El Sal!

Current stop on the summer whirlwind tour of Latin America: San Salvador, El Salvador. This country is truly amazing. This time of year the grass, tress, and mountainsides are all a lush blooming green and the countryside scenes seem to go on forever. San Salvador is your typical city, except that from wherever you are you can look up and see the volcanoes and mountains surrounding the valley where the city is situated. The beaches, too, are a natural wonder that attract many tourists here (those willing to brave the daily news reports of violence and gang murders).

We arrived on Sunday afternoon after a very early flight from Quito to Panama City to San Salvador. The security in the airport was super-strict, with army men in full outfits and with huge weapons dangling from their shoulders sauntering around, looking suspiciously over the arriving passengers. A very cute German shepherd was walking on the luggage belt, sniffing each bag as it went by before jumping over it to get to the next one. It was adorable. Going through immigration I was next to a Latino who appeared to be traveling on business and was unsure what hotel his driver was going to take him to. They were giving him the rundown and asking all kinds of questions, so I was very happy to say yes and move on when the woman took one look at my face, my US passport, and asked “turismo?”

El Salvador has one of the most developed and necessary education in emergencies programs so we have been very busy this week talking to many people who were involved in these programs. There is so much to learn and so many people to talk with. Yesterday we went out to the town of El Zapotal, which was a guerilla stronghold during the Salvadorian civil war from 1980-1992. Similarly to Guatemala, there are murals on the sides of school buildings depicting the government’s attacks on its own people and the names of the dead heroes from each town. According to Ricardo, our guide for the week, Plan continued to work in El Salvador throughout the war, using its status as non-politically affiliated to bring much needed food and clothes to small towns such as this. Even then it was not allowed to work everywhere, only where the government would allow it.

Today we went to a community along the coast (which meant we got to each lunch by the beach!) and talked with a lot of young students who had formed themselves into a “committee” of knowledgeable students who can respond appropriately the next time a natural disaster hits their area. The last time a disaster hit, Tropical Storm Ida, they were out of school for a month while the school was used as a temporary shelter for members of the community who lost their homes. It was really interested talking to the headmaster of the school and the older kids who could describe their experiences. We also happened to be visiting during a “field day” when all 870 kids were playing futbol (soccer) and other games outside, it really felt more like a carnival than a school day.

All in all this has been an exhausting but worthwhile week. Tomorrow we head out to a village called “Pequena Inglaterra” (Little England), presumably because the donors who gave the money to fund this refugee village were from England. I’ll let you know after tomorrow!