People & History, El Salvador
Trip Start
Oct 06, 2006
1
46
76
Trip End
Sep 14, 2008
Sochitoto,
El Salvador
Thursday, October 25, 2007
What an amazing little country El Salvador is! I had serious thoughts of skipping El Salvador all together after hearing and reading about how this country is one of the most dangerous countries in Latin America. Well ... danger is all relative and like I said before, it often comes down to being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Looks like I was at the right place at the right time since all I can say about El Salvador is that the people are wonderful and friendly and the land is full of natural jewels that have yet to be discovered by mass tourism. You can get from lakes, to volcanoes, to beaches, waterfalls and even museums within a day. But what really makes the country are the people of El Salvador who have not been shaded by tourism yet and are happy to see and talk to the foreigners and share a story or two. These people have had a tough history and have suffered a lot. The 12-year civil war had killed more than 75,000 people and it's still the topic most talked about and people seem very open talking about it. My Spanish speaking abilities have paid off right here where I have talked with people from the armed forces as well as people from the antigovernment guerilla units
Sochitoto
. During the war the U.S. supported the military dictatorship although there were many human rights violations and according to one person who I talked to the word "GRINGO" was used during this time unfortunately with somewhat of a bad undertone due to the things that have happened and the U.S. involvement in these acts. For more information about the word ¨Gringo¨ take a look at this explanation.It was interesting timing to be in El Salvador because it was "El día de los muertos" or "The day of the Dead". While this is more of a Mexican holiday it is also celebrated in other Latin American countries at the beginning of November to celebrate and honor the lives of the dead. I went to a cemetery in a beautiful town called Sochitoto where hundreds of people had gathered to sing, pray, put flowers, and stay the whole day next to the grave of their loved ones. It was definitely something emotional and interesting to see, especially realizing that a lot of these people had lost someone during the war which according to the people I talked to really had not improved the situation as far as the social inequalities and poor economy of El Salvador are concerned.
