International Chaperone

I just returned from a Knowledge Bowl competition in San Pedro Sula, Honduras where I served as a last minute substitute chaperone! Now, I have traveled with students multiple times before, but never internationally. As we were boarding the bus, one of the moms verified with me that I’d be collecting all the passports once we got to the hotel and keeping them in the safe in my room. I nodded emphatically as if that was clearly the plan of action that I had been intending to carry out. However, in my mind I was thinking, “Safe? Hotels have safes in them? I need to not only take care of my ridiculously important documentation, but now I’m also in charge of the safekeeping of 9 other minors’ passports?!” I just continued to smile and nod.

When we got to the border, the security officer had to see me and my passport as each child on a Salvadoran passport was now officially placed in my care. My Spanish managed to carry me through the niceties of customs despite the fact that it was being distorted through the glass and extra scary because it was an important situation. We were allowed to cross the border into Honduras where we each collected an important piece of yellow paper that we were told would cost us $150 if lost. So, who got put in charge of keeping track of all these mysterious, yet valuable yellow, carbon triplicates? That’s me!

After an 8 hour bus ride, we arrived at a fancy hotel and hurried to get everyone into their room as we were already late for the much-needed coaches meeting and opening ceremonies. As group by group came to get their keys, I signed my life away time after time agreeing to be responsible for these children and all their actions. Slightly daunting, yes, but I decided to simply focus on getting their passports safely put away in a locked place (despite the fact that I’ve traveled quite a bit internationally and NEVER locked up my passport…I’d also never been in charge of an additional 9 either). I got up to my room to find the safe in the closet, safely and securely locked shut. I proceeded to follow the instructions provided on the outside of the safe to reset the code and open the door. I followed them carefully 6 times before I decided that I needed back up and called the front desk. They said they’d send someone soon. I explained that we were already late, so it needed to be ahorita [now]! I waited for seemingly an eternity, which probably amounted to 3 minutes. When no one came, I decided that the passports could live in the nightstand drawer for a few hours because by now everyone was going to be waiting for me on the bus to leave for the school!

In my infinite wisdom, I decided to get to the bus faster by skipping the elevator and taking the stairs which happened to be conveniently located right outside my door! As I was mentally patting myself on the back for being speedier AND more environmentally friendly, I realized that a dimly-lit stair case in Honduras might not have been the most opportune locale to go green. Whoops! Okay, I thought, I won’t do this again. I’m sure I’ll be fine this time. I was only on the 3rd floor, so as I made it down one flight of stairs and reached the 2nd floor I was a little apprehensive that there was no handle to get back in. However, I reassured myself that for security purposes they keep the floors locked, but surely the lobby door will open. Nope, not the case. I continued my descent hoping and praying that I’d come across an unlocked door to exit, but I only found a very dark and door-less corner.

At this point, my heart and mind started to race simultaneously. Irrational and illogical Carolyn “I’m going to be stuck in this stair case FOREVER! There’s no air conditioning and probably a finite amount of oxygen that I’ll quickly deplete because the window aren’t open!” Rational and logical Carolyn, “I’ll call my co-chaperone Will and he’ll let me out!” I called and realized that his phone doesn’t work here in Honduras. “I’ll call the other school’s chaperone!” Oh wait, we hadn’t exchanged numbers yet. “I’ll pound on the door because surely the guy who was supposed to come and help me open my safe will be looking for me and hear me knocking and save me!” I pounded on the door for a while feeling really guilty that I was making an entire bus of people even later. When no one responded, I realized at this point that I probably wouldn’t be stuck forever and when I got out it’d be a good story! :) Thankfully, soon after that thought, I received a text from Will saying “Test” and heard him knocking on my door looking for me. I pounded back, yelled and was heard! Free!!! (He could text but not send or receive calls…go figure.)

Despite the fact that we were in a hurry to get to the bus, I caught a glance at the door and felt vindicated that there was no sign anywhere on that door that said “This door will lock behind you and you’ll be stuck forever” only “Fire Escape”. What if there’s a fire and the firemen need to get up to another floor? They’ll be locked out for good! Thankfully, I made it through the remainder of the trip without any other major chaperone faux pas. Some might take exception with the two important receipts I misplaced, but I’ve decided that since both situations have already been rectified, it’s as if they don’t even count! :) Coaching a Knowledge Bowl team is a story for another day…

Volcano Race

Road races were just getting started last year in San Salvador, but this year they are in full force and I believe that I have done 4 races in less than 4 months. This is the greatest concentration of races that I’ve ever run including the time surrounding my marathon training a little over a year ago! However, after running an “8K” which turned out to be a 6K mostly up hill on trails, a 6.4K (yep, 6.4), and a “10K” which turned out to be about 9K, I had the chance to run my favorite race I’ve ever run…ever. It was a 14K up San Salvador Volcano on dirt/rocky trails called “El Reto del Volcan” [The Volcano Challenge].

