San Salvador

Wednesday, 2-9-11

Today has been another long but wonderful day. I woke up at 6:45am; about 15 minutes before my alarm was suppose to go off. That was good because I realized that I hadn’t actually turned the alarm on. Oh well. We went downstairs for breakfast around 7:30am. We scarfed down our food and left the guest house at 8:00am to see some historical sites.

Our first stop was the memorial wall at Parque Cuscatlán. The wall is a monument to memory and truth; a remembrance of all those who were murdered during the Civil War in El Salvador (officially, 1980-1992). On the wall are the names of 30,000 civilians who were declared murdered during the Civil War. However, at least 75,000 people were killed during the war (some estimates put the number closer to 300,000). The names of those murdered were listed by year, staring in the 1970s when tensions were mounting between the government/military and the peasants of El Salvador. The wall also lists various massacres that occurred around the country during the war. There were several flowers taped up next to names on the wall. In one area, there was an additional name of a person who was killed taped up on the wall.

At the memorial wall

This part of the mural represents the indigenous people who once

inhabited El Salvador: The Mayan, Lenca, and Pipil

This part of the mural represents the Matanza in the 1930's,

which is when many indigenous people were killed or threatened

to be killed if they spoke their own language or wore their native clothes.

This part of the mural represents what was happening during

the Civil War. The "photo" the woman is holding is of

Oscar Romero.

This part of the mural represents the new life the people have,

paid for by their own blood

A flower taped to the wall

Another flower amongst names

Various massacre sites

Another name of someone killed during the war

taped to the wall

Next we headed to Divinia Providencia, where Archbishop Oscar Romero lived and was martyred in 1980. We spent some time in the church was he was killed and the little house where he lived. A nun gave us a history of his life. Here’s a bit of info about Romero:

Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez was born on August 15, 1917, to Santos Romero and Guadalupe de Jesus Galdámez in Ciudad Barrios. On April 4, 1942, Romero was ordained a Catholic priest in Rome. Romero remained in Italy to obtain a doctoral degree in theology which specialized in ascetical theology. In 1970 he was appointed auxiliary bishop to San Salvador Archbishop Luis Chávez, a move not welcomed by the more progressive members of the priesthood in El Salvador. On February 23, 1977, he was appointed Archbishop of San Salvador. His appointment was met with surprise, dismay, and even incredulity. While this appointment was welcomed by the government, many priests were disappointed, especially those openly aligning with Marxism. The Marxist priests feared that his conservative reputation would negatively affect liberation theology's commitment to the poor.

On March 12, 1977 a progressive Jesuit priest and personal friend of Romero, Rutilio Grande, who had been creating self-reliance groups among the poor campesinos, was assassinated. His death had a profound impact on Romero who later stated, “When I looked at Rutilio lying there dead I thought, ‘If they have killed him for doing what he did, then I too have to walk the same path’.” In response to Father Rutilio’s murder, Romero revealed a radicalism that had not been evident earlier. He spoke out against poverty, social injustice, assassinations, and torture. As a result, Romero began to be noticed internationally

In 1979, the Revolutionary Government Junta came to power amidst a wave of human rights abuses by paramilitary right-wing groups and the government. Romero criticized the United States for giving military aid to the new government and wrote to President Jimmy Carter in February 1980, warning that increased US military aid would “undoubtedly sharpen the injustice and the repression inflicted on the organized people, whose struggle has often been for their most basic human rights”. Carter, concerned that El Salvador would become “another Nicaragua” ignored Romero's pleas and continued military aid to the Salvadoran government.

