March 24: Mark's Perspective

12:30am right now, Curt and I are sharing a room at a Rotarian named Carlos in  San Salvador.  My turn to blog; Curt just put his head down on the pillow and said "make me sound intelligent."  No promises.  30 seconds and he is snoring... really snoring.

We had a full day as expected.  It started with breakfast and a quick visit to Roberto's family's call center company (awk I know).  Roberto Eduardo Guerra (24 years old) has been a key role in having us in Santa Ana.  He is a Rotaract President and founder of the club that is only 9 months old and is currently a medical student.  He deserves a shout out for all the work he has done to take care of us.

Roberto and his girlfriend

We drive 20 minutes out of Santa Ana to Lago de Coatepeque (Lake of Coatepeque).  The lake is the crater of a volcano - dark blue water, warm on the top, extremely cold below. 

We are here with the Rotaract club and we enjoy each others company at a private club.  Our time is filled with laughter and camaraderie.  Doug pays $20 for a half hour boat ride for 15 people.  When we return, Curt plays the guitar by the pool.  We enjoy every last part of this tranquil visit as the Rotary conference starts tonight and we will have a busy next few days.

 

 

We arrive in San Salvador.  Alicia and Kim are staying together for the last few nights and Doug will be solo, Curt and I get picked up by Carlos.  15 minutes to shower and we are off to the district conference.
It is overwhelming!  Lots of key people that we have met over the last 4 weeks are in one room and we cannot keep up with the greetings.

 Two familiar faces we gravitate to are Juan and Eyda (Juan is the rum tycoon from Panama that we stayed with on his estate).  We get to see Dawn Straka, the district governor for our area back in Canada.  She has visited the area quite a few times due to her involved in wheelchair donations.

It is a night of socialization outside on the museum's property, a beautiful venue... I am tired.  Tomorrow we will present to the district conference.

MC