In the morning, we had a meeting with the director after breakfast, got our fingerprints scanned to get into the complex (we have a fingerprint scanner security system...it makes me feel like James Bond), and went shopping again. Megan and I unpacked our kitchen things, so the downstairs is looking much nicer. For dinner, over 20 of us went to a pupusería and had a great meal. I had two beers and two pupusas + curtido for $7, including tax and tip. Amazing. There was even live music!
A note about our living sitch - My school has us living in a complejo (complex) with only teachers. I'm really enjoying this perk of being here, especially since we only pay a small utility fee to stay. Megan and I live in a condo with our bedrooms and bathrooms upstairs, plus a patio, dining room, living room, and kitchen downstairs. There's a beautiful pool, not to mention maintenance workers to take care of anything we need. We'll meet our maids on Friday morning.
The complejo is guarded 24/7 by vigilantes and is in a really nice area of San Salvador. We don't ever lock our door. It's kind of giving us a false sense of security as far as walking around and exploring. When we go into the city this week, I imagine it'll be quite a bit different. No jewelry, no valuables, etc. Can't take the public transportation due to the risk of gang violence.
The other new elementary teachers and I (there are four of us) have been discussing renting a car to travel around during the Agostinas (August holidays) coming up. I got an international driving permit at AAA before I came, but apparently our US driver licenses work fine here. Someone on the welcoming committee told us that it's only about $25/day to rent a car. We're thinking of doing the Ruta de Café. We'll see where the week brings us!
