Winding Down

Our trip is beginning to wind down. We leave El Salvador tomorrow evening, and arrive in San Francisco just after midnight on Sunday morning. The leaving is bittersweet, as we have had a great time, we have met a lot of wonderful people, and we have seen a lot. At the same time, our lives in the U.S are waiting.

This week, we have been doing a lot of things both to finish up our shooting and to see things we had missed due to the production. On one afternoon, three people - a director, a camera person, and an audio person - went around San Salvador collecting B-roll. This was done thoughtfully and carefully, both to get footage we needed and to stay safe. We got shots of houses in poor areas, graffiti, a famous statue, some footage in Mejicanos (the area where the vans were burned two weeks ago), and other footage.

We spent one morning shooting in and around San Vicente, an area hit hard by the last major storm. Manos de Esperanza and its sister organization, Adeprocca, provided baskets of supplies to 20 families who were victimized by the storm. We were able to get shots of areas that had been completely covered in water, of splits in the nearby volcano, made by the water, and of the "temporary" housing that people are still living in. We went back to San Salvador via a nearby town, Ilobasco, famous for its pottery. We also traveled to the little town of San Sebastián, known for its weaving, and saw weavers working on huge - and ancient - floor looms.

We spent another day in Suchitoto, a tourist town known for its colonial architecture and its handicrafts. We wandered around the town under police protection, and then had lunch next to a huge, man-made lake that supplies the power for San Salvador and the surrounding area. We were able to go out into the lake on a boat, and wander around on an island clearly inhabited by cows. Later, we found a waterfall, and the brave souls who were willing to climb down to the base of the falls had a dip in a natural pool surrounded by vegetation.

Today, we finished up our shopping for gifts, and 10 of us had lunch at the home of some friends of mine who are visiting relatives in San Salvador. There will be a despedida - a goodbye party - for us at a local night spot this evening. Tomorrow, there will be time to pack and to have lunch at our favorite local restaurant before heading out to the airport.

This has been a great trip and a fabulous group! Do join us for the screening. Although we had previously announced a tentative date for the screening, the date has had to be changed. We are now looking at either October 6th or October 20th, both Wednesdays. Look in this spot for the final date.

¡Hasta luego!