Dear Family and Friends,
My co-director and I are safe and sound at the Villa Serena Hotel in San Salvador. We had delays out of SEA and LAX, but with long layovers anyway, they were no problem. We did hit a snag boarding at LAX: we were in the LAST group to board, and the first groups had totally filled the overhead bins so our group had to check everything, including the bag where we stashed all the cash for the project. I was a basket case until we saw the bag arrive on the belt in the baggage area.
One of our big bags didn´t arrive. We were not surprised because we overheard the gate agent talking to one of the baggage guys as we were boarding at LAX. The guy said they were holding enough space to take all of the hand carries we had to give up, and then they´d put on as much of the other baggage as they could. We´re glad everything else made it, but it was a 2-hour process to file the papers and get through customs. The American Air claim office first said to be sure the San Salvador address was correct because they would deliver the bag when it came, but another agent later said,¨Here´s the number to call to see if the bag is in. Say a prayer that the bag shows up tomorrow and is delivered to the hotel so we don´t have to go back to the airport to get it and go through customs again!!
We had a meeting this afternoon with American Embassy people about story telling sessions they´re going to do in our workshops. They seem very sharp so we think it will work out well. Unfortunately we were getting pedicures when they arrived at the hotel for the meeting, so we met in the salon -- not the best first impression, but they seem like good people. We think they´ll forgive us. Then we had dinner with Tony, our USA Project liaison -- it´s always good to see him. He´s now helping with arrangements for our orientation session, etc.
We´re already loving the warm weather and wonderful people. We got hugs and royal treatment from the hotel staff, many of whom we´ve known now for 6 years. American Airlines had said we´d get a light breakfast which turned out to be a choice of orange juice or water! The staff here at the hotel fixed us breakfast at 10:30 because we were STARVED.
So we´re ready for a good night´s sleep. Thank you all for your interest and good wishes. I have regular email so you can keep me posted on what's going on from your end. So, goodnight everyone, wherever you are!
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