Campanas de Belen

We will not be home for Christmas. Our Christmases will not be white! While we miss our families, and our hearts ache a bit to be away from them, it is a beautiful experience to be here.

Most of the people that we know in Suchitoto do not have money for gifts. Some children might get new clothes for Christmas eve. Others just look forward to eating tamales or chicken sandwiches and dancing the night away in their homes.

The Christmas tree just went up in the plaza! It's so exciting to see it. Usually by December I'm tired of seeing trees since we are so inundated with Christmas commercialism in America. It is refreshing.

We have gone to the posada the past 3 nights. It is a beautiful tradition. The first night they started in Barrio Santa Lucia and walked to Barrio Conception. A large group gathers, singing Christmas carols and blowing loud whistles as they walk. In front are four women carrying the manger scene. They arrive at a house, and knock on the door. There is a song between the people inside and the people outside. This is a reenactment of Mary and Joseph needing a place to sleep and being told "there is no room in the inn".

Finally the door opens, the nativity scene and all the people enter. Everyone sings:

Enter holy pilgrims, 
receive this corner
not this poor dwelling
but my heart.
Tonight is for joy,
for pleasure and rejoicing,
for tonight we will give lodging 
to the Mother of God the Son.

Everyone listens to a short homily and juice and cookies are served. It has been fun to feel the rhythm of this tradition as we near closer to Noche Buena (Christmas Eve). Check out the videos below to get a glimpse of the experience.

Familia

It seems like a dream now, when I think back. But it's true - they were here!

My parents and brother Mark came to visit for 4 days over Thanksgiving. It was such a joy to have them here. To share this experience with them, to feel their energy and excitement for Suchitoto. 

They stayed in the hostel at Centro Arte that night. The next morning we toured the arts center, a chat with the charismatic Sister Peggy, learning about the war and the lake in the museum "La Memoria Vive". 

Every adventure has its bump in the road. My parents luggage was left in Atlanta. The folks at the airport told them they should come back to San Salvador the next day to get the luggage, otherwise they would have to wait a long time to receive it in Suchitoto. Peggy (the director at Centro Arte) said "absolutely not, I will call in the morning". Her strong presence is enough to make mountains move. She sent a taxi driver with their passports, and the taxi driver returned with the luggage.

We live in a different world!

After the luggage arrived everyone was much more relaxed and ready to explore. We enjoyed some time at Centro Arte para la Paz where we work, and learned a little about the war in their museum Memoria Vive. We walked around the town, enjoyed a swim at the hotel El Tejado, and of course ate pupusas at Villa Balanza. 

The next day we went with Guazapa Tours on a hike. Guazapa is a hilly area where much of the guerrilla fighting took place. It was fascinating to see it and hear the struggles of the people fighting and hiding in the hills. We rode there and back on a pick up truck with bars attached. The hilly ride was quite rough, and we had to duck a lot due to the large branches in the way. Quite the adventure!

We went down to Puerto San Juan to see the beautiful Lago Suchitlan, and had a sweet Thanksgiving at Los Alemendros. I had been teaching a kindergarten music class, and sang a few of our songs at their graduation in a small community outside of Suchitoto. The family came to the graduation as well, which was a fun chance for them to see a cultural tradition here. The graduation was somewhat disorganized, but with a lot of joy and stylish outfits. 

It was wonderful for them to meet the good people that we work with, the faces of our neighborhood and our friends as well. It makes it easier to be here, knowing that they have also been here and know Suchitoto. There is a calm and warmth here that is unlike any other place I have been, and I am growing to love it.

Thanksgiving was last month, but we are still grateful. Grateful for food, water, friends, and family, here and in the states. 

The grass is not, in fact, always greener on the other side of the fence. No, not at all. Fences have nothing to do with it. The grass is greenest where it is watered. When crossing over fences, carry water with you and tend the grass where ever you may be. 
-Robert Fulghum

Monkey!

Cambios Sostenibles

El Salvador has its share of social and economic issues. Gang violence, domestic violence, lack of jobs, lack of education. School is 4 hours a day and many children drop out because they have to work. There are many children and adults that cannot read or write.

Here we are volunteering, ready to help. Are we going to fix all these problems? Certainly not. I believe change comes from the will of the people, and leadership from within the community.

