Salvadoran Situation Specifics

I officially moved down to San Salvador, El Salvador on Saturday, July 23rd and have been settling in, acclimating, and adjusting throughout the past week. Many thoughts and reflections have been stirring in my mind, but in this first Salvadoran post, I’m just going to describe my living and working situation to provide some context for the impending ruminations.

I will be teaching predominantly 10th grade chemistry with one section of 11th grade physics at the Escuela Americana in San Salvador, El Salvador (www.amschool.edu.sv/easite). The students are going to be nearly all upper-class Salvadoran. The campus is HUGE, manicured with tropical plants and flowers everywhere. It’s maintained by the highest concentration of groundskeepers that I’ve ever seen.

I live in a compound, henceforth referred to as the complejo, which consists of 15, two-story structures: single apartments, townhouses, and family homes packed into a relatively small area, located within the security walls of the school’s campus. These house most of the American teachers. While the ages of the teachers span the gamut, I’m likening the complejo environment to dorm life for adults (little privacy, but lots of opportunity for socializing, which I love!) My townhouse that I share with a roommate has a kitchen, dining room, living room, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, back porch and enclosed back yard teeming with foliage all within a 7 minute walk from my classroom. It’s wonderful!


Overall, I’m really excited about these next two years! The future promises new challenges, rewarding experiences and ventures different from anything I’ve seen thus far. :)