So psych, I didn’t actually go to my praxis site today. Well I mean I did…for about 20 minutes before I hopped in the back of a pickup with my praxis partners, Katie and Ella, as well as 2 other students, Maria and Nate. We were accompanied by Angelica, Ana, Lilly, and little Brianna. These women, especially Angelica, are in charge of my praxis site and will be running the comedor and other projects at La Javia. The reason I didn’t spend the day at my site is because we headed up the mountain to Maria and Nate’s site of Zacamil. Zacamil and La Javia used to be the same site but one of Angelica’s nephew (Giovanni) was involved in a serious accident leaving him wheelchair bound. As you can imagine getting around on a mountain without paved roads and a lot of mud is very difficult for someone in a wheelchair. In addition, Giovanni’s brother is a new dad and it is much easier for the entire family to stay in their home and for us to come visit them. So after a very bumpy but beautiful ride to the top we hopped out of the truck and walked by the tin houses, past the chickens, roosters and stray dogs to the home of Daisy (Giovanni’s mom) and the rest of the family. I’m still trying to figure out this huge family but what I can say for certain is that they are all wonderful. We all sat outside talking about what we will be doing this semester at our sites and giving some general background information about ourselves. After our little orientation we headed off with our bowl of corn kernels to the Molina where they have a machine that grinds the corn and mixes it with water until it reaches a dough-like consistency. We walked home with our mixture and got to work making tortillas. Anyone who knows anything about me knows that I love food and ive also expressed a desire to become a great cook while here in El Salvador. Well let’s just say I’m going to need a little more practice. Making tortillas is not easier here. My thin blob of dough looked nothing like the perfectly thick and rounded tortillas of the Salvadorans but do not fret, I will learn. After some cooking the 5 of us gringos sat down for a lunch of tortillas, rice and beans with Giovanni. Lunch was simple but so absolutely delicious and their was something about sitting around laughing at our broken Spanish with Giovanni that made the meal even greater. Giovanni is 21 years old and prior to his accident, attended school and had a job. Despite the physical differences of ourselves, our homes, and our lifestyles I came to realize we aren’t so different after all. After lunch we hung around the house some more. The family tried to get us to dance, we reenacted some scenes from Titanic, we imitated frog noises, and I spun the little girls of the family around in circles and then 330 came and it was time to leave.

Looking back at my day and hearing about the days of the other casa students has got me thinking. Many people spoke of these deep stories they heard about their families’ time during the war; others trekked through rain to conduct home visits. I didn’t do either of these things, I’m sure the time will come, but for now I am perfectly content with hanging out with an awesome family and joking around with someone my age who I would otherwise probably never meet.

I will be heading back to La Javia on Wednesday and will be beginning my work at my actual praxis site so I will hopefully be providing and update of that soon. I’ve got my Spanish placement test tomorrow so I should get some rest.

Hasta Pronto! Lindsey

Side note: just took the spanish test... boy am I out of practice. It was definitely a struggle fest but I still told the professor during the oral part that I want to test out of the class sooooo we shall see what happens. 

Lindsey

More updates!

Hola a tod@s!!!

Someone told me that orientation was going to be crazy, that it would be nonstop going, that I wouldn’t really sleep much… well that’s all true. Looking back at this past week, as well as looking at a map of El Salvador I realize I’ve been everywhere. I’ve visited medical clinics down the road, hiked a few mountains, trekked through the mud of Tepecoyo, and hung out at many Salvadoran homes. This past week we went and visited everyone’s praxis sites. For those of you who aren’t too familiar with the program I will give you a little summary. Every Monday and Wednesday we head out to work at a different site with the goal of learning what words such as solidarity and accompaniment really mean. When I say work, I mean we help out where we can in these already amazing projects. I definitely think we will be learning a lot more from the Salvadorans than they will be learning from us. We are placed in groups of 2 or 3 at different sites throughout the greater San Salvador area. Though I would love to tell you about every single site, time really doesn’t allow for it. What I will tell you though is that the people of El Salvador are the most welcoming people I have ever met. Many of these communities are very poor, families are struggling, and resources are limited. However, we have been fed at every site, whether it be a full lunch complete with coffee and dessert or a warm cup of arroz con leche. The quantity and quality of the food don’t really matter though; what is more important is the love that comes with the food. The Salvadorans don’t think twice about offering to their guests what little they have. And really we aren’t really considered guests at all; we are always addressed as members of the family. I will be attending my praxis site at La Javia tomorrow so I will provide more information on that in the future. For now though, un abrazo y un beso para todos.  

