Coatepeque

At long last, it has happened. I have finally seen where Go spent those six months before beginning his adventures at Georgetown. This past weekend Mark and I were taken by Eva, along with two of her friends who are visiting from the US, to El Lago de Coatepeque. We arrived fairly late Saturday night, just in time to see the lake from a look-out point while the sun was still up. We had dinner and drinks at Las Palmeras, a restaurant on the shore of the lake. Eva told us that it was a regular hang-out for her, Go and other summer volunteers. It was certainly a beautiful spot. After our meal we headed down the VERY rough dirt road to the San Jorge Hostel for the night. This is where Eva’s other organization (Nueva Acropolis) hosts their volunteers and where Go called home for all those months. Eva and I actually shared the room where Go stayed.

After seeing the area, I am in awe of Go and of everyone who lives there for any length of time. I can’t explain the sense of isolation that I had while there. Coatepeque is only about an hour’s drive from San Salvador but while you are there you can easily feel as if there isn’t a city within living memory. By the time we got to the hostel it was well after dark and Eva did her best to give us a tour of the grounds. It was wonderful to see all the great projects Nueva Acropolis has going on the grounds and nearby but I have to admit I was absolutely distracted by the unbelievable number of stars in the sky. If I could see that night sky every night, I would be a happy girl. The cost may be too high for me, however, because the price is living in a VERY rural area. I think I may be too much of a spoiled city girl for that. I truly enjoyed the experience all the same.

In the morning Mark and Eva’s friends went for a six hour hike on the volcano while Eva stayed to welcome a small group of volunteers for an agricultural training session and I slept in for the first time since I arrived in El Salvador. We then rented a boat for the afternoon and went out on the lake. After touring around the lake for awhile to see some of the beautiful weekend houses that have been built along the shores, we took the boat out into the middle of the lake and jumped in for a swim. The water was beautiful but our swim was cut short when a thunderstorm rolled over and caught us in the water. We jumped out of the lake and back onto the boat and made a run for the restaurant where we rented the boat from. We eventually got behind the rain and almost everyone jumped in for another dip before we went back.

Of all the events of the day, however, I have to admit the highlight was probably meeting Oscar and his sister. They are two local children who Go befriended during his time there and, although shy, they were interested in meeting the friends of Go. They were sweet kids and I’m sorry we didn’t have the time to spend with them and see if we could get any good stories about their memories of Go.

It was definitely a good weekend.