El Mozote

¡Hola Amigos!

Two weeks left to my adventures in El Salvador and so much is going on right now. I have final projects in every class- 12 page analysis of the Salvadorian news, video documentary of women’s issues in El Salvador, and some kind of creative interpretation of my time in El Salvador. I feel like there is so much I want to do, but don’t have the time.

This weekend we took a trip to Morazan to visit the site of the massacre at El Mozote. The bus ride there was about 4 and a half hours and by the time we got off the bus pretty much everyone was sick with stomach problems, fever, and body aches. This pretty much set the tone for the weekend. No one felt well and we were all stressed out already because of homework. On Saturday we went to the museum of the revolution. We were supposed to go to a concert after the museum, but most people ran back to the hostel to go to the bathroom and sleep. When I was told we would be staying in a hotel I immediately pictured a Holiday Inn. I should have known better…this is El Salvador. There were no beds, just mats on the floor and there were not enough mats for everyone so there were at least 2 people to a mat. My mat had one blanket that smelled like it hadn’t been washed ever. It was freezing cold at night and I tried to wrap up in the blanket without letting too much of the nasty thing touch me.

The next morning we got off to a late start because people were still pooping. At El Mozote we learned that over 1,000 innocent people were killed. The Salvadorian government refuses to take responsibility for the massacre and claims (after many investigations have proved them wrong) that a conflict between the National Guard and Guerrillas took place there. There was a garden with some of the names of the children killed. Most were under the age of 12. After the massacre, the National Guard set the town on fire. It wasn’t until 1990 that people began to resettle El Mozote. The place had an eerie haunted vibe.

We were supposed to swim in the river in the afternoon, but we all felt sick so we just drove back to the Casa. I think tomorrow a bunch of poop sample will be taken, but don’t worry…I’m still healthy.

Paz,
Stephanie