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 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…
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.
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