¡Hola Amigos!
On Monday, we all packed up and headed to the retreat center to begin our re-entry retreat. The first day we discussed our hopes and fears and what we thought would be the biggest challenges trying to reintegrate ourselves back into American culture. On Tuesday, we all went to this awesome beach with a huge water slide. This was our last day together as a group. We pulled an all-nighter on Tuesday since the first group of students left for the airport at 4:30am. It was so hard to say goodbye to everyone. Due to a flight problem, I had to say an extra day at the retreat center. That Wednesday was so depressing. Four other students stayed behind with me and we all just moped around all day. That night we pulled ourselves together and went out for drinks and dessert.
I arrived back in the States on Thursday, and it has been so hard to adjust back to “normal” life. I’m just in this daze trying to make sense of everything I experienced in the past four months.
So I guess this brings my story to an end. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers while I’ve been away. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my adventures in El Salvador and if there’s time, I would love to sit down with each one of you and show you all my pictures and tell you all the crazy stories that I didn’t have the space to write about. ¡Adios amigos!
Paz,
Stephanie
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Mi último día en Mariona
¡Hola Amigos!
Wednesday was my last day in Mariona. To celebrate your time in the community, we planned a despedida (going away party). We invited all our English students and all the people we have met during our time I Mariona. Oti estimated that about 50 people were coming to the party and the Casa gave us a $50 stipend to work with. So Wednesday morning we spent shopping in the Mejicanos market for party things. In typical Salvadorian fashion, nothing went according to plan, but in the end all worked out for the best.
In the market we needed to print certificates for our students and handouts for the conversation they were going to present during the party, buy a cake, buy frosting for cupcakes Jen and I made the night before, get decorations, and find small gifts for each of the students. Our first stop was a print shop. We gave the man behind the counter my jump drive with all the saved documents. We only accomplished printing the certificates (which came out different since his program was not compatible to ours) and couldn’t print the handout because he was too confused and we couldn’t show him what document we wanted printed. So we left and found a cyber café to print the handout. The print shop had given my jump drive a virus so when we tried to print at the internet café, the document refused to open. We panicked a little since we really needed these handouts for our students. Somehow my jump drive miraculously fixed itself and we finally got to print the conversation, but we had wasted precious shopping time. With our papers we hurried off to the grocery store to buy icing and gifts. The store didn’t carry icing and the school supplies were too expensive for our budget. So we ran across the street to a paper store and bought 9 notebooks, pencils, and erasers for the students. Oti wanted us to buy more, but we were on a budget (school supplies are very expensive in El Salvador) and we only had 9 kids who came regularly to class. With our gifts and papers, we began the cake search. The first cake store we walked into was completely empty. All the display racks were empty. There was no cake to be found. Tuesday was worker’s day and no one baked any cakes because they had the day off from work. We found another cake shop, but they didn’t have cakes either. We asked if they sold icing and of course did not. So we bought $10 worth of pan dulce, which was 99 cookies. We continued the quest for icing and were running out of time so ended up buying chocolate to melt on top of the cupcakes.
Once back at the cooperative we thought we had everything under control. We made decorations and stuffed the piñata with candy (we had a cool Nemo piñata that we bought the night before). As the students began to arrive, we noticed that there were 10, not 9. One girl showed up that had only attended the first few classes. She told us she wanted to come to more classes but couldn’t because her mom had been in the hospital. We felt horrible and went into panic mode trying to find one more gift. Luckily we work at a cooperative and we bought a pair of earrings and a bracelet for one of the older girls who volunteered to be interviewed for our praxis project. The student presentations went well and some of the parents after told us our English classes had helped the kids do better in the English classes at school. We felt so proud.
After the presentations it was piñata time. Of course it was fun and everyone enjoyed beating Nemo. After we ate the cupcakes without frosting (which I thought were horrible but the kids liked them) and 100 pupusas (only 30 people showed up so we had a bunch of left over pupusas). After eating, a dance troop showed up to perform traditional dances for us. Over all our last day ended up being great. We exchanged contact info with some of our students and they gave us cute thank you notes. It was kind of sad saying goodbye to our students since most of them didn’t understand why we weren’t coming back in August and why we couldn’t come visit them often. We’re having a big depedida at the Casa Sunday, so I will say goodbye to Oti, Lolo, and the women from the cooperative then.
Paz,
Stephanie
Wednesday was my last day in Mariona. To celebrate your time in the community, we planned a despedida (going away party). We invited all our English students and all the people we have met during our time I Mariona. Oti estimated that about 50 people were coming to the party and the Casa gave us a $50 stipend to work with. So Wednesday morning we spent shopping in the Mejicanos market for party things. In typical Salvadorian fashion, nothing went according to plan, but in the end all worked out for the best.
