Our house is your house.

I took a few days off this week to visit some friends in Alegria.  I think I learned more about myself and God and community in those three days than in the last few months in San Salvador.  City life is city life.  Anywhere.

I want to share this song with you. It's my current manifesto / mantra / message.  (Ahem, Marlys, pay no attention to the grammar ... I wanted to get the message across more than do a direct translation!)

"Casa Abierta" - Guardabarranco

Quiero estar bien con mis hermanos                                   I want to be well with my brothers
De norte a sur al fin de mundo                                           From the north to the south to the end of the world
Saber oir y dar mis manos                                                 Know how to listen and give my hands
Sudar jugando algo bien sano                                            To sweat playing something really healthy

Todos aqui somos hermanos                                              We're all brothers
Que mas me da el color, la raza                                         That give me my color, my race
Dentro tenemos sentimientos                                              Inside we have feelings
Que necesitan de sustento                                                  That need support
Si adentro hay buenos sentimientos                                     If there are good feelings inside
No se pueden quedar adentro                                            They can't stay inside

Aqui esta mi casa abierta                                                    Here's my open house
Hay un plato por ti en nuestra mesa                                    There's a plate for you at our table
Sombra de arbol para tu cabeza                                         A tree's shadow for your head
Libro abierto a tu vida mi puerta                                  Your life is an open book and my door is open for you
Casa abierta                                                                       Our house is open
La amistad no cuestiona tu credo                                        Friendship doesn't question your beliefs
A la tierra le gusta que amemos                                          The land wants us to love each other
Sin distinguos de culto y bandero                                        Regardless of our religion or flag

Hard to translate, but I think I got the gist of things.  It's a beautiful song, and totally sums up the last 3 days.  Go find them on iTunes.

It's been a while

I don't think I could ever be a professional blogger.  My readers would riot if I posted so irregularly ... Oh, wait. I post irregularly anyway.  Thank you for not rioting, faithful readers.

March was, well, fast.  Pretty uneventful up until the end of the month.  On the 19th I went with my host mom and her two boys to a patron saint festival out in the country.  Fact: many towns and villages are named for Catholic saints, so on or around the particular saint's day for which the town is named, they throw a huge fiesta.  For those of you in PA / "the Cove", think Martinsburg's July 4th festival, but on a smaller scale.  There is junk food (read: fried yucca, French fries, STEAK, pupusas), fireworks, music, a procession, and dancing.  Oh, and cheap beer for those who choose to partake.  I had a lovely time away from the city, meeting Claudia's family and friends, and making new friends.  And the dance was a blast, even though it was less merengue and salsa and more reggaeton.

The church in San Jose.

Only the bell tower and entrance are original.  The rest was destroyed in the civil war, but has been rebuild by the residents of the village.

Processional

Patron Saint of San Jose ... Jose

The next day was like a family reunion.  Everyone hanging around Claudia's cousin's house, eating fresh mangoes, visiting, relaxing in hammocks.  And did I remember to take photos?  Nope.  Too busy trying not to get up and thus lose my hammock!

West Side Story.

Up until now, my posts have been about places I've been or people I've met or meals I've cooked.  Well, it's time to change gears.  Let's talk about culture shock, privilege, and other such theories that exist that I've not really experienced before ... until now.

February has been a crazy month.  Crazy with work, crazy with fun outings, new beginnings, etc.  On the work side of things, we started the selection process and training for our group of peer mediators in Colegio Bautista Emmanuel.  It's definitely not easy to get a group of 10 people together, let alone when security is an issue.  It's not terribly safe to be out past dark, and we can't let the kids take the bus at night, etc., so we've settled for meeting every Tuesday from 3:30pm - 5pm.  And the teachers had an inservice day last Friday, so we were able to take advantage of that time and have a decent meeting with the peer mediators.  We're still in the theory part of things ... it's like teaching 4 years of peace studies in 6 hours ... and are slowly moving on to communication exercises and the mediation process.  And we're trying to keep everything in context.  Josue did a really great job of giving sort of a cultural / contextual overview on Friday, and we each made a pyramid of the 5 gravest problems (in our opinions) in El Salvador.  On Tuesday, then, I did the same thing, but we talked about it in the context of the colegio.  It was really helpful for me to understand where the students are coming from, their opinions on things, etc.  There is definitely a need for peace education, and we two crazies are moving forward with our program.