Romero was shot on March 24, 1980 while celebrating Mass in San Salvador at a small chapel located in a hospital called “La Divinia Providencia.” He was shot during a sermon where he had called on Salvadoran soldiers, as Christians, to obey God’s higher order and to stop carrying out the government's repression and violations of basic human rights. According to an audio-recording of the Mass he was shot while elevating the chalice at the end of the Eucharistic rite. When he was shot his blood spilled over the altar along with the sacramental wine.
The assassins were members of a military death squad. This view was supported in 1993 by an official U.N. report, which identified the man who ordered the killing as former Major and School of the Americas graduate Roberto D'Aubuisson. Romero is buried in the Metropolitan Cathedral of San Salvador. The funeral mass on March 30, 1980, in San Salvador was attended by more than 250,000 mourners from all over the world.

After telling us the story of what happened when he was killed the nun had us stand behind the altar where he was shot. She told us to imagine what it must have been like to be Romero when he was standing behind the altar giving mass and was suddenly struck by a bullet. He must have been able to see the car drive by and the gunman in the backseat who would take his life. But he stood where he was and raised the host, preparing to bless it. When he was shot he fell backwards and grabbed onto the cloth that was on the altar in front of him. He died instantly. It was a pretty intense and tearful moment for all of us.

A photo hanging in the chapel where Romero was killed.

It is of the 6 Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and daughter who were killed

A poster of Romero in the chapel

The nun telling us the story of Romero

and Kathy translating

The altar where Romero was killed

Romero's house, now a museum

A painting inside the museum

The nun in front of the museum

A mural on the wall outside Divinia Providencia

When we left Divinia Providencia we headed to the University of Central America (the UCA). On the night of November 16, 1989, a Salvadoran Army patrol entered the UCA in San Salvador and massacred six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper, and her daughter. The murders were committed because the Jesuits were voicing concerns over the atrocities of human rights violations being committed by the government during the war. They were all taken from their beds in the middle of the night. Some were killed in their rooms while others were dragged outside and killed. They were severely beaten before they were murdered. The death squads that killed these individuals and many other people were known for making an example out of people. They liked to kill and display people in the way that they were “committing offenses” against the government. The Jesuits used their mind and knowledge to speak out against what the Salvadoran government was doing. Thus, many of them had their brains torn out of their heads and spread over the ground.

In one of the rooms at the UCA was a museum to the martyrs of the Civil War. It included information, possessions, and the blood of Romero, his friend Rutilio Grande, the American nuns that were killed, the Jesuit priests, the housekeeper and daughter, and the thousands of other people that were killed. Just outside of the museum was a rose garden memorializing the people who were killed at the UCA. In one room of the UCA are several photo albums of the victim’s bodies and body parts taken the morning they were discovered. It wasn’t easy to look at the photos, but it helps us to better understand what life was like for ordinary people during the Civil War.



A plaque in the rose garden

A beautiful poinsettia

Crown of thorns flowers

Afterwards we headed to the artisan shops to eat lunch and do some shopping. As we were finished lunch Betty saw a green bird in a tree nearby. And although she kept pointing it out to me I still couldn’t see it. So I had to have Kathy take my camera and take a picture of the bird so I could figure out where it was. Eventually I saw it. It was a Torogoz, which is the national bird of El Salvador and I was VERY excited to see it! My picture didn’t turn out too well because my camera doesn’t have a great zoom, but Maurice got a good one.

We walked around looking at the crafts for a little over an hour. There are so many cool things to see and buy, it’s hard to convince yourself that you really don’t need everything you see. I ended up with a really neat necklace made out of seeds that come from trees in El Salvador. I also bought a Christmas ornament made out of a little gourd with a nativity scene inside. After that I told myself that I’d be here another 10 months and really didn’t need to buy anything else.

After I finished shopping I went to sit by Larry to take a break. He started telling me about a sign he’d seen for the Ministry of Salads. Apparently, he said, gringos shouldn’t be eating salads from El Salvador. At this point I was very confused. I asked him what he was talking about. He told me the sign said “Ministerio de Salud”. “Ohhh,” I replied, “that means Ministry of Health, not Ministry of Salads.” We both started cracking up. I later shared that story with the rest of the group.



A torogoz!

