Full of Friendship and Fun
Interested in joining us this summer? Check out our 2020 Open House information and application!
From July 2-8 we held COAR’s first Open House for visitors. Our guests were five supporters, four of them sponsors.
So what did we do on our summer vacation??
We taught English every morning in our high school. The students enjoyed practicing their second language in a different environment! And at the end of the week they surprised us with posters of thanks – in English!
We also visited the children’s homes and had wonderful breakfasts and lunches at the COAR cafeteria along with the students, teachers, and staff.
Afternoons were dedicated to sites of historical and cultural importance in El Salvador, such as the chapel where St. Romero was martyred, the University of Central America, and the chapel where the four North American churchwomen are buried.
There were also special moments for a few of our sponsors, meeting their students, as they finally got to see and experience first-hand what they’ve only known through letters and pictures!
The weekend was filled with a visit to Fr. John Ostrowski, in the Cleveland Mission Team parish of Teotepeque. We also got a chance to share a whole day with some of the students, visiting the beautiful Cathedral of Santa Ana (and eating Pollo Campero (the wonderful local chicken chain)) in the square (with the pigeons) as well as the museum and ruins of the pyramid of Tazumal. Clearly, Carlos resembles his ancestors.
One of the fun(niest) parts of the trip was learning to make pupusas (a typical Salvadoran corn tortilla, stuffed with beans and cheese) from the students. Everyone shared a laugh while trying to master the art of shaping the final product into something resembling round. We were also able to have dinner with the graduating COAR seniors, which was a wonderful opportunity for them to talk about their hopes for the future and for us to get to know them a little better. And no trip to COAR would be complete without a great “despedida” (the Spanish word for “good-bye party”.)