In the market we needed to print certificates for our students and handouts for the conversation they were going to present during the party, buy a cake, buy frosting for cupcakes Jen and I made the night before, get decorations, and find small gifts for each of the students. Our first stop was a print shop. We gave the man behind the counter my jump drive with all the saved documents. We only accomplished printing the certificates (which came out different since his program was not compatible to ours) and couldn’t print the handout because he was too confused and we couldn’t show him what document we wanted printed. So we left and found a cyber café to print the handout. The print shop had given my jump drive a virus so when we tried to print at the internet café, the document refused to open. We panicked a little since we really needed these handouts for our students. Somehow my jump drive miraculously fixed itself and we finally got to print the conversation, but we had wasted precious shopping time. With our papers we hurried off to the grocery store to buy icing and gifts. The store didn’t carry icing and the school supplies were too expensive for our budget. So we ran across the street to a paper store and bought 9 notebooks, pencils, and erasers for the students. Oti wanted us to buy more, but we were on a budget (school supplies are very expensive in El Salvador) and we only had 9 kids who came regularly to class. With our gifts and papers, we began the cake search. The first cake store we walked into was completely empty. All the display racks were empty. There was no cake to be found. Tuesday was worker’s day and no one baked any cakes because they had the day off from work. We found another cake shop, but they didn’t have cakes either. We asked if they sold icing and of course did not. So we bought $10 worth of pan dulce, which was 99 cookies. We continued the quest for icing and were running out of time so ended up buying chocolate to melt on top of the cupcakes.
Once back at the cooperative we thought we had everything under control. We made decorations and stuffed the piñata with candy (we had a cool Nemo piñata that we bought the night before). As the students began to arrive, we noticed that there were 10, not 9. One girl showed up that had only attended the first few classes. She told us she wanted to come to more classes but couldn’t because her mom had been in the hospital. We felt horrible and went into panic mode trying to find one more gift. Luckily we work at a cooperative and we bought a pair of earrings and a bracelet for one of the older girls who volunteered to be interviewed for our praxis project. The student presentations went well and some of the parents after told us our English classes had helped the kids do better in the English classes at school. We felt so proud.
After the presentations it was piñata time. Of course it was fun and everyone enjoyed beating Nemo. After we ate the cupcakes without frosting (which I thought were horrible but the kids liked them) and 100 pupusas (only 30 people showed up so we had a bunch of left over pupusas). After eating, a dance troop showed up to perform traditional dances for us. Over all our last day ended up being great. We exchanged contact info with some of our students and they gave us cute thank you notes. It was kind of sad saying goodbye to our students since most of them didn’t understand why we weren’t coming back in August and why we couldn’t come visit them often. We’re having a big depedida at the Casa Sunday, so I will say goodbye to Oti, Lolo, and the women from the cooperative then.
Paz,
Stephanie
Monday, April 23, 2007
El Mozote
¡Hola Amigos!
Two weeks left to my adventures in El Salvador and so much is going on right now. I have final projects in every class- 12 page analysis of the Salvadorian news, video documentary of women’s issues in El Salvador, and some kind of creative interpretation of my time in El Salvador. I feel like there is so much I want to do, but don’t have the time.
This weekend we took a trip to Morazan to visit the site of the massacre at El Mozote. The bus ride there was about 4 and a half hours and by the time we got off the bus pretty much everyone was sick with stomach problems, fever, and body aches. This pretty much set the tone for the weekend. No one felt well and we were all stressed out already because of homework. On Saturday we went to the museum of the revolution. We were supposed to go to a concert after the museum, but most people ran back to the hostel to go to the bathroom and sleep. When I was told we would be staying in a hotel I immediately pictured a Holiday Inn. I should have known better…this is El Salvador. There were no beds, just mats on the floor and there were not enough mats for everyone so there were at least 2 people to a mat. My mat had one blanket that smelled like it hadn’t been washed ever. It was freezing cold at night and I tried to wrap up in the blanket without letting too much of the nasty thing touch me.
The next morning we got off to a late start because people were still pooping. At El Mozote we learned that over 1,000 innocent people were killed. The Salvadorian government refuses to take responsibility for the massacre and claims (after many investigations have proved them wrong) that a conflict between the National Guard and Guerrillas took place there. There was a garden with some of the names of the children killed. Most were under the age of 12. After the massacre, the National Guard set the town on fire. It wasn’t until 1990 that people began to resettle El Mozote. The place had an eerie haunted vibe.
We were supposed to swim in the river in the afternoon, but we all felt sick so we just drove back to the Casa. I think tomorrow a bunch of poop sample will be taken, but don’t worry…I’m still healthy.
Paz,
Stephanie
Two weeks left to my adventures in El Salvador and so much is going on right now. I have final projects in every class- 12 page analysis of the Salvadorian news, video documentary of women’s issues in El Salvador, and some kind of creative interpretation of my time in El Salvador. I feel like there is so much I want to do, but don’t have the time.
