pics and thoughts

La Canoa playground (part of)





this was amazing! in the midst of "depression" this hope was so radiant!




the river. BEAUTIFUL!!



the road to the river.



David spinnin some kids











our bus!! :D La Canoa and half of Presidio





me and some chicas from Amando Lopez



painting murals... the better part of them.... with older kids


the La Canoa team. LOVE them all!!






Jose y yo.... hes a cutie pie!!








our inside murals.... and yes.... that is a boat in the middle of the sky. this was disasterous. the pic makes it look better... trust me. the little kids did this.








our time with the kids







HENRY!!! he is a monkey... seriously!! love him!!




these are random thoughts in no sequence or order.

i think that this thanksgiving was the first one that i can truly say that i am thankful and feel thankful in my heart. its something to say it and think it for a day, but this year it has been so much more to me. the simple things in life that we often pass by... for example... putting toilet paper in the toilet after you have used it. most of the time we think, oh.. poor countries have holes as toilets, but to me the the thing that stood out was the people who had flush toilets and yet still couldnt use them how we do.

still on the topic of thanksgiving, i had a convo with someone the other day. this person also went to el salvador. they explained how hard it was for them to eat at thanksgiving. my experience wasnt quite like that. i ate a plate of food and i was thankful for every bite i had. then people kept telling me to get more... i totally could have eaten more but i couldnt justify it to myself. i wish everyone there could have gone to el salvador and experiences what i did. i am not saying that they should have gone and seen how poor the people were or how little the el salvadorian people ate because they couldnt afford it, i wish they (the people at thanksgiving) could have seen what little they need to survive. we are in a culture where people indulge in everything and i think it is pointless... we pretty much dont need anything to survive.

i find it so hard to explain my experience to people. God really changed my heart and that is something that other people who have not experienced what i have, can not see. i wish that they could. el salvador changed my life and i really want that to be something other people can experience too.