El Salvador (Diana's version) This is a LONG one!

As many of you know, a huge factor in moving to Honduras was being so close to El Salvador, and having the chance for Ben to see the place where I was born and spent the first 12 years of my life. This past week, Ben and I traveled 6 hours on a tour bus with a final destination to San Salvador, I can't even express what a great and unique experience it was! (but I will try)

Our days were long and super busy, we woke up early and stayed up pretty late. We (well mostly me) shared a lot of laughs reminiscing about my childhood, there are just so many wonderful memories and anecdotes and 4 days are simply not enough time to unpack it all.
Many of my family and friends speak English very well, so Ben was able to socialize on his own, although most of the time the conversation eventually turned to Spanish-only and I did a very poor job at translating to Ben (oops) Despite my rudeness, though, Ben truly enjoyed himself. He was warmly welcomed by every family we visited, he was also treated and fed like a king. We had both lost some weight during the last 4 weeks in Honduras, but we are pretty sure most of it was gained back during our 5-day-stay in El Salvador. Our first day there, my godparents took us to a restaurant by the beach were we enjoyed THE most DELICIOUS shrimp we have ever had! (Ben was licking his fingers and all). From that moment on, food never ceased coming; we had pupusas, tamales, POPS (the biggest ice cream parlor in the country), El Chory (the best street hot dogs in the world), more ice cream, McDonalds, Pollo Campero, more pupusas, etc.

Ben will soon be posting about his experience so I will go ahead and share about what I thought about our trip:
I have only visited El Salvador twice in the last 12 years, but it continues to be one of the most special places in the world to me. Being there is such a bittersweet experience, though. I absolutely LOVE seeing all the familiar faces that despite time and distance continue to love me with the same passion, sincerity, and depth as ever. But being there without my mom, dad, Vicky and Jose only makes me miss them that much more. There isn't one place I visited in El salvador or a moment spent with loved ones that doesn't remind me of my family. There wasn't a single conversation where their names weren't mentioned. I wonder if there will ever be a time when all 5 members of the Romero family will go back to El Salvador together, what a joyful day that would be!
I am now 24 years old, I moved to California when I was 12. Which means I have lived exactly half my life in El Salvador, and half my life in California. It is the weirdest feeling knowing that I will never be fully complete in either place. When I am in California I miss my family and friends from El Salvador! And when I am in El Salvador I miss my family and friends in California! I guess that is the price I have to pay for being so lucky as to have so many people in my life whom I love and love me back.

Well, this post is turning out to be way too long, so I will leave you with some pictures and you can check out my facebook for the complete album.

~Diana