The day starts with the dreaded 6 am wake-up call….dreaded because everyone is so-o-o-o tired; although it is a very satisfying tiredness.

Breakfast consists of cornflakes, banana, mango (which we now know how to cut) and the most delicious, fresh orange juice. The entire team is armed with a hat, sunglasses, water bottle, hand sanitizer, and sensible shoes, and is outside ready for action at 7 am. Edwin, our wonderful bus driver, has started loading the 15 donation suitcases, 3 medical packs,6 jugs of water, several boxes of snacks, and leftover paint supplies – INSIDE the bus. Apparently the luggage rack is touring Guatemala. Oh well, we are flexible and adaptable to almost anything now – we’re just not sure where everyone will sit!

As we drive along the Paramericana Highway towards Izalco, we experience an interesting landscape of green and brown, punctuated by greatly colored (coloured for the Canadians) billboards advertising everything from Troika Volka to Burger King (for the Americans). Our bus has just been stopped for the third time this week by a police roadblock. They look very stern but only ask for Edwin’s licence – which he always has, thank goodness!

Edwin is a helpful addition to our team. He looks out for our kids like an extra chaperone. He also doubles as a tour guide pointing out lava rock and other interesting things along the way. He takes our group pictures making sure we all have smiles, and never complains about the 6 or 7 other cameras hanging from his wrist. Group pictures is a time consuming event but well worth the effort.

Coming into Izalco we are greeted with a billboard saying “Bienvenidos a Izalco” (our Spanish is improving and we now know what that means). It’s 8:15 am and locals are already lined up awaiting the medical clinic. Our designated area for our clinic and donations is very small but we enjoy being able to see the Interactors entertaining the children. We use old desks to separate our three areas: pharmacia, donations, and entertainment. We also set up a nice “relaxation station” for a break from the heat. The five doctors look over the lists of medications and head outside to their stations in the shade. In all, we service 216 patients – an assortment of men, women, children, and babies. The clinic routine is as follows: a patient sees the doctor, takes his prescription to the pharmacia, and then goes to the donation area for clothing, toothbrush, toothpaste, etc. The morning is crazy and busy. The team rotates helping out in each area. The heat is extreme and we are all daydreaming about our afternoon trip to Roberto’s beach house. Around 1 pm the line at the clinic dwindles, and we clean up feeling satisfied about a job well-done.

Our intended sandwich at Subway changes to a wonderful sit down lunch at a local restaurant called the Rio Nuevo. We have the choice of beef, hen, or rabbit. Seven people choose rabbit and enjoy it so much that they may ask Subway to add it as an option in Canada/America. Most say it tastes like chicken. (For anyone visiting this area – it has the nicest el bano in town; it has soft toilet paper and real soap!!) We are greeted by a screeching caged Cha Cha (apparently almost extinct).

At 2:45 pm it’s on the road again to Roberto’s beach house. We are trying to pack as much as possible into this trip although Edwin is concerned that there are only 24 hours in a day and he demands a little sleep time. Roberto’s place is past Salinitas and everyone is excited to swim one more time in the ocean. We quickly don our bathing suits, slather on the sunscreen, and wade into water that is the temperature of a hot tub. The swim area is separated from the wild surf by a ridge of black lava rocks. Because of our dinner plans, our stay at the beach house is short and sweet.

With only 45 minutes to drive back to the hotel, shower, fix hair and makeup, accessorize with our new market jewellery, write thank you notes, sort our donation money, it is truly a miracle that we are only 40 minutes late (oh well it’s Salvadorian time) to the farewell dinner at Lissette and Fausto’s casa in San Salvador. We enjoy a slideshow of our mission pictures before a delicious meal of burgers and fries and socializing. We are treated to cake decorated with the Interact logo and “Mission 2010”. After dessert, we are awarded with certificates from Carlos, the San Salvador Cuscatlan Rotary President, in appreciation for our service work in El Salvador. We present our donations for the backpack program, the jam factory project in Caluco, the maternity hospital in San Salvador, “Our Hearts are in El Salvador” program supporting heart surgery for children, money for repairing the retaining wall at the Aguilares Nursing Home, and new desks and chairs at the Santa Emilia school. There are hugs, kisses, and tears throughout the evening as we say our farewells to our wonderful Salvadorian friends.

After we return to the hotel, we decide to autograph our yellow shirts as a memento of the trip. Through tears and laughs, we recall stories from the week and promise to have a summer get together in Canada.

Becky and Barb E. (written deliriously at 1 am)