Some history for ya!

Buenas mis amigos!

            10 days into my journey here in El Salvador I feel like I can finally breathe. Today is the last day of orientation and tomorrow we begin our first real week of the program. I’m using this time before the big day to write to you all J My previous blogs were written a hurry and were probably not very informative, so here I am, starting new.

Once upon a time (August 17^th to be exact) I arrived in my home for the next few months. There are  26 students in my program from all over the US. I live in the biggest house called Casa Romero, named for THE Monseñor Romero. There are 12 other students living in my house and they are all absolutely wonderful. In addition to us students and my Community Coordinator Quentin we have a becario (Salvadoran scholarship student) living in our house named Tómas. Tómas is a little shy but he is a BEAST at guitar and one of the best singers I have heard. Casa Romero is definitely the social hub; we have a lot of community space where we probably spend far too much time talking and not enough sleeping. Regardless, I love it. And despite my original desire to have a roommate, I’m loving my solo room because me space is definitely necessary. In addition to Casa Romero there are two other houses, Casa Ita and Casa Silvia which our set up in a similar fashion but each with their own character.

So we’ve spent the past 10 days getting oriented with the program, the people, the school, and most importantly El Salvador. For being such a small country El Salvador has such a strong culture. Much of their culture stems from their civil war that occurred not too long ago. Though I’m still learning I thought I should provide you with a brief history of this amazing place.

Prior to the war El Salvador was run by a small group of right-wing, wealthy families. These families controlled everything and the other families suffered immensely because of it. The masses began to rise in a quest for justice for the poor. The Church here in El Salvador took the side of the poor and decided to break away from the Vatican, guided by Liberation Theology. Monseñor Romero became the voice of this movement and as he grew in strength, so did the opposition to his movement by the government of El Salvador. In 1980, he was gunned down while saying mass in San Salvador. This action sparked the creation of the rebel group, Farabundo Martí Liberation Front (FMLN) which proceeded to launch attacks against the military with the hope of driving them out. However, the government launched counter attacks led by military death squads which resulted in the deaths of around 70,000 Salvadorans, most of them civilians. During this time the US sent millions of dollars in the form of military aid to these death squads.

The war between the government and the guerilla group waged on with the aid of the US until 1989 when Americans began to notice the injustice being carried out by the government of El Salvador. In November of 1989 6 Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter were executed by Salvadoran armed forces at the Universidad Centro Americana (UCA – the school I’m currently attending). These people were murdered in a very brutal way, their bodies sprawled across the lawn with chunks of their brains at their sides. Following the murders at the UCA, the military signed a peace accord with the FMLN in 1991. Until recently a rightist party, ARENA, has controlled El Salvador, but 2 years ago the FMLN candidate Mauricio Funes was elected to presidency (something that has been long awaited).

            As I mentioned, I will be attending the UCA this semester and during my orientation we had the privilege of visiting the museum and garden dedicated to the Jesuit Martyrs as well as Elba and Selena (housekeeper and daughter). One thing that should be mentioned about the people of El Salvador is that they do not hide their past. The bloodied clothes of the Jesuit martyrs hang behind an inch of glass and the room in which Elba and Selena were murdered still stands very much unchanged. At first it was a little eerie sitting on their couch staring at the floor upon which they were murdered but then I realized the amount of pride the Salvadorans have in these people and the honor they feel towards them. Death is not hidden here, it is not pushed aside, it is remembered, it is honored, it is celebrated; the thousands of Salvadorans killed, injured, or disappeared during the war suffered for something bigger, something that deserves much respect.

