Bienvenidos Mark!

I finally have my co-intern with me! Mark has made it safely to El Salvador and has been welcomed as warmly as I was when I first arrived. He, however, has had the added benefit of not arriving when half the office was going to be absent and thus his first few days in El Salvador have been more eventful.

Mark arrived Saturday morning and I picked him up from the bus stop along with several of Eva's friends. We went to lunch and then off to Eva's apartment to drop off his bags and to pick mine up for my move to Lely's house. After the new living arrangements were settled, we went off to the volcano for some "gourmet" pupusas at El Café del Volcán. We also had some Salvadoran hot chocolate (much better than that powdered stuff we call hot chocolate in the US) and fried yuca (very tasty). Shortly there after we went to dinner at a Chinese restaurant with Eva's family to celebrate her sister's birthday. Even the Chinese food here is good. Of course by that point I was ready to burst. A whole day of eating!

Sunday has been the highlight of the week, however. We went to the beach! FINALLY! Just a 30 minute drive from the city, Playa Tunco (Pig Beach) is actually a fantastic surfing spot. The water was insanely warm and it was my first time swimming in the Pacific Ocean. Fun times! AND I managed to keep from becoming horrifically sun burnt! All in all, a very successful day. Mark and I are trying to plan a weekend there. There are a string of cheap hotels along the beach that generally cater to visiting surfers. The most expensive hotel is all of $60-$70 a night and it is absolutely beautiful. I'm sure everyone will be hearing more about our time on this beach in the future.







Since Monday we have been working on getting Mark familiar with the Mediation Project and the reports we will be writing. We've spent a lot of time reading and in meetings. Nothing terribly interesting until today when we went to talk to our USAID supervisors about the reports and their expectations. It was just a preliminary meeting but it means we're finally going to be able to start diving into our work. We were also invited to attend a fair-well party for the former Mission Director at USAID who is returning to DC to become the Regional Director for Latin America. It was a great opportunity to meet people and network. Luckily there was an afternoon torrential downpour that extended our stay at USAID for over an hour.

The real work has truly begun now that we have a better understanding of the large scope of the work we will be doing. We are still not sure of exactly who will be reading the documents we produce but interest was expressed by many people at USAID, so the pressure is on. Let the fun begin!