Alfredo taking a siesta

We left the artisan shops around 2:15pm. I slept part of the way back to Berlín. I woke up when we pulled over to get some gas. I went inside to use the facilities and bought myself a Snickers bar. It was delightfully filling. We got back on the road and continued our journey to Berlín. About a half hour before we arrived Alfredo pulled over so we could buy some watermelons to take to the house (see photo of Maurice below). And Linda told us a hilarious joke about Arkansas. We thought it’d be fun to share on my blog: They were going to create a CSI: Arkansas show for television, but no one there has any teeth and they all have the same DNA!!!

We arrived at the Pastoral House around 5:00pm. Greetings and hugs were in store for all. Some very exciting news: there is a pet duck at the Pastoral House! Her name is Barbara and she is adorable! I immediately went to say hi to her and fed her some bread. The rest of the evening was spent doing devotionals, reflections, and chatting about the trip thus far. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to bed until very late (12:30am) which is why I didn’t post this blog last night.



A torogoz statue

View of the valley below

Bananas at a place alongside the road

Nice melons!!

Barbara, the Pastoral House duck

Hard at work

Trinity arrives

Tuesday, 2-8-11

Today has been a pretty good day. I slept soundly throughout the night until about 4am when a crowing rooster woke me up, but I quickly went back to sleep. I woke up around 8am and went downstairs for breakfast. Bety served me eggs, toast, papaya, and hot water for tea. It was all delicious and I finished all of it. I told Bety that I loved papaya but that it didn’t grow in Iowa so this was a special treat for me.

Afterwards I went upstairs and rearranged some of the things in my suitcase for while. Then Kathy showed up around 9:30am. Yay!! We went downstairs and chatted until Alfredo came to pick us at 11:00am. We were on our way to greet the people from Trinity United Presbyterian in Indianola plus two other pastors. Kathy and I grabbed a quick lunch at the Pizza Hut that’s right outside the exit of the airport. Everyone arrived around 12:30 and them we all piled into the microbus to head for Los Pinos Guest House.

Once everyone had unloaded their luggage and changed clothes we were off for the Door of the Devil, which is a large park near San Salvador. It offered a beautiful view of the land below. I have been there once before in 2009 with my church. Kathy and several other people hiked a long way up to the top to see the view from above. Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to make the hike with them, I stayed at the bottom. Although the bursitis in my hip has gotten better and I am physically able to make the hike up, I decided not to make the climb. I figured it would probably be a bad idea if it ended up causing more inflammation in my hip. That could really put a damper on the entire trip and set me back several months. So I stayed below and talked with Betty, Elizabeth, and Linda.

Once everyone else made their way back down I double-checked with Kathy to make sure it was okay to drink some fresh coconut water that they were selling nearby. She said it was fine and we all went to get some. They cut open the top of the coconut for us right there and stuck a straw inside. It was pretty good and very filling. We made time for a couple of photo ops and polished off our drinks. Then it was back to the van and we returned to Los Pinos.

Coconuts

View from Door of the Devil

Hiking back down

Drinking coconut water

Chopping open to coconuts

Cheers!

Scooping out the inside of the coconut to snack on

We rested a while after arriving at the guest house. Around 5:30 we all walked down the street to El Sopon Típico for dinner. It took us a while to go over the menu and decide what we wanted. I ordered a beer, a pupusa, and some plantains with cream. It was all delicious. I wonder if I’ll ever get tired of eating plantains and pupusas. There was also a cute little calico kitty that was walking around our table. I gave her some scritches and a little bit of chicken and steak off my plate.


After dinner we went to the ice cream shop for dessert but I was too full to eat anything else. I think my stomach must be shrinking. I know, I know…you have absolutely no sympathy for a person who complains of not having enough room for dessert. I also have a couple bug bites, but if you’re suffering the cold of winter in Iowa right now you probably don’t care about the problems that come with warm weather.

