Monday, March 12th. Let’s wake up at 4 a.m., okay?

Anna, Hiroko and I woke up early as hell, got picked up by Drew and Andrea, and headed to JFK. Jorge, our esteemed Director-for-the-week; and Kathleen and Megan met all of us and the game was on.
We arrived in San Salvador’s airport to the tune of “Dust in the Wind”. El Salvadorians love bad elevator music. Bad OLD elevator music. Damn.
We waited at the curb for a bit for our ride to the INDES (El Salvador’s version of our Olympic Training Center). Megan’s shirt said: “Killing you is the last thing I want to do, but it’s still on my list”. Fitting. Waiting sucks.
We loaded into the van (generous description for lawnmower with a milk crate for cargo and a 50cc engine), enjoyed the scenery on the 50k drive to the INDES, and talked about how excited we were to be here. The heat and humidity were welcomed by me, and bemoaned by others. 3 ½ years of living in the South have done me well.
We were assigned roommates (Anna was mine) and chilled out for a few hours before adventuring to a local mall for some food court chow. Poor Anna and Hiroko don’t usually slum that way, so finding food for them was tough. They found a SuperSelectos (regular ol’ supermarket) and amused themselves with the selection. I hogged down some Chinese takeout beef and broccoli. Possibly two of my favorite things to eat.
I finished book #1 (fluffy novel “In her shoes”), then started book #2 for the week. I am leading the jersey competition in Books Read while in Foreign Climes. Hiroko is trying to gain time on me, but remains a distant second place.
Then, to bed. Anna is a World Champion Recover-er. She will teach me well!