This weekend we took a trip to Morazan to visit the site of the massacre at El Mozote. The bus ride there was about 4 and a half hours and by the time we got off the bus pretty much everyone was sick with stomach problems, fever, and body aches. This pretty much set the tone for the weekend. No one felt well and we were all stressed out already because of homework. On Saturday we went to the museum of the revolution. We were supposed to go to a concert after the museum, but most people ran back to the hostel to go to the bathroom and sleep. When I was told we would be staying in a hotel I immediately pictured a Holiday Inn. I should have known better…this is El Salvador. There were no beds, just mats on the floor and there were not enough mats for everyone so there were at least 2 people to a mat. My mat had one blanket that smelled like it hadn’t been washed ever. It was freezing cold at night and I tried to wrap up in the blanket without letting too much of the nasty thing touch me.
The next morning we got off to a late start because people were still pooping. At El Mozote we learned that over 1,000 innocent people were killed. The Salvadorian government refuses to take responsibility for the massacre and claims (after many investigations have proved them wrong) that a conflict between the National Guard and Guerrillas took place there. There was a garden with some of the names of the children killed. Most were under the age of 12. After the massacre, the National Guard set the town on fire. It wasn’t until 1990 that people began to resettle El Mozote. The place had an eerie haunted vibe.
We were supposed to swim in the river in the afternoon, but we all felt sick so we just drove back to the Casa. I think tomorrow a bunch of poop sample will be taken, but don’t worry…I’m still healthy.
Paz,
Stephanie
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Semana Santa y el Campo
¡Hola Amigos!
This past week has been so action packed I don’t even know where to begin. I guess I’ll start with el Domingo de los Ramas (Palm Sunday). A group of us went to Amantepec (one of the praxis sites) for mass. We all gathered in the market place and processed to the church singing and carrying our palms. The next day we all crammed into the microbus and headed off to the campo (the country).
So here’s some background info on the campo. The campo is rural El Salvador. The region we stayed in (Chalatenango) was controlled by the guerillas during the majority of the civil war. It was one of the areas most heavily hit by the violence. The “Sumpul River Massacre” (one of the worst massacres of the war) took place in this area. We stayed in small villages surrounding Arcatao (a town situated on the El Salvador-Honduras border). Getting to Arcatao was a challenge. The roads are rough and unpaved. At one point we all had to get off the bus because we got a flat tire. Monday and Tuesday we stayed in Arcatao at the retreat center, and on Tuesday we went on a day retreat with youth from the surrounding villages. For me this was a great experience because I don’t have much interaction with Salvadorian youth/young adults and it was great to learn a little about the faith life of teens.
Wednesday morning we headed out to our communities. We were each put into pairs (my partner was Amy) and given a huge cesta (basket) filled with beans, rice, sugar, plantains, and other things for the family. The cestas were at least 50 pounds each. It took all my strength just to pick it off the ground. We were responsible for carrying our own cestas and our backpacks. With the intense heat I just prayed my walk wasn’t too far because there was no way I was carrying that cesta. Luckily, my family lived in Carasque (about an hour and 45min drive from Arcatao) and since this was ridiculously far to walk Amy and I were given a ride and dropped off at our front door. The road to Carasque was rough. It’s started to rain here so one part of the road was flooded and we had to wait for a pig to finish rolling in the muddy water before we could continue up the road. The scenery was beautiful, but so dry and brown.
We pulled up to my family’s house. It was a small three room house made out of cinder block and a tin roof. There were 5 beds crammed into two tiny rooms that had no air circulation to speak of. The middle room had a hammock, stereo, small TV, and couches made out of old car seats. The “bathroom” was behind the house. It consisted of a pila (a trough-like sink with a bucket) and a toilet that was surrounded by tin walls (we were one of the luckier pairs that actually had a real toilet). Chickens ran around everywhere (one chicken laid an egg under my bed) and there was a strong smell of manure since the horse and cows were just hanging out next to the bathroom (they drank out of the same pila that we had to use for washing out hair and brushing our teeth) and there was a pig next to the pila for washing dished and preparing food. Amy and I were given our own beds and shared a room with the oldest daughter. The mom and 4 boys slept in two beds in the other room. The beds were only beds in the sense that they looked like beds. The beds were wooded frames with a thin straw mat thrown over the springs and a blanket was put on top of the mat. We had no pillows and it was so hard to get comfortable at night. It would have been more comfortable to sleep on the floor, but there was chicken poop everywhere. In the front of the house there was a small patio with another hammock and a table. The mom worked in a tienda (store) in the front of the house selling candy and drinks. The tienda also doubled as a kitchen/chicken house. Also, our house had tile floor which was a step above most families that only have dirt floors.