We got back to the guest house around 7:30 and took some time for a devotional and reflections about the day. Even though I didn’t do a whole lot today I am still tired. Must be the heat (ha ha to those of you in Iowa). Okay, that wasn’t very nice, but I just couldn’t help myself. Now it’s time for bed. Goodnight!

 

Eating dinner

Hola!

More food please!

Getting to El Salvador

Monday, 2-7-11



Alisha and Matt

Alisha with her parents

It’s been a long, hard day. I woke up around 3:30am before the alarm went off. I laid in bed and snuggled my cat and Matt. I didn’t want to the alarm to go off. I wanted a few more hours to spend at home. But 3:50am quickly rolled around and we had to get up. We threw on some clothes and were ready to go to the airport at 4:15am. I smothered the cat with kisses. I was so sad to say goodbye to her. I love animals just as much as I love people. My mom broke the tense mood by telling Matt that the cat would probably be getting more kisses then either of them. Ha ha ha! I gave them plenty!

At the airport I quickly got my tickets and checked my bags. Then it was time to head over to the “goodbye” area. I had my picture taken with both my parents and Matt. They walked me to the escalators and I gave them all hugs and kisses. Then I asked for “one more” hug and kiss from everyone. I always want one more hug and kiss. After my last hugs and kisses I went up the escalator and waved goodbye to my family. I tried hard not to cry.

Soon I was going through security and someone had to look through my bag. We boarded the plane right on time. Our pilot was unusually chipper for it being 5:30 in the morning. But I think that’s a good thing. For most of the flight I dozed off and on. I vaguely remember getting some pretzels and eating them, then falling back asleep. We arrived on time in Atlanta and I made my way to the next terminal. After about a half hour we board the plane for San Salvador. The person I was sitting next to lived in the US but had family in El Salvador. We chatted for a while but soon I was asleep again. I completely missed the complimentary beverage and snack. Before I knew it we had landed in San Salvador around 1:00pm.

I got in the line to go through customs and immigration. There was an unusually large amount of white people in line so I had to wait about 45 minutes. But I got through and quickly found my luggage. Yay! I am always worried that my luggage is going to get lost. I went outside and saw Alfredo waiting for me. He called his friend who drives a cab to pick us up. He told me he was worried about me because it took me so long to get outside. I told him there was a long line of gringos inside that held me up. He laughed. His cabbie friend pulled up shortly and we were off for Los Pinos Guest House.

Alfredo sat in the backseat with me and we talked the whole way there. I was excited because my Spanish skills need to be exercised. I’m just glad I could understand most everything he was saying. It’s nice to be able to have a conversation with someone. We talked about what it was like when he drives other people who aren’t a part of the Our Sister Parish mission. He said sometimes they don’t understand the history of the country and the events that are so important to the people here. I told him that my parents and husband would be visiting in late May and that we’d definitely be going to the important culture sites. We chatted more about the importance of getting to know the people of El Salvador and the important sites it has to offer.

Before I knew it we had arrived. They carried my luggage inside and up to my room for me. What amazing, nice people!! A comfortable car, good conversation, great service; Alfredo and his friend are so kind and polite. It really made my first hour in the country relaxed and happy. I paid them and said goodbye, telling Alfredo I’d see him tomorrow. Bety, the woman who works here, told me she needed to put sheets on the beds and that I should go relax in the hammock. I sounded like a fantastic idea to me. I grabbed my MP3 player so I could listen to my book tape, but soon I fell asleep in the hammock. I woke up after a half hour or so and decided to do some things in my room. But again, I fell asleep on my bed.

Bety came to wake me up for dinner around 6:15pm. I thanked her, telling her I felt better after taking a nap. Dinner was rice, chicken, bread, and salad. I ate it all but didn’t feel particularly hungry. After dinner I asked Bety if there was any way I could use my computer to connect to the internet. She said yes, and after several minutes we figured out how. Yay! That meant I got to blog!