About a month ago, I had the privilege of being invited to a wedding.  My friend Douglas, whom I met through my friend Carlos, is from the western region of El Salvador, Sonsonate.  And he wanted to take me along a) to experience another part of El Salvador, and b) to experience a Salvadoran wedding.  Man, was it fun and relaxing!  I loved it.  And he has two adorable daughters, Alejandra and Sofia, who came along as well.  It was a huge family affair, and they were all very welcoming and friendly.  I've met a couple of his family members before, so it was nice to continue to get to know them and to meet others.  That Sunday, then, we zipped around to a few little towns outside Sonsonate.  (Well, the wedding was actually in Nahuizalco), and from there, we went to Salcoatitan, Juayua, and Apaneca.  Beautiful mountain countryside.  And coffee plantations.  Just gorgeous.  It's so interesting/strange/sad/disturbing to live in a country that is so beautiful, but yet because of the poverty and violence, most Salvadorans don't have the chance to experience the beauty.

For all you train fans / Pennsylvanians, there's a railroad track in the middle of Sonsonate.  And the train says PHILADELPHIA on it.  Small world.

Not the best shot of the church, but hopefully you can see it's beautiful.  The egghead standing up in the middle of the ceremony is Douglas; he was charged with taking photos and video for the day.

My favorite photo from the whole weekend.  Finally figuring out camera settings ... 

Town cathedral, Juayua

Shops and touristy things, Juayua

Coffee in its natural habitat.  Coffee beans come from cherries.  These are the cherries.

Laguna Verde, Apaneca

As if I don't get out much, Josue and Karen took me to the beach a couple weeks ago.  So nice to get away and soak up some vitamin D!

Playa San Blas, La Libertad

Catching some waves.  The waves eventually caught my sunglasses.  Oh well.

MS.  18.  Do these letters and numbers mean anything to you?  Multiple Sclerosis ... voting age.  Gangs?  They're the two main gangs here in El Salvador, and throughout Central America.  They started in Los Angeles, believe it or not, and with deportations of undocumented Mexicans and Central Americans, the violence has filtered down into these tiny and impoverished banana republics.  A lot of people think Venezuela is the most dangerous country in Latin America, but in terms of people per square mile, El Salvador has a much higher rate of violence.  About 7 million inhabitants in 21,049 square kilometers.  Do the math.  

Over the last few months, I've felt pretty safe and secure.  I witnessed one assault on a bus back from a mall on the other side of San Salvador, but nothing else.  Just as I was beginning to feel comfortable, things have begun to get a little warm.  A couple weeks ago, the pupuseria (aka restaurant that makes pupusas) on the corner beside the youth center was robbed.  There is a barber shop across the street that "has its way of settling things."  To show that gangs have control of an area, they not only paint graffiti and symbols on buildings, but ask for "renta" or rent from businesses.  Most business owners won't give them anything ... and then come the threats.  This also happens with the buses in the city.  Rent is demanded from the drivers, and if they don't give anything, threats.  Assaults, sometimes homicides, etc.  So, the pupuseria, where I often ate breakfast or lunch when I had early meetings or wanted to go with friends, was robbed the other week.  The folks in the barber shop, according to neighbors, are informants for 18.  They're asking for rent from the area businesses, and last night, there were consequences for one of the businesses.  A small auto-parts shop was set on fire ... 4 doors down from the house I share with the church secretary, her brother, and her twin boys.  And because the homes on our block are not very far apart (think 2 feet of space) or are like duplexes, we had to leave the house and go into the street.  3:30 in the morning.  The smoke was so black and thick and the flames were coming out of the windows, and things inside the shop were exploding.  It was quite the scene.  At first I figured it was probably an accident.  And then as I was sitting there watching the police mill around and the firefighters put out the blaze, I wondered if it was because the owner refused to pay rent to the gang ... I found out this morning that that was likely the case.  There is an older woman on our street who is like a vigilante, I swear she never sleeps, and apparently she saw someone throw something into the shop, and then it started to burn.

