¡Hola Amigos!
I know you all have been anxious to hear from me, so here is a summary of my first few days in El Salvador. Let me say first how beautiful El Salvador is. As I was flying into the airport (which is a legitimate airport for those of you who thought it would be a shack with a dirt runway) I was in awe of the beautiful mountains and ocean. It shocks me how a country that appears to be a paradise can have so many problems.
After purchasing a Visa, the three other Casa students I was traveling with met up with a Casa Community Coordinator and were taken to the actual Casa (located outside of San Salvador in Antiguo Cuscatlan). There are three “casas” or houses and I’m in Casa Romero (the big house). Casa Romero is mostly singles, but I have a roommate, Katie, from Boston College. The cool thing about my casa is that we have an outdoor patio in the middle of the house. The weather here has been pretty mild and the bugs aren’t too bad (yet) so we spend a lot of time sitting out on the patio. (See Pictures)The one thing that will take some getting used to the bathroom situation. I’m lucky that my casa is the only one with hot water, but the bathrooms are coed. It’s a little weird showering next to a guy or going to the bathroom next to a guy. The bathroom has already been the source of a lot of jokes so I can’t wait until the stomach issues begin.
The Casa is about a 15-20 min. walk from the UCA where I will be taking classes. The UCA campus is beautiful and looks like a tropical rainforest. On our first day of orientation we were taken on a tour of the UCA. We visited the site of the murder of the six Jesuit priests, the housekeeper, and her daughter. There is a rose garden planted in their memory. We went through the Romero exhibit on the campus which had pictures and different artifacts from Romero’s life and the lives of the six Jesuits. We also stopped by the UCA chapel which has very unique Stations of the Cross that depict the suffering of the Salvadorian people. (See pictures)
On Friday we went to dinner at a pupusaria to experience our first pupusas (a traditional Salvadorian food which is like a tortilla with beans and cheese inside). Pupusas are now my favorite meal and they are gentle on the stomach. For dessert we had coco bananas (frozen bananas dipped in chocolate and nuts). We also walked around and saw a great view of San Salvador at night. (See pictures).
Saturday we began our praxis site visits. Before school begins we will visit all the praxis sights as a large group to get a feel for each of the different communities. First we went to Tepecoyo and Jayaque. In Tepecoyo we celebrated to grand opening of a new commuter lab that Casa students will be helping out with by teach computer classes to the youth. In Jayaque we ate lunch at the Matín Barío dental clinic and had cake and a piñata to celebrate the birthday of one of the Casa students. After lunch we went on a tour of Jayaque and surrounding villages in the back of two pick up trucks. It was amazing. The scenery was beautiful and the ride was so much fun (kind of like a rollercoaster because the roads are paved with rocks). Along the way we stopped at a coffee farm to learn more about the coffee business. (See pictures).
Sunday was a free day. We woke up early and went to mass at a little church down the street. The priest was really nice to us and speaks English. He gave us prayer sheets so we could follow along in Spanish. After mass I went with a group of 8 other people to the beach. It was gorgeous. (See pictures) That night we all went out to dinner for one of the student’s birthday.
I have to admit it’s a big cultural sock living here, but the other students are awesome and I can’t wait for the semester to being. We have orientation until the 20th and classes officially begin on Monday the 22nd. Monday we’re going to visit Mariona, which is my praxis site so I’m quite excited. Hopefully I’ll have another update by the end of the week. Until then…
Paz,
Stephanie (or Estefania as the Salvadorians call me)
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