My family was great. I immediately felt welcome. Within the first 10min of arriving, I had a dirty baseball hat put on my head and was off with the boys and Amy throwing rocks at a mango tree trying to collect mangos. Let me describe my host family a little. The mom’s name is Sonya. She works in a tienda to earn money and does all the farm work during the week as well as cooks and cleans since all her kids go to school and her husband left in December for the U.S. The husband owned two huge trucks and made money by delivering things from Chalatenango (the city) to Carasque. He has three brothers already in the States and lives with them in Denver. He works in a restaurant, speaks no English, and is undocumented. The family said he hasn’t earned enough money yet to send back. There are 5 kids. The oldest is Lupe (18) who attends the National University near the UCA and is studying to be a science teacher. She was really cool and fun to hang out with. She was very open with us and shared a lot about the reality in El Salvador. She said she would love to go to the States to visit her dad, but doesn’t want to immigrate. Jobs in El Salvador are so scarce she may have no other choice. She was sad so many youth were leaving El Salvador that didn’t want to leave, but were forced to go to the States to find jobs. Next was Samuel (16). We didn’t really interact with him much because he was usually working on the farm. He was quiet and I think his dad’s recent immigration has affected him the most since he goes to high school and took over his dad’s job. He goes to the closest high school which is in Chalatenango (about a 2 hour bus ride). He only comes home on weekends and lives in a house with other scholarship students from Carasque during the week. Marvin (14) was obsessed with the U.S. He also talked about how El Salvador is so ugly and boring (which is not true). At one point he was sweeping the chicken poop off the patio and commented that there was no dust or dirt in the U.S. We quickly corrected him and informed him that the U.S. has tons of dust and dirt and that parts are not that beautiful. I have no idea where he was getting this skewed image of the U.S., but I foresee him immigrating to the U.S. when he is older. He also is trying really hard to learn English. I worry about Marvin because I know what kind of life he would have in the U.S. and it wouldn’t be his perfect little pristine dream. The second youngest is Leonel (10). He was so sweat and my favorite person to hang out with. He was so mature for his age that I would forget he was just a little 10 year old boy. The harsh realities of El Salvador cut childhoods short and kids are expected to work and take on responsibilities kids in the U.S. would never have. The baby of the family is Luís (6). He was just like any other 6 year old. He always wanted to play and rigged the card games so that he would always win. At times he was annoying and got picked on by his older brothers. He wasn’t tainted yet by reality.
Now on to life in the campo. My family woke up every morning at 5:30am. Not wanting to seem lazy we usually woke up around 6am. Meals consisted of beans, cheese, tortillas, and coffee for every meal. I don’t drink coffee so when no one was looking the plant next to the table got watered every meal with my coffee. From 12pm to 2pm we rested. Actually it was too hot to do anything so we had to rest. I’ve never sweated so much in my life for no reason. During the day it was 101 degrees and at night it cooled off to 88 degrees. I never stopped sweating.
Because it was Semana Santa (Holy Week), there was a mass or service everyday. On Wednesday night Sonya, Lupe, Amy, and I went to a service at the church. We broke into small groups and reflected on the prodigal son and there was confession afterwards. Since there is a lack of priests in the campo, one priest is assigned to 5 or 6 different communities. These communities take turns hosting the Holy Week masses. On Thursday we hiked 45min up a mountain to get to mass. The churches are small and simple. The majority of people were usually sitting on the grass outside because there was no room in the actual church. Friday Carasque hosted the Via Cruz (Way of the Cross). Small crosses were set up and decorated on the side of the road and we processed in the heat of the day from cross to cross. At each on kids would act out the station. The last 4 stations took place in the church. I couldn’t believe how dressed up the people got for the service. Girls were walking up dirt hills in high heels and men had long sleeved bottom down shirts on. It was so hot I felt like I was melting, but they somehow looked so put together as I dragged myself up the hill in dirty pants and a T-shirt. Saturday we went to the river (an Easter tradition for El Salvador). All the aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents were there. We all brought soap and bathed in the river. In the evening we went to Easter Vigil mass. The walk was and hour and 30min and we had to climb three steep hills. Everyone walks, even grandma. Some people can’t come because the walk is too far, but I was amazed at how many people did come and walked for hours just to get to mass. The mass began with a bonfire up the road from the church and everyone lit candles and processed to the church. After mass we burned Judas which was pretty cool. We had a band and dancing and candy. It was a huge celebration and watching the scarecrow Judas burn was pretty cool. Sunday morning we walked an hour to Easter mass. On the way there we passed a blind man walking to church. The faith of the people is amazing.
Monday morning we said goodbye to our family and came back to the Casa. The campo was an amazing experience and I felt so safe and at ease the whole week. Unlike the city the campo is much more tranquil. I have so many stories from campo week, but I can’t possibly write them all here. Ask me when I get back, I’ll be happy to share.
