. Embassy (Cole goes to school with Davion and Mariah). The city of Copán was really nice - reminded us of Antigua, Guatemala because of the cobbled-stone streets and generally nice, clean town with varied restaurants (Twisted Tanya's, a favorite) and shops. We stayed at the Hotel Marin http://www.hotelmarinacopan.com/?lang=es which was nice and had the all important element of the pool for the kids. We enjoyed meeting new people and of course Cole enjoyed having friends/other kids.


Once we arrived, we took tuk-tuks (3-wheeled scooters made in India) or walked everywhere. The Copán Ruinas were very cool - called the "Paris" of the ruins, because of the more artistic side of the sculptures and architecture versus Tecal (in Guatemala) being the "New York" with larger structures. It was very impressive and interesting - our guide was excellent.

Macaw Mountain, bird conservatory http://www.macawmountain.com/, was another highlight - the surroundings were beautiful (lush, green forest and river), the birds varied (macaws, parrots, toucans, owls, raptors...) and very well cared for, along with an interactive component and a fabulous guide. We of course did find spiders along the way... The pictures will speak for themselves. We are trying to take advantage of our time and venturing out -having fun!

Summertime visit to the states...

A short recap on our summer visit to the states; different kind of "road trip" and set of adventures state-side with family...than ES (roads, nature, parks, etc...).

We went to Colorado on the front end and the back end. Cole went to a week-long summer camp the second week of June ~ Rainbow Day Camp at our church/spiritual center in Lakewood. He had a really great time (see pics!) ~ singing songs; doing karate, yoga, and archery; going to Pine Top to learn/experience native american traditions; art and music projects; and building a collective matrix of cardboard creations in the Dome Zone. We were also able to see a few precious friends and we are thankful for that time together. There was also precious family time - Cole fishin' (w/gma + gpa) and crawdad fishin' (w/gma)! Cole w/ various combos of gma/pa, cousin, uncle, mom/dad) also went to museums, zoos, movies, hikes, playgrounds, etc... We celebrated birthdays and witnessed the first drive of my nephew Jacob in the white subie...



Next we were off to North Carolina....and had a nice week-long summer vacation in a house off Lake Lure in the mountains with Sinclair-Crowel-French family members! It was a wonderful and relaxed time with family and the cousins (Maddie-10, Cole-6, Robin-6, Henry-3, Jack - 6mo) had a great time swimming in the pool and lake, hiking, playing in nearby interactive children's museums, and hanging out in the house we all rented together. A good place/time to have fun and catch up.



NC - Delaware, Ohio to spend time with the Pasters and experience a "small town" Fourth of July parade (complete with large tractors) and the OWU campus symphony-concert and fireworks. OH - Long Island, New York to visit with Martin (Rich's stepfather) and Jeannette where we took a trip out to Fire Island and then took a ferry boat to Connecticut where we made our way to Maine.


Bar Harbor, Maine is a great place to spend the middle of the summer - not too hot - and Acadia National Park is an inter-connected and GREAT part of being in Bar Harbor (wonderful city next to the sea). Alan (Rich's brother) and his son Hayden joined us for part of the time and we had fun bike riding and hanging out (no pics w/Alan-Hayden?). We took advantage of the great transportation system in the park and Cole earned his Junior Park Ranger badge. A highlight was the Dive-In Theatre with Diver-Ed nature program on a boat (mini-Ed is a small plastic diver "buddy" of Diver Ed) where you experience sea-life in real time with Diver Ed via video and audio and then hands-on with things brought on board (spiny urchins, sea stars, sea cucumbers, lobster...) http://divered.com/ All around a VERY good time - grateful for these times with family and close friends & a nice road trip for our family.