June 17: Deuces States, Hola Salvador! Counting Down!

What's up, ladies and gents? With a week left until I leave for El Salvador, I have decided to get a blog started so my friends and fam in the States can see what I see (to an extent).

A lot of people have asked me why I'm going to El Salvador. I don't really have an answer that sounds good, even to me. My roommate is from there, his fam and girlfriend have been interested in meeting me, I want to be immersed in Spanish, and I want to thoroughly experience another culture. I have expectations, but nothing ever turns out the way things are planned.

I can however sum up what I hope to achieve from this.

• Proficiency with the Spanish language
• Greater empathy for Central Americans
• Experiencing the real El Salvador that citizens of the United States can never know just from reading a book or watching a movie
• Community service or volunteer work
• Appreciation for the culture and customs of Salvadorian residents
• Making memories that will last a lifetime

And of course...

• Shedding a few pounds (down 6 since May 3!)

Because I will be gone for two months and surrounded by limited distractions (leaving television, books, and video games behind), I believe the odds of meeting all of my goals are fairly high. As an American who rooms with a Salvadorian, the long-term goal of this summer is to hopefully be able to create a presentation, with both my perspective and my roomie's, on what it has been like swapping cultures. I've never really blogged before, so keep your fingers crossed that I do better at this than I did at keeping a journal.

One.