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