Traveling and i have a long history; i never truly loved leaving my hometown for a foreign experience. However, i loved immersing myself in the new experiences, regardless of my previous apprehensions. With that being said, I tried to avoid any type of extensive negative or positive expectations regarding this trip. I knew that at the end of the trip I will have had the experience of my life, and that was what i was hyper focusing on.
The first part of the trip ( arriving at Orange Hill) was surreal. We first pulled up to the turquoise tides in our clown car of 14 people shoulder-to-shoulder. The local environment exceeded my expectations ( although i did tell myself to keep my expectations in check). On top of the beautiful water, the sand, flora, and more were gorgeous than any photo stick picture. Once we checked in, lugged the luggage up the stairs to room 24, I set the AC to 61 degrees, which was god sent. The floors were so humid Kaylie was gliding across the floor in her sneakers. This humidity was expected, but definitely feels different from the Milledgeville mug. The short skip to the beach and splash in the pool paralleled that feeling. I was however happy to leave Orange hill to head to San Salvador, but once I arrived at the airport and had to wait on the third round trip of the car for my luggage to meet me, I felt like there was some bad juju for the day. It was slightly better in such a small airport and was very different from Atlanta’s airport. The small and somewhat turbulent airplane ride and open-back bus ride to the research center felt free from the encroaching world that I feel often shape my experience.
After orientation, both us and the No-see um’s ate dinner. Dinner of spaghetti and sauce was delicious and ended with a slice of decadent and airy chocolate cake. However, the rest of the night was not as sweet….the heat, especially the humidity, and bugs hindered my ability to feel comfortable in the dorms and has caused me to be writing this post instead of sleeping. Ultimately, i have high hopes for tomorrow where we will hit the water for the first time. I have all my things in check: toothpaste scrubbed goggles, high SPF packed, and high moral for the day to come.
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