So, today's been a little rough.  Not only because of lack of sleep, but I'm a little freaked out.  Like I said, I've felt pretty safe, up until now.  And such privilege, to have been raised in a country, or rather, in a part of the US where the most dangerous thing that could happen is a car accident because of bad winter roads.  People here have such a strong faith in God.  I admit I don't.  Or rather, my faith doesn't seem to be nearly as strong as theirs.  And now I have an idea why.

I don't write this so you all worry.  I write this because I felt like I needed to organize my thoughts, and I wanted to let you know that it's not all sunshine and teddy bears, even though that's what I often portray.  I still love it here.  But it's difficult sometimes.

Don't dance in the rain.

We had a nice hard rain last week.  I didn't realize how much I missed precipitation, and decided to dance in the rain.  Except it was a bad idea.  Because of the serious pollution day in and day out, it was acid rain.  Of course, regardless of where you are in the world, all precipitation is slightly acidic.  And this wasn't acid rain like "Ouch, my skin is burning!"  But after I dried off I was really itchy.  So, moral of the story, don't dance in the first rain of the season.

After my last post and all its pictures, I think I'm going to write with more of a photo-journalism approach.  That is to say, I'm going to post photos and write long-ish captions. ... At least while I'm trying to catch up over the last month and a half ...

Christmas!  We had a really great Christmas Eve service at the church, complete with a Nativity drama.  The catch, though, with the drama was that it was the Nativity story, but based on the context of migrant journeys from El Salvador to the United States.  The youth did a fantastic job.  I helped with technical things, set design and painting, and was the token Gringa at the border who shouted and yelled in English at the migrants.  The service ended with Silent Night and candle lighting.  Just like Church of the Brethren services I've attended.  I felt very much at home, but also very far away.

After the service, I spent the rest of the evening, which is the traditional time to celebrate with family and friends, with Pastor Miguel and his family, and their extended family.  It was a nice time, but folks kind of kept to their family circle, and not many conversed with me.  I left around 11:30 and went home, expecting to find another celebration at home ... but alas, they were still at Claudia's brother's house.  So I did some writing in my journal about Christmas traditions and listened to music until they came home around 1 am.  And then we all went to bed.  So, Christmas was a little boring.  I resolved to have a better New Year's celebration ... and I did!  But before New Year's, on December 28, which is "April Fool's Day" here, I went to Antiguo Cuzcatlan for the town festival ... where they run around in the streets with balsa-wood frames of bulls that have FIREWORKS attached.  And they shoot the firecrackers INTO THE CROWD.  And everyone ducks and tries not to get burned.  Oh, and the crazy people, mostly teenage boys and drunk people, run around in the street WITH THE BULL, charging at it.  And then, if you get burned, everyone yells "Culero, culero!!" which means, well, I'm not going to say it outright, but a worse term for homosexual or gay.  Cultural homophobia aside, it was a fun time.  Luckily, I didn't get burned.

Nativity play rehearsal

Another scene from rehearsal ... except someone forgot to strike the candle and little table.  Oops!

Our esteemed director, Daniel.

Christmas Eve spread, complete with turkey in the roaster!

Christmas gifts

I spent New Year's with my host family.  We had a service at the church to celebrate the end of the year and ask for blessings for 2011, and then returned home for dinner.  Afterwards, we went over to Claudia's brother's home to watch the fireworks (Did I mention they set off fireworks here for Christmas and New Year's?  I don't think I did ... Anyway, it was really fun), and once the fireworks were over, around 12:30 or 1, we walked up the hill a bit more to a neighbor's home to DANCE!  They converted their garage-like room into a dance floor, with lights and a stereo, and I danced merengue, bachata, and salsa.  Great fun!  And a very cool way to ring in 2011.  But alas, I didn't take photos.  Sorry!

January 2 was a very exciting day.  My sister, Heather, came to visit for 6 days!!  To summarize the week, we basked in the sun, did a little shopping, basked in the sun a bit more ... with beverages, went dancing, hung out with some of my friends, and ate pupusas.  And didn't get much sleep.  And were bitten by mosquitoes.  Overall, though, it was a really great week.  I had a great time showing her around, which indirectly made San Salvador and San Jacinto feel like home.  I think that was when I made the switch from tourist to citizen (well, not in the legal sense).  Looking forward to welcoming more visitors!  Hint, hint ... 