I laid down in bed upstairs in my room and wrote my first blog: Goodbyes. I felt sad writing it. It’s hard being alone my first night here. In some ways I like it because I’m free to nap wherever, do whatever, and spend time relaxing. But on the other hand, I’m really lonely and miss my family a lot. It’s hard to look at pictures of my family because I miss them so much right now. I have a card from Matt and one from my parents that I haven’t opened yet because I’m afraid I’ll just burst into tears. I don’t think it’s quite sunk in how long I’m going to be here. It feels like I’ll be back home with family and my cat after a couple months. I wonder how I’ll feel in a few days.

A bit of good news: my hip hasn’t been bothering me too much since I got here. I’ve had bursitis in my left hip since October and it’s been throwing all sorts of curveballs at me. I feel like I’ve been going insane these past couple months worrying about my hip and trying remedy after remedy to reduce the pain and inflammation. But right now it’s feeling okay. And I think that’s a god omen.

Around 10pm I put on the DVD “Big Trouble” on my computer to watch. It’s a hilarious movie based on a Dave Barry book. I needed a break from thinking about traveling, missing family, lesson planning, worrying about things, etc. The movie made me laugh and relax. I also got an email from my husband, which made happy. Now it’s time for bed. I know I’ll sleep very soundly tonight!

Goodbyes

It has been a busy day. It has been a busy week. I’m not even sure where to start. I’ve been saying goodbye to a lot of family and friends these past couple of weeks. Last weekend I said goodbye to my aunts (Dee & Niki), sister (Cassie), brother-in-law (Josh), and my little niece (Isabell). We spent the weekend talking, drinking fine wine, and eating delicious food. I wanted to get in as much “American” food as I could before I left. So Saturday night we all went out to a place called Nic’s in West Des Moines. I’d never been there before but I was excited. I ended up gorging myself on Steak Oscar: steak topped with béarnaise sauce, crabmeat, and asparagus. It was absolutely fantastic. I then indulged in crème brûlée for dessert. Since I usually don’t eat so much rich food I felt a little sick later that night. But it was definitely worth it; those are foods I won’t be eating for a while.

The next day we played a competitive game of Scrabble before lunch. Matt and I lost by 1 point to Cassie & Josh. Maybe someday we’ll win. Later we got some Mexican food. Though similar in some ways to Salvadoran food (both have beans and rice) it was different and nice to enjoy my last Mexican meal for a while. My niece asked for the lemon that was in my water glass. I had given one to her last night but after putting it in her mouth she spit it out. She ate the one I gave her the second time. What a goof!! Big hugs were in store after we left the restaurant. I’m really going to miss everyone, especially my little niece Izzy who turned 3 on November 1. She’s growing up so fast!

 Izzy playing with a lady bug toy

Chomping down a lemon wedge. Yum!

Later in the week my husband came home with champagne to celebrate my trip. He knows how much I love champagne and this was a good enough reason for us! He bought the kind we had on our honeymoon in Puerto Rico. For dinner I made chicken parmesan with tomato sauce that we canned last summer. It was delicious! It’s always nice when food you spent a long time on turns out well.

The next night we went Granite City in Davenport. My grandpa used to love going to that restaurant. I think it’s the first time I’ve been there since he died. I had a bleu cheese burger with fries. Matt had a giant chicken sandwich with fries. Both of us cut our sandwiches in half and took the rest home. Eating it all would have been way too much. Then Matt suggested we get chocolate fondue. I was pretty full but there’s always room for chocolate. So we sat and indulged for a while.

The next morning we packed up the car to head for Des Moines. I said goodbye to my many stuffed animals (explanation: Matt “adopts” for me animals for my birthday and Christmas though the World Wildlife Fund and then the WWF sends a stuff animal to represent the one you adopted). Then I took my pet snake, Monty, out of his tank and gave him several goodbye hugs. I’m going to miss my little snake a lot. He’s the sweetest snake ever!! He’s never bit anyone and loves to be held. After telling him goodbye we set off for Des Moines. It was a pretty uneventful ride and we made good time.
 

