Garita Palmera , El Salvador ( CNN ) -- She talks to the pictures as if they could make her voice travel thousands of miles and reach her son 's ears . `` Oh , my son , '' Julia Alvarenga , 59 , says in a tender voice at her home in this coastal town . And then she says , `` I 'm going to see him again . '' The past two weeks have been an emotional roller coaster for the Salvadoran woman . First , she learned her son had been missing for 13 months . Then she was told he had turned up half a world away . And now she 's getting news he might be back home soon . Her son , Jose Salvador Alvarenga , 36 , appeared in the Marshall Islands on January 30 claiming to be a castaway . He told authorities he was lost at sea on a fishing boat for 13 months , eating raw fish and turtles . His assistant , Ezequiel Cordova , 23 , died four weeks into the drift because he could n't eat the raw food at their disposal , Alvarenga told CNN . He said the pair got caught in a storm soon after leaving Mexico on a shark fishing trip in December 2012 . In Garita Palmera , the house is decorated for a homecoming . Balloons and ribbons are hung , and a banner reading `` Welcome Home '' is strung up on the palm tree archway that leads to the home . One of the castaway 's nieces made a heart-shaped decoration . It welcomes him home , and adds , `` May God bless you . '' But the family was not exactly sure when to expect Alvarenga 's arrival . The government has not been in contact with them as his journey takes place . For Julia , a born-again Christian who attends the Iglesia Principe de Paz ( Prince of Peace Church ) , the survival story was an answer to her daily prayers . Castaway moved to undisclosed location to avoid media crush . Three pictures of Julia Alvarenga 's son are among her most treasured possessions . One shows him the way he looked the last time he visited . A second one shows him holding his only daughter when she was 18 months old . But her favorite one was taken when he was only 6 months old , back in September 1977 . Julia and Ricardo Alvarenga have nine children , three of whom live in the Maryland area , and the rest in El Salvador , she said . Alvarenga 's mother , who helps the family by selling groceries out of a room in their cinder-block house on a dirt street , also made a personal family revelation . She says Jose Salvador Alvarenga last visited their home in Garita Palmera eight years ago . The only thing they knew about him all this time , Julia says , was that he was working as a fisherman somewhere in Mexico . For missing man 's mother , castaway 's survival story is tale of grief . Jose had n't called his family since . `` He easily forgets about things , '' she said . `` I would pray to my Lord Jesus Christ , 'You 're all-powerful , and you know what 's best . ' And that was the only hope I had all this time . I would pray to God , and I wo n't lie to you , I was crying ; but I never lost my faith , '' Julia said . As she told her family story , a clucking chicken ate seeds while the family dog , aptly named Doggy , took a nap on a plastic chair . Ricardo Alvarenga , a 65-year-old farmer , agreed , adding they did n't know their son was lost at sea until the story of the castaway made the news and his picture was shown around the world . Some neighbors came to tell them about it . Even though their son has yet to return home , he 's already a celebrity in Garita Palmera and neighboring towns . Carlos Francisco Orozco , 46 , owner of a chicken restaurant , said he 's very proud of his fellow Salvadoran . `` He 's a hero for my country , '' Orozco said . `` Not only a hero , but a Superman like ( the character ) on TV . He 's truly a hero . '' Many wondered whether they would have been able to survive in a similar situation , but no one would openly cast any doubts on Alvarenga 's story . Alvaro Herrera , 38 , who owns a shoe store in neighboring Cara Sucia , said he also admires Alvarenga . `` I 'm telling you that he 's a man of great courage because of what he went through . God was with him because God is good and does good things , '' Herrera said . At the Alvarenga home , Areli Barrera was also waiting for the castaway . She 's his former girlfriend and the mother of their 14-year-old daughter , Fatima . She politely avoided answering questions about Alvarenga , saying only that she 's glad he made it out alive . Fatima , who was not yet 6 the last time her father visited , said she remembers very little about him . `` I do n't know him , '' she said . As for Julia , when asked what 's the first thing she 's going to do when she sees her son , she extended her arms around herself , the universal signal for a warm , heartfelt embrace .
It 's been an emotional time for the parents of castaway Jose Salvador Alvarenga . The boy was found on Monday by his father in the waters off Puerto Rico. `` I would pray to God , and I wo n't lie to you , I was crying , '' she says . For the excited residents of his town in El Salvador , Alvarenga is a hero .