Arrival to El Salvador

Sarah and I arrived this morning at 6am. We flew overnight from LAX. It was raining like crazy when we arrived! The weather is nice and tropical - a good change from the dry climate in LA.

Coming through customs was a total breeze and took less than 5 minutes. We got a cab from the airport to our hotel in San Salvador for $25. It took about an hour to get to the hotel I think... the driver was really nice; his name was Alex. They use US currency here which I found to be quite interesting. Sarah and I have had fun using our limited knowledge of Spanish so far! The area around San Salvador is very green and lush - it was foggy this morning but it's now clearing up.

We are staying at the Courtyard Marriott. It's immaculate and almost too Americanized! There was a pretty good breakfast buffet at the hotel with fresh omelettes and tamales. Next door we have a mall complete with a porsche dealership, Zara, and a bunch of high end stores. I would imagine this is a relatively posh side of town (especially judging from the other areas we drove through on the way in).

We are at the hotel waiting for Sarah's friend Leslie to pick us up. I believe we are going to have a driver take us on a volcano tour this afternoon. Our friends from San Diego are also here and staying at the beach in La Libertad, so we might meet up with them tonight in San Salvador.