 My herd of adoped animals: 2 meerkats, 2 macaws, 2 prairie dogs,

2 black-footed ferrets, 1 gray wolf, & 1 womat

 Saying goodbye to my snake, Monty



In Des Moines, we were greeted by Blanche, our family’s cat. She inspected all the suitcases we’d brought with us and laid on top of them. That night my parents took me out to dinner. I got to choose and I picked Cosi Cucina. My mom was super excited for the bread. We got the bread and the four of us shared a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. When the server came to ask what kind of wine we wanted she asked if we were celebrating anything. We told her we were celebrating my upcoming mission trip to El Salvador. Coincidentally, she told us she had been to El Salvador too in the same area I will be staying: Berlín. It was through her church, Wakonda Christian. I was very excited because Wakonda is a part of the Our Sister Parish mission. The server, Abby, even knew Diane Fox, who is on Compañeros with me (Compañeros is the Des Moines Presbytery’s coordinating body for the El Salvador mission). Very cool coincidence!

For dinner that night I ordered rigatoni. It was delicious and very filling. I ended taking about half of it home. We were just about ready to leave when my mom suggested that we take a look at the dessert menu. Everyone groaned. We were so close!! But now that we were going to look at the dessert menu we all knew we’d get something. I ended up with another crème brûlée. I polished it off and then we rolled ourselves out of the restaurant. My dad called this my “last meal out” in the US. I typically do not go out to dinner so often (maybe once every couple weeks) so these past few weeks have been fantastic and filled with delicious food and wonderful family. I’ve had to work hard not to get too excited and overeat.

Little Blanche 

 Sleepy kitty

Sunday was a big day for me. I was commissioned at my church, Westminster Presbyterian. I went to the church early to meet briefly with ministers Ken and Scott. I was the liturgist during both services and they commissioned me during both services as well. I knew I was filled with God’s love and the love of everyone at church. It makes going to El Salvador so much easier when I know people care, they are praying for me, and they support what I am doing. I am incredibly fortunate to belong to such a wonderful church. I would not have been able to make this incredible journey if it weren’t for the encouragement of my family and my church.

After church I went home to prepare for a feast. My parents asked me what food I wanted to eat that I wouldn’t be able to get in El Salvador so they could make it for me. At 1:30 my husband, parents, mother- and father-in law, and my “aunt” Karen joined me in a delicious lunch. We dined on Amana prime roast, mashed potatoes, asparagus, and focaccia bread. My dad pulled out a bottle of red wine that he, my mom, and I bought when we were in the Mosel Valley area of Germany in 2005. It was all sublime.

After finishing lunch my mom pulled out a delicious pink champagne cake for dessert. That’s the kind of cake Matt and I had at our wedding. It was scrumptious and went well with the Silver Needle tea my dad bought from Gung Fu. We ate and talked at the table for several hours. I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful family!! They’ve been spoiling me rotten!

The Super Bowl started at 5pm so everyone but my mother-in-law and I went downstairs to watch it (we managed to survive without watching the Super Bowl). She and I said goodbye and she took off home. I’m not a big football fan so I went upstairs to work on some more packing and to watch the Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet. The Puppy Bowl is awesome!! Around 8 million people watch it. All the puppies are from shelters and they all get rescued! There are also hamsters in a blimp up above watching the game and chicken cheerleaders to cheer on the pups. Then there’s a kitty half time show! There are even “tail”gaters outside the stadium watching the game. It’s pretty cool and always puts me in a good mood. I played with our cat, Blanche, a little because I’m going to miss her a ton and I’m worried she’ll forget me.

The Super Bowl ended around 9:15 and I said goodbye to my father-in-law. Then I went upstairs to get a few more things done and packed before I had to go to sleep. Around 10am I said goodnight to my parents. Matt and I talked until about 11:30pm when we eventually drifted off to sleep with the cat between us.