Paz,
Stephanie
This past week has been so action packed I don’t even know where to begin. I guess I’ll start with el Domingo de los Ramas (Palm Sunday). A group of us went to Amantepec (one of the praxis sites) for mass. We all gathered in the market place and processed to the church singing and carrying our palms. The next day we all crammed into the microbus and headed off to the campo (the country).
So here’s some background info on the campo. The campo is rural El Salvador. The region we stayed in (Chalatenango) was controlled by the guerillas during the majority of the civil war. It was one of the areas most heavily hit by the violence. The “Sumpul River Massacre” (one of the worst massacres of the war) took place in this area. We stayed in small villages surrounding Arcatao (a town situated on the El Salvador-Honduras border). Getting to Arcatao was a challenge. The roads are rough and unpaved. At one point we all had to get off the bus because we got a flat tire. Monday and Tuesday we stayed in Arcatao at the retreat center, and on Tuesday we went on a day retreat with youth from the surrounding villages. For me this was a great experience because I don’t have much interaction with Salvadorian youth/young adults and it was great to learn a little about the faith life of teens.
Wednesday morning we headed out to our communities. We were each put into pairs (my partner was Amy) and given a huge cesta (basket) filled with beans, rice, sugar, plantains, and other things for the family. The cestas were at least 50 pounds each. It took all my strength just to pick it off the ground. We were responsible for carrying our own cestas and our backpacks. With the intense heat I just prayed my walk wasn’t too far because there was no way I was carrying that cesta. Luckily, my family lived in Carasque (about an hour and 45min drive from Arcatao) and since this was ridiculously far to walk Amy and I were given a ride and dropped off at our front door. The road to Carasque was rough. It’s started to rain here so one part of the road was flooded and we had to wait for a pig to finish rolling in the muddy water before we could continue up the road. The scenery was beautiful, but so dry and brown.
We pulled up to my family’s house. It was a small three room house made out of cinder block and a tin roof. There were 5 beds crammed into two tiny rooms that had no air circulation to speak of. The middle room had a hammock, stereo, small TV, and couches made out of old car seats. The “bathroom” was behind the house. It consisted of a pila (a trough-like sink with a bucket) and a toilet that was surrounded by tin walls (we were one of the luckier pairs that actually had a real toilet). Chickens ran around everywhere (one chicken laid an egg under my bed) and there was a strong smell of manure since the horse and cows were just hanging out next to the bathroom (they drank out of the same pila that we had to use for washing out hair and brushing our teeth) and there was a pig next to the pila for washing dished and preparing food. Amy and I were given our own beds and shared a room with the oldest daughter. The mom and 4 boys slept in two beds in the other room. The beds were only beds in the sense that they looked like beds. The beds were wooded frames with a thin straw mat thrown over the springs and a blanket was put on top of the mat. We had no pillows and it was so hard to get comfortable at night. It would have been more comfortable to sleep on the floor, but there was chicken poop everywhere. In the front of the house there was a small patio with another hammock and a table. The mom worked in a tienda (store) in the front of the house selling candy and drinks. The tienda also doubled as a kitchen/chicken house. Also, our house had tile floor which was a step above most families that only have dirt floors.
My family was great. I immediately felt welcome. Within the first 10min of arriving, I had a dirty baseball hat put on my head and was off with the boys and Amy throwing rocks at a mango tree trying to collect mangos. Let me describe my host family a little. The mom’s name is Sonya. She works in a tienda to earn money and does all the farm work during the week as well as cooks and cleans since all her kids go to school and her husband left in December for the U.S. The husband owned two huge trucks and made money by delivering things from Chalatenango (the city) to Carasque. He has three brothers already in the States and lives with them in Denver. He works in a restaurant, speaks no English, and is undocumented. The family said he hasn’t earned enough money yet to send back. There are 5 kids. The oldest is Lupe (18) who attends the National University near the UCA and is studying to be a science teacher. She was really cool and fun to hang out with. She was very open with us and shared a lot about the reality in El Salvador. She said she would love to go to the States to visit her dad, but doesn’t want to immigrate. Jobs in El Salvador are so scarce she may have no other choice. She was sad so many youth were leaving El Salvador that didn’t want to leave, but were forced to go to the States to find jobs. Next was Samuel (16). We didn’t really interact with him much because he was usually working on the farm. He was quiet and I think his dad’s recent immigration has affected him the most since he goes to high school and took over his dad’s job. He goes to the closest high school which is in Chalatenango (about a 2 hour bus ride). He only comes home on weekends and lives in a house with other scholarship students from Carasque during the week. Marvin (14) was obsessed with the U.S. He also talked about how El Salvador is so ugly and boring (which is not true). At one point he was sweeping the chicken poop off the patio and commented that there was no dust or dirt in the U.S. We quickly corrected him and informed him that the U.S. has tons of dust and dirt and that parts are not that beautiful. I have no idea where he was getting this skewed image of the U.S., but I foresee him immigrating to the U.S. when he is older. He also is trying really hard to learn English. I worry about Marvin because I know what kind of life he would have in the U.S. and it wouldn’t be his perfect little pristine dream. The second youngest is Leonel (10). He was so sweat and my favorite person to hang out with. He was so mature for his age that I would forget he was just a little 10 year old boy. The harsh realities of El Salvador cut childhoods short and kids are expected to work and take on responsibilities kids in the U.S. would never have. The baby of the family is Luís (6). He was just like any other 6 year old. He always wanted to play and rigged the card games so that he would always win. At times he was annoying and got picked on by his older brothers. He wasn’t tainted yet by reality.
