I dealt with it.

I would never say I conquered this beast. Rather, I dealt with it. Last week the Marines and interns talked about climbing the Volcano. A tourist attraction in El Sal that is a must. Prior to heading out I heard that these things are easy-breezy. The car takes you all the way up. You climb 20 stairs. You are there. It is beautiful.

Think again. Volcano Izalco is nothing like that.

The guide starts by asking if we all have water, food, and if we have health problems. After some convincing, I got a bottle of water. No food. And we were on our way. After taking 1,300 steps down through the jungle, we arrived at the base of the volcano. Now at this point I would ask my readers to take another look at the picture above. Steep slopes. Covered in sand and loose boulders. FUN! I made it almost all of the way up and I started to shake. I was getting dizzy and achy. The armed guard, Jorge, told me that it was only 5 minutes to the top. I stood up. Looked up. Sat down and let the others go without me. Literally if I wobbled even slightly I think I would have slid down the Volcano and died.

So I practiced my spanish with Jorge for a bit and then the others met me where they had left me only 20 minutes before. Down we go. Slipping and sliding we went and finally made it to the bottom. Exhausted. We had around 3 people down at that point with the shakes, hunger, and in desperate need of water. Oh no. 1.5 hrs to go up 1,300 stairs. I think the stairs were the worst part of the trip looking back.

Either way, it was worth it. But, I would never say that I conquered Izalco. And guess what, I DONT CARE! Maybe that is a metaphor for life.....Think about it.

Peace homies!