With my parents

With my husband

With my awesome "aunt" Karen 

Cake!!

Blanche is an inspector

With my in-laws

Something my mom sewed and framed for me

Can Blanche go with me?!

2011 El Salvador expedition

Hola a todos!!

In January of 2010 I wrote to let you all know I’d be leaving to spend 6 weeks in El Salvador teaching English. Well, it’s a year later and I’m writing to tell you that I’m again leaving soon to teach in El Salvador, this time for 10 months. I head south on February 7 to sunny El Salvador and after a few days will make my way to Berlín. This will be my fifth trip there, and I’m thrilled about returning.

Like last year, I will be teaching at a boy’s school in Berlín in the mornings. It will be wonderful to see the students and teachers again. I am also hoping to give private English lessons at the Pastoral House where I’ll be staying, teach at a couple marginalized schools in the afternoons, and possibly getting out to the small canton (village) of San Francisco to give lessons there as well. My Spanish language skills will be getting daily workouts, which is important if I ever want to conquer verbs in Spanish (the dreaded preterite vs. imperfect past tense). And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the beans and plantains that are calling my name.

However, due to some unforeseen hip problems, I won’t be able to start out quite as vigorously as I would have liked. I may need to ease into the afternoon lessons, and I certainly won’t be climbing jocote trees any time soon. I’ll just have to wait to see how I feel when I get there. Thankfully, my mind and hands are moving at full speed so I will absolutely be blogging again when I’m in El Salvador!

I also want to encourage you to take a look at the website of Our Sister Parish, which is the organization responsible for the partnership with and mission trips to El Salvador. There you can find the history of the mission, the mission coworker’s blog, church delegations that go down, and Don Justo coffee information. My church in Des Moines, Westminster Presbyterian, partners with the canton of San Francisco. The website is http://www.oursisterparish.org/

Many people have asked me questions about my time in El Salvador. Here are my responses to some of the frequently asked questions:

Are you getting paid to do this?

No, this is a volunteer position that I applied for through Our Sister Parish. Actually, it’s a position that I helped to create after returning from El Salvador last March after teaching for 6 weeks. Compañeros, the coordinating body for the Des Moines Presbytery’s El Salvador mission, needed policy requirements and a formal application process for individual short- and long-term volunteers to El Salvador. After we created official volunteer positions I eagerly decided to be a guinea pig for the committee that would be accepting the applications. I developed a work plan detailing specific goals that I want to achieve during my time in El Salvador, learning activities that will help me reach those goals, and indicators that demonstrate I have met those goals.

What’s the school like where you teach?

The boy’s school has only the basics: desks, chairs, a whiteboard, and workbooks provided by the government. They buy their own notebooks and pencils (which sometimes prevents kids from attending school). Last year I had 7 classes, about 250 kids, and my class sizes ranged from 32 - 40 kids per class. Most of the time there is electricity though occasionally it does go out.  There is no air-conditioning at the school. There’s no soap or toilet paper in the bathrooms at the school so I bring my own. There are no computers in any of the classrooms. There is no projector to show them things on the internet or to use as a teaching aid. There’s no place at the school where I can photocopy or print out exercises, homework, or quizzes. There’s a printer at the Pastoral House, but ink and printing paper are expensive and I’m not even sure you can get them in Berlín. Thankfully, I’ve had the past three months to work on lesson plans and have tapped into the creative side of my brain to work on ways to keep the kids attention and make learning fun.

Does anyone in Berlín, El Salvador speak English?

A few people do. I can count on one hand the people I know who speak enough English to have a conversation. This really challenges me to use my Spanish and continually learn more. The mission coworker at the house where I’m staying is American so if I feel a hankering to speak English I go to her office and sit in her hammock chair.

I want to thank everyone for supporting me and walking with me on my journey. Your love, encouragement, and prayers mean so much to me. Keep me apprised of everything that’s going on in the States!

Peace and love,

Alisha