Now on to life in the campo. My family woke up every morning at 5:30am. Not wanting to seem lazy we usually woke up around 6am. Meals consisted of beans, cheese, tortillas, and coffee for every meal. I don’t drink coffee so when no one was looking the plant next to the table got watered every meal with my coffee. From 12pm to 2pm we rested. Actually it was too hot to do anything so we had to rest. I’ve never sweated so much in my life for no reason. During the day it was 101 degrees and at night it cooled off to 88 degrees. I never stopped sweating.
Because it was Semana Santa (Holy Week), there was a mass or service everyday. On Wednesday night Sonya, Lupe, Amy, and I went to a service at the church. We broke into small groups and reflected on the prodigal son and there was confession afterwards. Since there is a lack of priests in the campo, one priest is assigned to 5 or 6 different communities. These communities take turns hosting the Holy Week masses. On Thursday we hiked 45min up a mountain to get to mass. The churches are small and simple. The majority of people were usually sitting on the grass outside because there was no room in the actual church. Friday Carasque hosted the Via Cruz (Way of the Cross). Small crosses were set up and decorated on the side of the road and we processed in the heat of the day from cross to cross. At each on kids would act out the station. The last 4 stations took place in the church. I couldn’t believe how dressed up the people got for the service. Girls were walking up dirt hills in high heels and men had long sleeved bottom down shirts on. It was so hot I felt like I was melting, but they somehow looked so put together as I dragged myself up the hill in dirty pants and a T-shirt. Saturday we went to the river (an Easter tradition for El Salvador). All the aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents were there. We all brought soap and bathed in the river. In the evening we went to Easter Vigil mass. The walk was and hour and 30min and we had to climb three steep hills. Everyone walks, even grandma. Some people can’t come because the walk is too far, but I was amazed at how many people did come and walked for hours just to get to mass. The mass began with a bonfire up the road from the church and everyone lit candles and processed to the church. After mass we burned Judas which was pretty cool. We had a band and dancing and candy. It was a huge celebration and watching the scarecrow Judas burn was pretty cool. Sunday morning we walked an hour to Easter mass. On the way there we passed a blind man walking to church. The faith of the people is amazing.
Monday morning we said goodbye to our family and came back to the Casa. The campo was an amazing experience and I felt so safe and at ease the whole week. Unlike the city the campo is much more tranquil. I have so many stories from campo week, but I can’t possibly write them all here. Ask me when I get back, I’ll be happy to share.
Paz,
Stephanie
Monday, March 26, 2007
Aniversario de Romero y la Boda
¡Hola Amigos!
Ever since spring break I’ve been incredibly busy. My family came to visit for four days at the end of break. I was excited to have them here and I had a good visit with them. We went to Suchitoto, the beach, and I showed them around San Salvador. In Mariona we had a fiesta to celebrate their visit.
On Friday, the Casa students got to have a special meeting with Robert White, the former U.S. ambassador to El Salvador during the war. He told us that if the U.S. hadn’t intervened, the civil war in El Salvador would have been very, very short and the current ARENA party would not be in office. He also said the gang situation wouldn’t exist now and the government wouldn’t be as corrupt if the U.S. had stayed out of the war. White said that it is one thing to have power, but if you don’t use it for good then power means nothing. Despite popular American belief about the war in El Salvador, White said the revolution was justified and that it had nothing to do with Communism. The fight was against decades of injustice. He admitted that the news is skewed and stressed the importance of turning off the TV news and actually doing research to find the real truth.
Saturday was the 17th Romero Anniversary and there were festivities all day. At 4pm we all joined the march to the Cathedral. On the way we stopped and said five Stations of the Cross. The march was beautiful. People were waving Romero banners, carrying candles, singing, and yelling “¡Vive Romero!” Once we got to the Cathedral where Romero is buried there was a huge mass. It seemed like the whole country was there to celebrate the life of Romero.
