What´s happenin?

Hello everyone!

Surrendering to the Lord takes on new meaning each day. He is worth it all!

This past month, I was Point for a group coming from a partnering church in New York. It was the first time out of all the times I have been Point that I relinquished control of many things and depended heavily on our highly capable Wired Squad. Again, that idea of surrendering things – letting them out of our control – is HARD but brings so much peace, takes away stress, and builds up/encourages those around you on whom you are relying! So why don´t we surrender things more quickly? It´s a work in progress! We as a staff, and the whole group, had a wonderful week. The group split in two: one group focused on construction at Wired, finishing dorm bathrooms and sheetrock upstairs and the other group did VBS at an ISNA (government-run) orphanage and a local after-school program. They also spent time helping at Vinculo de Amor.

You´ve all heard about the football league here, but you probably don´t know that they´ve started a women´s flag football club as well! And guess who´s going to be playing??! In the picture, our team was being introduced to the fans and men´s contact league! I laugh to think that I am playing football in Central America AND it´s the first time in my life I have been on an official sport´s team! Oh, the places God takes us and the things we do! I´ll keep you posted how it´s going. Please pray for deep, life-changing connections to be made with the women on the team! I have practice tomorrow...

Comida Salvadoreña

Every day I am intrigued and surprised by Salvadoran cuisine. Here are some pictures to give you a glimpse of some foods I encounter on a daily basis... Enjoy!

Coconut water... direct from the coconut. Hacked open with a machete.

Several Salvadoran traditional foods pictured here: a famous pupusa on the far left, pasteles and yuca frita, to name a few.

Tamales come either wrapped in banana leaves or corn husks and they´re filled with chicken, potatoes and corn.

Desayno típico (typical breakfast) of fried plantains, beans, cheese, cream and, of course, Envision Coffee!

Sopa de tortilla... YUM!

Salvadoran tortillas are much smaller and thicker than the Mexican tortillas that Americans are used to. Not much flavor, but with a bowl of sopa de frijoles, they´re perfect!

Chirimol (or just chimol) is El Salvador´s pico de gallo. Straight up: tomatoes, onion, cilantro, lime juice, and salt.

Horchata is a Mexican/Central American beverage. In El Salvador it made out of the seeds of morro fruit (pictured below) and always has cinnamon in it. 

Morro tree

Ceviche is a beach day treat. Fish or shrimp ¨cooked¨ by the acid in the lime juice.

I can´t give you a food post without throwing in a few very different delicacies. The departments of San Miguel and Morazán are known for their iguana dishes.

Don´t forget the chicken feet! They are a must ingredient in the traditional sopa de pata (loosely translated: foot soup).

Everyone loves ´em some chocobananos. You can buy them at most tiendas.

Elote loco! You can get it year-round, but it is particularly popular during the ferias (think state fair).

Ahh the delicious fruit of Central America! Papaya and mangos (pictured below) are probably common to you, but some of these others might be new...

Green mango in a bag with lime juice, salt, and chile (hot sauce) is a favorite treat

Nonas

Jocotes and mamones (below) you just peel, pop, suck off the fruit, and spit the seed.

Marañon - the fruit is edible and is good for juice. For those who didn´t know, this is where cashews come from. Just be careful, you have to dry them first. Raw cashews are poisonous.

Last one for now... Loroco is found in lots of recipes, from pupusas to soups. I´m still deciding if I like this or not... :)