Things are sizzling in El Salvador…

Juayuaaaa

After spending two and a bit weeks lulled into beach and hammock life, I felt it was time to get moving again and see some things in this small and diverse country. I packed my small day pack, left my backpack at the beach with Rachael and headed up to the highland town of Juayua.

What a treat it was to travel the chicken bus without my giant backpack for once! I felt light as a feather and much less at risk of toppling over when the bus takes off at breakneck speed as I am desperately trying to make my way to a seat. Because El Salvador is so small, even by chicken bus it only took me a couple of hours to reach the town.

Juayua (pop: 10 000) is known for its amazing weekend food fair, when the town fills up with people from the city coming to enjoy the numerous treats. There are stalls lined up all around the main square serving up gourmet plates of all sorts of meat (lamb, beef, rabbit.. even  frog!) and sides to accompany. The stalls are thoughtfully decorated and laid out and it really reminded me of something we would have in Canada but only once a year.  These locals put this party on every weekend!

On the sunday ( and my second day of copious eating indulgence) somehow the group of us gringos happened upon a Latino T.V. station airing in the states who were doing a piece on the food fair.. of course they wanted to interview us and we were all happy and giggly to be on t.v.  The questions were slightly strange however as the interviewer forgot to ask us anything about the food fair and instead inquired about why we chose to come work in El Salvador and how old we were…?? I just made up a story anyway and enjoyed my 2.5 minutes of fame.  Watch out for this face showing up on TVLATINOWASHINGTON (or something) on a station near you…

The weather was blissfully a little cooler and drier and the general vibe of the town is quiet and slow-paced (and as usual, low on jobs and high on drunk men passed out in the street).  I found a cool little hostal with a great kitchen and various different travellers passing through to hang out and EAT with. We checked out a local ballon-cesta (basketball) game one night, and found out that basketball is the most popular sport in this part of the country (random?) and in Juayua alone there are 10 different teams!  To continue with the sporty theme of the weekend, I joined the boys at the hostal in watching a couple of the major football games going on (Argentina v.s. Mexico and another one which I can’t remember.. must have been epic),  and also managed to walk out to a waterfall  nearby for a cold swim.

On the saturday night the gang of us headed to the only bar in town, very cool, hippy vibe place with live music on saturdays.    Except for this particular one because of the heavy rains, the band wouldn’t travel from San Salvador to play.   We were lucky to walk in on one of the locals who had brought his guitar and great talent, happy to play requests all night!   We had a hilarious night of sing along where no one knew all the words to any songs but that didn’t stop the fun! Good times.

Juayuaaaa

beautiful Juayua

Our 3 minutes of fame ON record.

fun new friends at the local watering hole!

Arnold Shwarzenegger Frog

Ribs, prawns, meat, salad and tortillas…I’m in heaven.

Food fair stalls

I headed back to El Tunco on monday night for  a totally LOCO sendoff party for Rachael and I, and the others who were leaving the beach.  What happened at the El  Tunco goodbye party will stay at the  El Tunco goodbye party… just know that there was homemade twister and reggaeton involved!

This week I  will be living in San Salvador (the capital city of El Salvador with quite a high gang crime rate and recent strong political tension).  I am staying at a guesthouse that feels like a home partly because  it is home for the owners and their family!  The dueno is a very interesting elderly man named Tirso Canales, who is a philosopher and was apolitical writer during the civil war.  He and I had an amazing conversation over dinner (I cooked us spaghetti Bolognese which he raved about!)   I am taking part in a sort of course through an NGO call CIS ( Centro de Intercambio y Solidaridad) for this week at least.

Mission

The CIS mission is to promote solidarity and cultural exchange across borders between the Salvadoran people and others in the search for development and dignity. We work to promote and strengthen a culture of solidarity that implies accompaniment, respect for equality of different cultures, and mutual support between people. We focus on using different strategies to promote a solidarity that creates the space for grassroots organizing for justice and dignity.

Objectives

• Promote people-to-people solidarity in the search for development and human dignity.
• Promote human values and cultural exchange with individuals, delegations, representatives of private organizations, and government officials in order to strengthen solidarity and understanding of Salvadoran history and culture.
• Strengthen community and integrated development programs.
• Encourage the development and commercialization of Salvadoran crafts made by cooperatives, especially by youth, women, and ex-combatants.
• Deepen awareness and promote the defense of human rights in El Salvador.

For more info go to  http://www.cis-elsalvador.org/

I am participating in a political cultural awareness program which runs every afternoon and focusses on educating people about local organisations working on strengthening solidarity (strengthening ties that bind people in a social or world community),  in the country through different ways.

On the first day we went to an organisation called CO-MADRE which is  a group of women  who are fighting to  bring to justice the  soldiers who killed and kidnapped their  families.  These women were also  raped and tortured at the hands of the military run oligarchic government during the civil war (1980-1992 ).

We were able to sit and speak with two of the women from the group and hear their testimonies which were visibly still very fresh and painful in their minds.  I was struck by the resilience and strength these women have shown throughout their struggle which really only began during the  war and continues now  with an unwillingness by the government or the church to push for justice for those who committed these crimes.  One of the  ladies actually KNOWS who her torturer was  by name, as she was denounced by a member of her own family for being a communist supporter.  The reality of their trauma was obvious as they explained that sometimes they would forget large parts of the story because of brain  damage sustained during their torture.  My heart ached for these women and what they have endured but I also admired their fearlessness and  hope that with increased public awareness  about their struggle and pressure on the government, that trials will be carried out against those responsible and these women will have the closure they  need.

Yesterday we went to a museum which teaches about the history of the civil war with various displays, art installments and videos of  dubious quality (very limited footage was shot during the war on the guerrilla side  so that which remains has been watched many, many times).   Today we will be heading to a womens’ craft cooperative which  works on the principal of fair trade and empowering women to have businesses of their own.  On friday we will visit a coffee finca (farm) which I am really looking forward to.

During the program we are warned of some of the potential situations we may encounter. Some times we will be in unsafe areas or ghettos or just have to deal with day-to-day danger when travelling about the city.  Many robbings take place on the buses in the city (**read up on the good and bad payasos/clowns**), and recently a local minibus servicing the city was blown up and 15  people were killed,  some of them children.   This is not considered normal in the city, yet with rising tensions  between government, gangs, and  the affluent population in the country more tension is expected.  Many people whom I have talked to have expressed a fear that  the situation in the country now is at a level of  unrest and violence very reminiscent of the  months leading up to the civil war.

It is tough here, because  no part of the social structure of the country is 100% without corruption. The police are working with the gangs, who are the most powerful group in the country, who are working with the government  because they need them in order to stay powerful.  Currently the FMLN (leftist party and guerrillas during the civil war)  are one of the 2 dominant political parties in El Salvador, along with ARENA which are the conservative faction.

It is  overwhelming but I think important learning for me which is why I am so eager to be here.   Although no country is without its crooked characters in power,   I am lucky.   I have never had to fear those who are in power or who are supposed to protect me. I have never experienced the injustice of war or daily fear of violence in my city or  towards  my loved ones.   Learning about it and raising my consciousness level is what I can do right now.   And I have a feeling things are about to get very interesting.

~ by lippygypsy on July 1, 2010.