First day in El Salvador

Los Planes for pupusas!

After Heather left, I jumped right into work.  And haven't really jumped out of the depths of work yet ... Josue and I began the actual implementation part of our peace education program in the school, starting with a 2-day workshop as part of the teachers' in-service days.  Classes began the following week in the school, I started working with the new English teacher, Josue and I led 2 more workshops with the high school age students, and Cal Pipil opened back up after 2 weeks of planning time on the 29th.  And somehow it's now February.

A week or so ago our praise band group, 3:16, was asked to provide music leadership for a worship service near the center of San Salvador for January 31.  Cool.  I found out yesterday morning that this was to be a service of blessing for the incoming President of the Salvadoran Legislature ... WHAT?!  Yep, high-profile thing and didn't really realize it until the morning of.  Ahh, language barriers.  So it was like singing for the Speaker of the House.  I wasn't entirely in agreement with the service, but it was at least ecumenical and a great honor to be asked to participate.

Discussing song choices

Singing ... duh.

I bought that dress over the weekend.  Already wore it twice.  An excellent investment.

Members and friends of Iglesia Bautista Emmanuel with Sigfrido Reyes, new President of the Salvadoran Legislature (Guy in suit and blue tie)

La flor blanca y 18 conejos. The white flower and 18 rabbits.

And we're back, sports fans.  Yet again, time passes and I lack inspiration or time or both to write ... I hope to be more intentional in the future.  But I should face the music; sometimes I'm just too darn busy!

The title of this blog is taken from my most recent Facebook photo album featuring photos from the trip to Copan, Honduras.  Our tour guide at the Copan ruins kept calling me the White Flower, and Copan, in Mayan times, was called the land of 18 rabbits.  If I'd written about Copan a bit closer to, well, when I actually went ... just over a month ago ... I might have been able to tell you why Copan is known as the land of 18 rabbits ... but alas, I can't remember.

So, you're all wondering, I'm sure, something like:  Gee, Sarah, how'd you get to go to Copan?  Well, I'll fill you in.  Every year at Christmastime, the church sponsors a trip for its employees.  And this year, they decided to invite all the teachers and staff at the youth center Cal Pipil.  So, that's how I got to go.  We all met up at the retreat center Centro Gabriel para la Paz Tuesday night, December 15, to have dinner together and go to bed ... because we left Wednesday morning at 4:30 am to arrive in Copan around 9 or 10 am.  And we wanted to make sure to leave plenty of time for border crossings, because the easiest way to get to Copan, in terms of decent roads, is to drive to Guatemala, and then cross from Guatemala into Honduras.  With only one mishap at the Salvadoran border (one of the folks didn't have his original national ID card, only a copy, and they wouldn't let him leave the country), we arrived in Copan around 11:30am Wednesday.  We had lunch together at a parrillada restaurant, aka grill, and then explored the town for the afternoon and evening.  And somehow stayed at quite a nice place for only $20 per person.  Needless to say, I want to go back!!  Thursday morning we were up rather early, 7am-ish, to head to the ruins.  Tons of fun.  Really.  I'm such a nerd.  I loved it.  And then, back on the bus, back to town (because the ruins are about a mile or two outside of Copan) for lunch, and on the road again around 2pm to San Salvador.  We zipped through the borders and arrived I believe around 6:30pm.  Quick trip, but super-fun.  Must go back.

Our posh room.  $20 per night per person with breakfast.  Sweet.

The view outside the hotel.

La parrillada

Yeah, I know, I can't help taking food pictures.

From left, tortillas that aren't quite as good as those I eat here in El Salvador, refried beans, chimol (aka salsa fresca for you foodies), fresh cheese, chorizo, steak, and I believe there's some chicken hiding under the steak.  It was fantastic.

A fruit stand in the center of town

I found brie.  Leave it to me to find fancy French cheeses in Latin America.

The cool part, though, is that this is locally-made brie.  Well, okay, it's probably not called brie because it was made in Honduras, not France, but whatever.  It tasted like brie and was SO GOOD.  I considered stocking up, but without refrigeration, well, not a good idea.

I shared this plate of brie with all my friends.  It was quite fun to introduce them to fancy French cheese.