Sunday was Gene (our history teacher) and Lupita’s (one of the Casa cooks) wedding. Casa students were in charge of the decorations and I was on the decorating committee (since I’m an experienced wedding coordinator). We worked long hours all week making streamers, center pieces, a banner, and casamiento (beans and rice that you throw on the bride and groom when they leave the Church. It’s called casamiento because the beans and rice come together in a “marriage”). Since Gene and Lupita know pretty much everyone, there were 400 people at the wedding. That means we had to make a lot of decorations for all the tables. The wedding began at 11:30am, and we starting setting up at 9am. It took us so long to move tables and set up that we arrived late to the wedding and had to rush to decorate the Church. Luckily, like all good brides, Lupita was late so we had plenty of time to set up. The theme was blue and white, El Salvador’s colors. The wedding was beautiful and the reception was so much fun. There was a live band and great food. We knew a lot of the people at the wedding so it was fun talking to everyone. We also danced all afternoon. This was pretty much the wedding of the year.
Paz,
Stephanie
Ever since spring break I’ve been incredibly busy. My family came to visit for four days at the end of break. I was excited to have them here and I had a good visit with them. We went to Suchitoto, the beach, and I showed them around San Salvador. In Mariona we had a fiesta to celebrate their visit.
On Friday, the Casa students got to have a special meeting with Robert White, the former U.S. ambassador to El Salvador during the war. He told us that if the U.S. hadn’t intervened, the civil war in El Salvador would have been very, very short and the current ARENA party would not be in office. He also said the gang situation wouldn’t exist now and the government wouldn’t be as corrupt if the U.S. had stayed out of the war. White said that it is one thing to have power, but if you don’t use it for good then power means nothing. Despite popular American belief about the war in El Salvador, White said the revolution was justified and that it had nothing to do with Communism. The fight was against decades of injustice. He admitted that the news is skewed and stressed the importance of turning off the TV news and actually doing research to find the real truth.
Saturday was the 17th Romero Anniversary and there were festivities all day. At 4pm we all joined the march to the Cathedral. On the way we stopped and said five Stations of the Cross. The march was beautiful. People were waving Romero banners, carrying candles, singing, and yelling “¡Vive Romero!” Once we got to the Cathedral where Romero is buried there was a huge mass. It seemed like the whole country was there to celebrate the life of Romero.
Sunday was Gene (our history teacher) and Lupita’s (one of the Casa cooks) wedding. Casa students were in charge of the decorations and I was on the decorating committee (since I’m an experienced wedding coordinator). We worked long hours all week making streamers, center pieces, a banner, and casamiento (beans and rice that you throw on the bride and groom when they leave the Church. It’s called casamiento because the beans and rice come together in a “marriage”). Since Gene and Lupita know pretty much everyone, there were 400 people at the wedding. That means we had to make a lot of decorations for all the tables. The wedding began at 11:30am, and we starting setting up at 9am. It took us so long to move tables and set up that we arrived late to the wedding and had to rush to decorate the Church. Luckily, like all good brides, Lupita was late so we had plenty of time to set up. The theme was blue and white, El Salvador’s colors. The wedding was beautiful and the reception was so much fun. There was a live band and great food. We knew a lot of the people at the wedding so it was fun talking to everyone. We also danced all afternoon. This was pretty much the wedding of the year.
Paz,
Stephanie
Friday, March 16, 2007
Vacaciones
¡Hola Amigos!
This past week was our spring break. My friend Amber and I went to Panajachel, Guatemala. We took a four hour bus ride to Guatemala City then a three hour bus ride to Panajachel. We stayed in a very touristy area which was weird since we’re not used to being around other white people. Panajachel is one of many small villages on Largo de Atitlan, a beautiful lake surrounded my volcanoes (See pictures). We took a boat tour of the lake and stopped at a few of the different villages. We wanted to go on a hike up one of the volcanoes, but we were told by a travel agency that it was very dangerous so we decided against it. There was a huge artisan market by our hotel so we did some shopping. I some how managed to go five days with only $80. I think the exchange rate for Quetzals really helped me out. It was fun relaxing in Panajachel (we had hot water and a TV in our room, something I haven’t been a around in months), but it was so nice to be back in El Salvador. I missed the other Casa students and I just feel more at home in El Salvador.
Random side note—while on break I read an amazing book for my theology class called "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" by John Perkins. If you are looking for a good read and want to challenge your world view I highly recommend it.
Paz,
Stephanie
This past week was our spring break. My friend Amber and I went to Panajachel, Guatemala. We took a four hour bus ride to Guatemala City then a three hour bus ride to Panajachel. We stayed in a very touristy area which was weird since we’re not used to being around other white people. Panajachel is one of many small villages on Largo de Atitlan, a beautiful lake surrounded my volcanoes (See pictures). We took a boat tour of the lake and stopped at a few of the different villages. We wanted to go on a hike up one of the volcanoes, but we were told by a travel agency that it was very dangerous so we decided against it. There was a huge artisan market by our hotel so we did some shopping. I some how managed to go five days with only $80. I think the exchange rate for Quetzals really helped me out. It was fun relaxing in Panajachel (we had hot water and a TV in our room, something I haven’t been a around in months), but it was so nice to be back in El Salvador. I missed the other Casa students and I just feel more at home in El Salvador.
