Costa Rica

We left for vacation last Saturday morning at 5:30 am, taxied to the airport, I was searched by a woman who gave me the most disdainful look and shook her head at me because I had scotch tape in my bag, we flew to San Jose, taxied to the bus station, almost missed our bus, took the bus four hours to Liberia, and found a nice hostel for the night.

Since then we have been to Tamarindo, Playa del Grande, Samara, and Alajuela. We spent a ton of time on the beach, gone zip lining, seen a sea turtle lay eggs, saw baby sea turtles, saw alligators, went kayaking, and went snorkeling.

The zip lining through the forrest canopy was so much fun! As I stood on the first of 11 platforms I listened to the horrifying sound of the howler monkeys. Soaring high above the trees was one of the greatest experiences of my life. I have always wanted to fly, and that's the closest thing I've come to it. It was a very liberating feeling being so tiny and so far up in the air.

Sea turtles have been my favorite since I was about 8 years old. In fact, at a young age I researched them for a good portion of a summer just for fun. They are also the reason why I seriously considered being a marine biologist for a few years during middle school. The only sea turtle I have seen in real life was half eaten by a shark, so being able to see not only live sea turtles, but mothers laying eggs and the babies was also one of the most amazing things I have ever experienced in my life. Honestly, I blubbered like a little baby when I saw that mamma sea turtle and everything she went through to only hope that a fraction of her offspring will survive. She swims hundreds of miles to the beach where she was born, fins her way up onto the beach, digs a hole with her back fins, lays hundreds of eggs, covers the nest, and struggles back to the water. What a cool animal.

Yesterday we kayaked through the bay to a small island and reef. The paddling brought me back to the intensity of living in a canoe in the Florida Everglades and my sore arms continue that memory. We got to the island that was crazy with hermit crabs and iguanas. It started raining, so we hid in a cave until it passed. Luckily the water stayed clear enough for us to snorkel and see some amazing creatures. We saw brilliantly colored fish of all sizes and shapes, starfish, and eels.

All in all, this past week was a much needed break full of adventure and relaxation. Now I'm off to Nicaragua to study some Political Science and Women's History!

Moving on

Before this trip I was a victim of my culture. I was caught up in the consumerism, materialism, and privilege. I was plastic. I was content to live in my nice, neat, safe, and comfortable life. My eyes were closed to the pain and suffering of the world because it was easier that way. I reflected what I was told by my society. I bought the stories that I was fed. I was part of the sin that permeates society by cooperating in the victimization of the marginalized.

Through this trip so far, through Sobrino, Gutierrez, and Johnson, through Nueva Esperanza, Nuevo Gualcho, Mapache, Rogelio, Naom, and Sister Peggy I have begun to create a new story. My eyes have been open to the reality and truth. I still reflect stories, but they are a new kind of story and a new kind of reality. I have moved to the roots of life; moved into the reality of the masses. I have begun a journey towards truth, hope, understanding, and progress within myself and within humanity.

I have been, and continue to be transformed by my time and experiences here. I want to "pig out on life" in the words of Sister Peggy. I want to take what I have learned and use it to change the structure of poverty. Not just rebuild, but to build new. 

This is what I take with me from El Salvador.

Oh, the people you'll meet

This past weekend we spent in Suchitoto, where Sister Peggy's Peace Center is located. On Saturday our group went to Lake Suchitlan. 

We took boats across the lake, climbed up a green hill, and settled under an ancient tree to hear the story of Rogelio Miranda. Rogelio was a victim of the Copapayo Massacre in 1983 that had taken place on the other side of the lake (we couldn't get there because of the insane amount of water lilies on the lake).

Rogelio was a quiet, kind man who very humbly told us the horror of those days when he was nine years old. The army had been near his village, so many of them had left to go into the mountains. One group of them returned after they thought the army was gone. Rogelio was in this group. A few people that were with Rogelio and his family took a canoe out onto the lake that was spotted by the army and gave away the group's position. 

The soldiers surrounded them and opened fire as people fled. Some swam away and escaped, many died, and the others were captured. The hostages marched with the army as they were told that they would all be fine as long as they cooperated. They walked with no food or water until they reached a small abandoned house. All of them were packed in this house until the next day when they began to walk again; hungry, tired, thirsty, and without much hope. 