Now, prior to running it, I was a little apprehensive about running up a volcano, which I estimate climbed about 2600ft or around 800m. However, I decided it was novel to run up a volcano, and I like novel experiences. Granted, I hadn’t run more than a 12K at any point in the recent past, but surely I could scale a volcano over 14K if I just ran slowly enough! So, we left my friend’s car at the top and were bussed down to the starting point with a group of people looking much more hard core than I felt. Before the start, I kept reassuring myself, “You’ll finish…just keep running!”

When the gun sounded around 7:10am, I was pleasantly surprised to see that everyone was starting out slowly knowing that we had a lot of volcano in front of us. The weather was pleasantly cool, with a refreshing breeze and a bright blue sky. As we began our ascent, I marveled at the gorgeous, green trees along the path that opened up at opportune places along the path to display ever-increasingly amazing views of the other volcanoes in the distance with clouds gently resting on top like a crown and Lake Illopango sitting at its base. At times, an overview of the city was visible, and others times only nature. As the morning wore on and the sun heated things up, we rose in altitude and it got cooler negating the warming effects! The first third of the race was a fairly gentle, but steady incline and I was nearly giddy with delight to be running amongst such beauty. As the incline increased, I kept enjoying the views and continue to press on slowly but surely. The race wore on and I realized I was passing people; that’s always exciting! Don’t be mistaken, I was running SLOWLY, but others would walk and slow running beat walking up a steep hill.

With no mile markers, I really had no idea how far I’d gone except I figured I should be able to finish in about 2 hours…8 miles…uphill…15 minute miles. I’d been going for about 1:15 when a man told us we had only 2K left…what?! Only a little over a mile to go?! I was stoked! Yeah, pretty sure he lied, and knew we’d never see him again to complain. That was the toughest part: mentally thinking you were going to be done at any moment only to find another turn and yet more uphill. However, I did reach the end and with a legitimate time of 1hr 47min! I would have been pleased with any time because running up a volcano is an accomplishment in itself, but it was fun to have exceeded my non-existent expectations!

Finally, as if gorgeous views, friendly co-runners, beautiful weather, and good results weren’t enough, they fed us a full, sit-down breakfast at the end of the race with views looking out over the volcano! Best. Race. Ever.

Church in San Salvador

Finding a church home has always been an integral part of my life regardless of where I’ve lived, it’s been a constant and important part of my life. In addition to providing a place where I can grow spiritually and a vessel through which to serve, church has also enabled to integrate into a community while attempting to form relationships and acclimate in a new place. Upon arriving to El Salvador, I decided to search for a church based on these mostly logistical qualifications: within walking distance of home, Protestant, Spanish-speaking, and comprised of primarily Salvadorans (as opposed to ex-patriots). There was approximately one church that fit that bill, so on my first Sunday after orientation, I verified the directions on Google maps and took off!

I feel blessed beyond measure by the community I have found! It’s a huge Assembly of God church and a bit more conservative and charismatic than I would choose, but one can learn a lot from perspectives she might not always agree with. I’m only more recently starting to understand a high enough percentage to know that I have arguments to make! I inquired about small groups I could get involved with and got connected with an AMAZING group of 20-30-something single women who are delightful and have fully welcomed me into their social circle despite the fact that many of them don’t speak any English, and my Spanish needs to be handled with grace and patience.

One of the first events they invited me to was a Women’s Conference. Honestly, I was not looking forward to it aside from the fact that it would be an opportunity to listen to a lot of Spanish and spend time with my new prospective Salvadoran friends during breaks because I had already decided it was going to be all about female submission and being obedient to the head of the household. Thankfully, I was completely wrong! Instead here are some of the things that I took away from the 2-day event (some spiritual, others superficial)

*Despite the unwritten requirement of wearing a fuchsia shirt and heels that were no less than 3” high, they accepted me in my green shirt and chaco sandals.

*Jokes are much harder to understand in a second language. I missed a lot, but was excited when I would happen to catch one!

*Despite ejercito sounding like exercise, it actually means army which was said no fewer than 100 times. I think I finally asked my friend next to me after time #97.

*While I don’t typically appreciate war imagery with respect to matters of the faith, I was able to make exception because it was used in the context of a women’s conference and the verses referenced started with Deborah leading a huge army to take out a neighboring village because she was the only one with enough faith in what God was going to do. The story ends with a second woman Jael completing the mission by giving the leader of the opposition spoiled milk to drink instead of water and then nailing a peg through his temple while he was sleeping (Judges 4). Again, let me reiterate that I’m a much bigger fan of the parts of the Bible that emphasize the importance of loving one another, mercy triumphing over judgment and the challenge issued for the righteous one to throw the first stone. However, it was refreshing and empowering to hear about some of the women of the Bible who didn’t just sit nicely and quietly, but took action based on their faith (even if it was in a more violent manner than I would prefer)!

Isaiah 60:1, the theme of the retreat says, “Levantate, resplandece; porque ha venido tu luz y la Gloria de Jehova ha nacido sobre ti.” [Arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.] I have definitely experienced the shiny goodness and welcoming embrace of friendship by my new friends and hope to be able to pass it on!