Random side note—while on break I read an amazing book for my theology class called "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" by John Perkins. If you are looking for a good read and want to challenge your world view I highly recommend it.
Paz,
Stephanie
Friday, March 09, 2007
La Realidad
¡Hola Amigos!
Most of our house visits so far in Mariona have been to homes where the families live simply, but are not incredible poor. Most people we have visited make enough money to meet their basic needs. On Wednesday, though, that changed. We went to San Francisco (a zone in Mariona) to the home of three of our English students- Samuel, Gabby, and Eduardo. Rosa, who worked with us in the cooperative and recently immigrated to Spain also lived in this home. When we entered the home we were greeted by a cloud of black smoke from the huge vat of tortillas hanging over a fire. The house was small, only three tiny bedrooms for about 16 people. Flies were everywhere and the whole house felt like an oven. We sat down to talk with the grandparents. They explained that they are originally from the campo and made a living by farming. Once the war broke out, they became refugees and were forced into the city where they had no land and no money. As farmers, it was hard to find work in a city setting. They couple had 8 children (one died when he was a baby). Rosa and her brother are both in Spain because they couldn’t find any work in El Salvador. Immigrating to Europe is much easier than immigrating to the U.S. It costs between $6,000-$8,000 to just get to the U.S. border from El Salvador. So Rosa didn’t have a husband and she left her two small children with her 21 year old sister when she went to Spain. According to her parents she is still looking for a job in Spain. The father of the three children in our English class was a taxi driver and was killed two years ago. Their mother works two jobs and is a little irresponsible so they kids live with their grandparents. They also have an older sister who has some mental problems and can’t go to school or work. A few other children and grandchildren live in the house who we didn’t meet. The only source of income for the family is the tortilla business. The situation was so sad. We’re trying to convince our casa to buy tortillas from this family to help them out a little.
Thursday in Praxis class, Rick Jones, the director of CRS spoke to our class. He gave us some interesting statistics about El Salvador. El Salvador is the second most deforested country after Haiti. Because of this, clean drinking water is scarce and diarrhea is the biggest killer of children. El Salvador is the second most violent country next to Iraq, and the police force is responsible for many human rights violations. 1.5-2 million Salvadorians have migrated to the U.S. in order to find jobs. A country cannot develop without food security and El Salvador imports 75% of its produce meaning the people cannot sustain themselves without relying on other countries. 48% of the country’s wealth is owned by 6-8 families and 98% of money coming into the country goes back out to pay off loans.
Paz,
Stephanie
Most of our house visits so far in Mariona have been to homes where the families live simply, but are not incredible poor. Most people we have visited make enough money to meet their basic needs. On Wednesday, though, that changed. We went to San Francisco (a zone in Mariona) to the home of three of our English students- Samuel, Gabby, and Eduardo. Rosa, who worked with us in the cooperative and recently immigrated to Spain also lived in this home. When we entered the home we were greeted by a cloud of black smoke from the huge vat of tortillas hanging over a fire. The house was small, only three tiny bedrooms for about 16 people. Flies were everywhere and the whole house felt like an oven. We sat down to talk with the grandparents. They explained that they are originally from the campo and made a living by farming. Once the war broke out, they became refugees and were forced into the city where they had no land and no money. As farmers, it was hard to find work in a city setting. They couple had 8 children (one died when he was a baby). Rosa and her brother are both in Spain because they couldn’t find any work in El Salvador. Immigrating to Europe is much easier than immigrating to the U.S. It costs between $6,000-$8,000 to just get to the U.S. border from El Salvador. So Rosa didn’t have a husband and she left her two small children with her 21 year old sister when she went to Spain. According to her parents she is still looking for a job in Spain. The father of the three children in our English class was a taxi driver and was killed two years ago. Their mother works two jobs and is a little irresponsible so they kids live with their grandparents. They also have an older sister who has some mental problems and can’t go to school or work. A few other children and grandchildren live in the house who we didn’t meet. The only source of income for the family is the tortilla business. The situation was so sad. We’re trying to convince our casa to buy tortillas from this family to help them out a little.
Thursday in Praxis class, Rick Jones, the director of CRS spoke to our class. He gave us some interesting statistics about El Salvador. El Salvador is the second most deforested country after Haiti. Because of this, clean drinking water is scarce and diarrhea is the biggest killer of children. El Salvador is the second most violent country next to Iraq, and the police force is responsible for many human rights violations. 1.5-2 million Salvadorians have migrated to the U.S. in order to find jobs. A country cannot develop without food security and El Salvador imports 75% of its produce meaning the people cannot sustain themselves without relying on other countries. 48% of the country’s wealth is owned by 6-8 families and 98% of money coming into the country goes back out to pay off loans.
Paz,
Stephanie
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