The history here is rough, it is also still very present. I hope I have provided you with a brief, but accurate account, and I look forward to sharing more with you all as I learn more

Paz, Lindsey 

Doing some thinking

So as I previously wrote, internet here is not easy to come by but I’m going to do my best and try to get on at least once a week.

Introductory note: I thought it would be hard to write in this blog because I really just don’t like writing and never have that much too say but I’ve realized now that it’s going to be hard to write in this blog because I have too much to say, I have so many thoughts and feelings and emotions but it is so hard to convey to someone who is not here with me.

The first 2 days of this experience were so filled that I did not have much time to write about my experiences so I apologize. To sum it up lots of delicious food, lots of sitting in circles, lots of orienting, and a lot of great people.

Today is my third full day here in El Salvador and we finally have some tiempo libre so I’m taking it to do a little writing. Today we went to visit my praxis site at La Javia as well as Zacamil. These people live high up in the mountains, in tin houses, surrounded with mud, walking side by side with stray dogs, chickens, and cows. Being a city girl it was hard to grasp everything going on around me. After getting stuck ankle deep in a mud I began to understand why these people are able to live such beautiful lives in a place many people would consider to be not the most beautiful. The community members that I will be working with at La Javia seem wonderful. Angelica will without a doubt be my mother figure here in El Salvador. Jose Luis, Ana, and everyone else seem like they will be great mentors especially because they have started a youth group, food project, and educational classes in their small community; something I strive to achieve one day. The children are absolutely great as well. I really enjoy the wide variety of ages present in the program and I can’t wait to play with the little ones and teach them English and work with the older ones in the computer classes.

This country is absolutely beautiful. The people here have so little and have such a difficult past but they give like they have more than anyone else in the world and they love like they have never been hurt before. The willingness of the Salvadorans to open their homes to complete strangers has blown me away. In the US we tell people come on in, welcome to my home, etc etc. But here they open their doors and say welcome home, we are all one family and we all belong here together. I may have more physically to give to these people but the amount of love and compassion these people have to give to me far exceeds that which I feel I am able to give.

I know that I have just barely touched the surface of this journey. I know that the more time I spend here getting to know the Salvadorans as well as the other casa students the more I will really be able to understand la realidad. Life is such a complicated thing, to be alive each day is one thing but to really live is completely different. My life back home has been a constant routine 20 years in the making but here I hope to really learn what it means to live each day like it was your last, to embrace life, to appreciate each moment and to realize that I can’t know everything. Things happen, things change, planning out my life is going to get me nowhere. I must live day by day, y crecer poco a poco.

Estoy Aquí

Hello All!!!! So internet here requires me to walk down the street, make a turn, walk down another block or two and sit on a family's front porch with my laptop ....I love it. I do apologize because it will make communication with all of you wonderful people back home a little difficult but I will do my best.


I arrived late Wednesday night and have just been in orientation since then. Orientation is going great, the food is great, the people are even better. My spanish....a work in progress but I'm getting by and hopefully getting better.


We have been doing so much I feel like I've already been here forever :)


I'll be starting classes next Thursday so hopefully by then I'll be able to give you a better update of my life. I've got to go now but know that I am safe and love and miss you all!!

Who's not good at packing? This kid.

So I decided to make a blog about my adventures in El Salvador. For those of you that don't already know, I will be spending the next few months (August- December) studying in San Salvador as part of the Casa de la Solidaridad program. I am so incredibly pumped and I've been waiting for an adventure like this one for awhile now. 

I'm not much of a writer and I hope that I can actually keep up with this thing. I tend to start a lot of things but never really finish them but I am going to do my best to update it as frequently as possible.

 I haven't left yet but I figured I'd give you a glimpse into my pre departure life.


* I have finally finished packing. I managed to fit everything into 1 bag that weighs a mere 45.5 lbs....sure is going to be fun lugging that around...and a backpack

   

* I leave tomorrow morning from ORD at 10am and get into Dallas at       12:25. I leave Dallas at 4:25 and get into San Salvador at 6:50 (they're an hour behind us) Long day of travels but I can't wait to set foot in my new home for the next few months!!!

That's all I got for now but I will be sure to provide updates once my life is more exciting :)