The survivors were split into three groups and taken to different areas. Rogelio was in a group with his aunt and sister. They were told to make three lines. Rogelio was in the front row with his aunt and sister. They heard the gun shots from the two other groups being killed. Thinking quickly, Rogelio jumped to the back row without grabbing his aunt and sister. He hid in the grass as the soldiers opened fire on his group. After they were all dead, he laid in the grass until the soldiers were gone. Next to him was another boy a little older than himself. The boy had a gaping wound all the way down his leg and had managed to keep quiet until the soldiers left. He couldn't move, so Rogelio took a rubber boot off of a dead man and ran back and forth from the water so the boy could drink. Rogelio knew, however, that he needed to move on and couldn't take the boy with him. He left and went to an abandoned village where he ate bananas and took refuge in a trench until he was rescued by guerilla fighters. He was the only one that had survived both days.

…………………………………………………………….. 

The second night we were there, Miguel and I met Naom at a bar. He was a great guy and we had a fantastic conversation with him about the importance of cultural exchange, politics, the war, and Suchitoto. The next day we had a free morning, so Naom asked us if we wanted to meet his ex-guerilla mother and go to a waterfall. Peggy knew him and he was harmless, so we agreed. The next morning, Naom came to pick us up from the Peace Center. We walked to his mother's home where we met a few of his nine siblings and his hell of a mother. She was a kind, boisterous, beautiful woman with an infectious smile that endured through the war.

We continued our walk to the waterfall as we heard about the war, the after effects of the war, and life now. When we got to the waterfall we had to climb down a bunch of giant, geometrically shaped rocks and then I saw one of the most beautiful things I've seen since I've been here.

As we stared at the beauty, a brilliantly blue butterfly fluttered aimlessly in front of us. We sat in silent awe for a while, then we climbed back up the rocks past a group of nuns. We returned to Naom's house to say goodbye to his mother who was upset that she couldn't feed us or at least give us some lemonade.

The fact that Naom wanted so badly to share that experience with us was touching. He took time out of his Sunday to do this for us as well as take us to his family, and he carried a bag of water for us on our thirty minute walk.

Let's see...

Where to begin?…My Liberation Theology class has been pretty demanding. I'm learning a ton, but every day is filled with class, meetings, reading, and homework. It's hard to keep up with my blog. But here is a rundown of what has been going on for the last 10 days…

On Thursday we had a three hour essay exam for Liberation Theology, then we headed to the community of Nueva Esperanza. Here we listened to the music of the youth of the town, we climbed water towers, and ate countless choco bananos. Natalie and I lived with a beautiful family in a small home. 

Our mother was young, our father had the kindest face, little host sister was the sweetest girl I've ever met, the oldest little boy watched tv all the time and never talked, and the youngest little boy, Sergio, was my favorite. He was about 7 and loved us. He and his friends always asked us for kisses and he always had to know where we were going. At our house Natalie and I shared a little hot room, we often watched tv with our host family, I spent a lot of time in the hammock out back (except when the chickens decided it was a fun game to peck my behind), and we had dinner in the little kitchen in the back. There was nearly always a chicken in the house, and sometimes they would lay eggs on the couch. One day Natalie and I walked in just as a chicken had laid an egg. Natalie asked if that was ok, and our host dad said "ahorita" and mimicked laying an egg/pooping.

Our group home base for the weekend was a pastoral center. Here we had lunch every day and where Natalie and I took cold bucket showers multiple times each day. There were also eco-toilets that had a part in the front for #1 and a part in the back for #2…and we were to throw the toilet paper in the toilet…it was weird.

The first night we were there, a few of us stumbled upon a small party being held for our director, Cesar's, birthday. The room was packed with youth who were learning to play instruments. It was a really fun experience and they made us dance for what felt like the longest song ever created. Also while we were there we toured the different coconut, cashew, sugar cane, and mango plantations. 

We went to an Emergency Fund Health Center where they make a lot of their own medicines so the people can afford them and have access to them. We also went to the river that floods the towns because of the hydroelectric damn and the people who run it that don't take into consideration the Bajo Lempa area. Four of us ended up stripping down and swimming in the river where we jumped off of a tree with some kids. One of them popped up out of the depths right next to me and, with a smile, handed me a pretty good sized live fish. It was like noodling on a smaller scale. One night we had a concert by all of the youth of Nueva Esperanza. The weekend there was absolutely amazing…

Sunday night we all went to the bar and had awesome conversations about our first impressions of everyone. On Monday we hiked up the Santa Anna volcano, the tallest volcano in El Salvador. It was probably one of the more intense excursions I've taken, but it was worth it. At the top was a crater with a volcanic lake. There were fairy-like locusts flying around that were brilliantly colored due to the sulfur they eat.