And more food.  

These are like quesadillas, filled with beans and chicken and avocado and all kinds of other goodies, and are called barilladas.  $2 gets you 2 good-sized barilladas.

Copan ruins!  Need I say more?

And more ruins ... 

Trying to take artsy photos.

You might see a familiar face, if you've been following my blog ... that's Carlos.

And there's me! 

La flor blanca en la tierra de los 18 conejos

This nice man makes jewelry.  I bought earrings.  Ok, 3 pairs.

And we talked about tourism and the economy and all kinds of other interesting things.

So I asked for a photo.

And that was Copan!  What next?  Ah, Christmas traditions!  I'm going to save that for another day.  I need a snack.

So much to tell.

With calendar in hand, I'm going to try to recount the big events in the last month.  I admit there were occasions when I had plenty of time to write, but lacked inspiration.  And now I have time and inspiration!  Enjoy.

As you all know, Thanksgiving Day is about food.  However, as I'm sure you also know, it's not celebrated here in El Salvador ... they're lacking in the pilgrim department, although they have their own bloody history of European conquest and indigenous slaughter.  But on to happier things.  I love to cook.  Cal Pipil (the youth center) has a kitchen.  What better way to celebrate Thanksgiving (my favorite holiday, by the way, but not necessarily because of the pilgrim/Indian history) than to make a meal for my friends?  Enter Mom's "sprinkle chicken" recipe, mashed potatoes, and fresh green beans with onion and garlic.  Yum.  Despite the fact that the oven lacks temperature settings, the chicken was perfect.  And the company was excellent as well.  Somehow I ended up cooking for only men, but as Laura and I like to say, "I have marketable skills!"  So, I guess I was marketing my skills.  And I admit sometimes I do like to show off a little in the kitchen.

Al fresco dining on for Thanksgiving.  Beat that, Pennsylvania.

And the other thing PA doesn't have ... Jamaica [Ha-mai-ka] juice.  Yum.

Happy friends.

From left, me, Daniel, Josue, Oscar, and Carlos

Satisfied?  Yep.

Another happy / satisfied face.  My work here is done.

After I began writing this little section (because I imagine this particular post will have unrelated sections), I realized I skipped two other events that happened the day before.  I went to the beach!  It was awesome.  I loved it.  I can't wait to go back with my sister next week!  And, the night before, we had a peace vigil at the church.  It was full of various activities, not just praying and singing.  There were those, as well as discussion groups, a candlelit march around the neighborhood, and pastoral reflections.  Overall, quite a blessing to plan and be part of.

Me, beach, Pacific Ocean.  Excellent.

Vigil participants

The front of our group

The banner says We ask for peace and justice, God.  Iglesia Bautista Emmanuel

More of our group.  Overall we had about 60 participants.

We affixed our candles after the march, and also lit several others that were sent from friends and sister parishes in the US, Canada, and England.

And there was another concert in the park on Saturday; reggae and ska.  Much more my speed.  Good fun.  I took photos again, but they're nearly identical those from the last concert in the park.  The only differences? We didn't wear the same clothes and I bought a necklace.

The beginning of December brought Vacation Bible School and the closing of the "summer" classes at the school.  I was shifted over to Vacation Bible School, and so didn't actually finish up the English classes that I was team-teaching with another teacher.  A good lesson in flexibility.  I helped with the 10-11 year old class, and among other things, taught them the song Peace Like a River and the game Signs (Thanks, Juan!!)  Tons of fun.

And the beat goes on.  English classes continued at Cal Pipil, and preparations begin for Christmas .... Advent isn't a huge part of the Baptist tradition (well, when I say Baptist I mean my particular church here, Iglesia Bautista ... and they fall pretty much in line with Brethren traditions), but I did enjoy the one opportunity I had to join an Advent devotional call with BVS.  It felt good to reconnect with BVS folks and have a chance to stop and pray and be with Brethren, even if only virtually.

And let's stop here.  I need to refill my water bottle and find a snack.  The adventure continues!

Mosquitoes in December

Hi friends.  Sorry I've been MIA in the blogosphere.  Life has gotten in the way!  I hope to get a post up sometime in the next week or so.  I have so much to tell you about!!  See you soon.