11 February 2023

An uncommon shot of downtown Atlanta

Taking off eastward from Runway 10-28 in Atlanta, you would expect that we would have swung right to head south to El Salvador. Instead, we swung left, circled the city and then headed south. That gave me a clean shot of the city right from the top. You can see the whole stretch of where 85 merges with 75 and then the split again. You can also see the airport to your top stereo left.

And the other thing I spotted? The very reason why we moved the Atlanta. The office I used to go from 2007 to 2014!

11 February 2023

Country Number 51!!

Taking full advantage of Sharmila not being in the country, I decided to embark on my own international trip. This will get me to the half century mark – 50 countries. El Salvador!!

Why El Salvador? Well, to be honest because I know nothing about the country. Other than the name of the capital. I also have not come across anybody who has been to El Salvador. Have you?

When I went around asking people (in the USA) about El Salvador, the only guidance I got was to be very careful. It is unsafe there. I have a nagging suspicion that the picture portrayed by media does not do justice to the country. (During my trips abroad, I am often stunned by what they think about the USA – from what they see in their media).

We will find out.

There is another thing. Many years back, I was in Spain for some work. Our country head there had pulled me aside and let me know that he would be going back to his motherland – El Salvador by the end of the year. Instinctively, I had told him that I would visit him some day.

If everything goes to plan, he is going to get the surprise of his life today!!

25 January 2023

This raises more questions

Near where all the trees were dead, I could see what looked like salt formation on the shores. Crossed a fence to check it out. Poked the white surface with a stick. It was not salt. It was a lot of foam!

Now that raises yet another question. How come this portion of the water consistently had foam on the shore as far as the eyes could see? The water was very shallow and relatively still.

Does this mean the water has certain chemicals that makes it foam? And that is what killed the trees?