Tuesday, a group of us went to the museum at the Universidad Tecnica. It was all about immigration and the struggle of immigrants trying to get to the United States. It was pretty powerful.

Nothing super exciting happened Wednesday and Thursday, but Friday was frustrating and great. In the morning we went to the US Embassy. The city became noticeably more commercialized as we got closer to the Embassy. I felt weird going there since I have not been in the US for months and all of a sudden I was getting a little piece of it after my changed views of my country. We passed by hundreds of people trying to get visas as we walked in with our US passports.

I already had a icky feeling about being there, but it was made even worse by the diplomat we heard from. His name was Cornelius and some of the crap that came out of his mouth was ridiculous. Here is a list of some of his comments word for word:

-When talking about his job he referred to is as propaganda to "try to make cultures think well of us" (don't worry, they get much worse)

-I had watch a moving documentary of the gangs in El Salvador the night before and Cornelius compared M13 and M18 to the rivalry between McDonalds and Burger King…

-"Salvadorans that come back after living in the shadows in the America bring modern ideas and open franchises"

-He talked about how they helped pass a law to legalize wire tapping because "there are a lot of bad people here that should be in prison"

-He was talking about dolarization and currencies when he said "the dollar is better for El Salvador than what they had before…the quetzal or whatever"…it's the colon. I don't live here and I knew that. He was also talking about the currency in Honduras and couldn't remember what it was so he said, "I don't know, they probably use the peso" We are not in Mexico…

-When speaking about the roll of the ambassador he said, "we send her in for the kill because if they don't do what we want we will make their lives miserable"

What kind of people are we allowing to represent our country? This does not make me want to come back to a country where a good number of people think very similarly to Cornelius. 

Friday afternoon we went to speak with a Jesuit from the United States that works at UCA, Father Dean Brackley. The one part I want to highlight from this meeting was the idea he brought up that where we are right now (El Salvador) with the poverty and pain is a globally average country. This is the way the world is…wow.

Rundown

This is one of those posts that is just a rundown of what has been going on in my life the past weekish:

On Friday we left for weekend stays in different communities to learn about the role of faith and liberation theology among the people. Robyn, Ryan, and I went to Nueva Granada to live with Padre Alcides. The weekend was amazing even though Padre wasn't my favorite person in the world. He talked a lot about liberation theology, living with and working with the poor, and many other Miss America Pageant topics. His words were great, but he lived in a huge house (which the three of us had completely to ourselves the whole weekend) that was packed full of hair products, dietary pills, deodorant sprays, and polo shirts. He was a very well kept man with perfectly gelled hair, designer glasses, and a Blackberry that he used constantly (even during Sunday mass). Padre also talked about women's rights and how everyone should be treated equally, but when all of us were together it was as if Robyn and I didn't exist. What Padre said didn't always line up with what Padre did. Oh, and he also abandoned us…a lot.

Despite the Padre part, the weekend was delightful. We spent time in the community learning about different initiatives they are taking to create social progress. My favorite part was Saturday when we went to another community in the municipality called Nuevo Gualcho. We spent the day with Mapache touring the community, swimming in a waterfall, and getting a real taste of El Salvador.

On Monday we went to the beach. It was pretty much the greatest day of my life. It was a semi-birthday celebration day, so I did not pay for one pina colada. I spent the day diving in the waves of the Pacific Ocean, laying in a hammock, exploring abandon houses along the shore, swimming in the pool, holding hands with monkeys, and other really awesome things that everyone wishes they could do for their birthday. That night a few of us went out for drinks and pool.

My actual birthday was spent writing a paper and reading for class, which wasn't super fun, but it made up for the ridiculously awesome day before. At dinner I got to blow out a candle on a beautiful cake. All in all it was a fantastic two days of birthday.

Today we had class and a meeting on liberation theology and tomorrow we head out for a weekend in Nueva Esperanza to experience more liberation theology at work in the communities.