Yet here we are, white people ready to save the world.

Isn't it a little bit pretentious? We are lucky enough to have had a college education, but that does not make us any better than the El Salvadoran man working in the corn field 12 hours a day to feed his family. I imagine he has wisdom and strength that I will never have.

We are here to serve, and to be served. More than anything though, we are here to learn. 
 
I talked to a woman recently who was asking about our work here. She was impressed by our 2 year committment. We were telling her about the different classes we are teaching. "But really, you'll do something bigger in 2 years. Something more than a choir".

More than a choir? 

Actually, no I don't think so. If all we do in our 2 years is provide opportunities for young people to sing and make music, that will be wonderful. 

When I was growing up I was in a choir from age 5. I loved to sing in the shower, in the car, walking with my parents holding their hands. Music makes life richer, and more full of joy. These children do not have arts in the schools. Many of them have to help with chores around the house, and they don't have much time to be kids. Centro Arte is a place where they can learn and play! I like being a part of that.

I heard about a woman who enjoys going on mission trips to spread the gospel. When asked if she was going to build houses, she responded, "they need Jesus more". 

With all due respect to her mission trip, I think she missed the point.

Last weekend, we went to a celebration lunch of a friend of a friend. She lives outside of San Salvador in a house with a tin roof and 2 tiny rooms. There were 3 beds crammed in one room, where 6 people sleep. This family did not know us, but they welcomed us just the same. We had a delicious lunch of bean soup and tortillas. We ate the fruit from their fruit trees. We enjoyed the cool afternoon breeze and laughed together.

Thank you for being Christ to me. Thank you for showing me what it is to be generous and love with open arms.

"To defend the cause of the poor and the needy,
Is this not what it means to know God?" 
-Jeremiah 22

Alguien Sabe de mi Dolor

Each of us carries our pain and our past. We need to tell our story. Once we have told our story, the story is shared. We are no longer alone.

I have heard a lot of stories lately. They are stories of unimaginable loss. Of torture, and of hope. It is hard for me to understand why some of us must suffer so much and others so little. But we all suffer. We must continue the journey, carrying our burdens with us.

Chris and I went to the University of Central America to a vigil for the Jesuit priests who were killed at the university during the war. From what I understand, they were killed because they were too progressive. In the El Salvadoran Civil War, wisdom and the pulpit were a dangerous combination. Many nuns and preists were killed, including the Archbishop Oscar Romero.

This vigil has gone on for 23 years. The people do not want to forget what has gone before. 

We lit candles and walked together, thousands in the streets. There was a station to stop and remember each person who had died, including employees who helped care for the priests. Afterwards we celebrated a long mass, with television screens so the crowd could see. There were pupusarias and places to buy revolutionary t-shirts, but they remained closed throughout the mass. 

At the time I just wanted to move on,1 hour is a long sermon, what is he talking about? Looking back, it was truly beautiful that time stopped for those couple of hours, and that so many people stayed out in the cold to worship together.

Then we learned about the free food. Bread, tamales, and coffee. We enjoyed a delicious dinner at 10:30PM. Salvadorans often drink coffee at night. I'm not sure how that works, but they say it doesn't affect them. Years of working with the coffee beans? I don't know.

There was a concert afterwards, with female drummers, a salsa band, an indie band. Beautiful art made of colored salt. Joy in the midst of grief.

In the museum at the university, the Jesuits clothes are held in glass cases for everyone to see the bullet holes and blood stains. It was in the morning when they were killed. They were wearing bath robes. There is something so human about that.

Sister Peggy is a nun who has lived in El Salvador for over 30 years. She is the director at Centro Arte para la Paz. Everyone loves her charisma and energy, she is quite famous in Suchitoto and around the country. She chose to move to El Salvador during the war. Can you imagine? She says it was because they had a classical radio station. A ray of hope?

She told us a powerful story about a woman who lost 5 of her sons during the war. One of her sons was beheaded by El Salvadoran soldiers. She was the one to tell her friend the news, that her son had died and that was all that was left of him. It was a painful memory for everyone.

Later that month Peggy was telling the story of a painting she had brought back from the states, of Mary and Elizabeth. They ended up talking about John the Baptist, and someone asked how John died.

She didn't want to tell the story. She knew her friend was there, the friend who had just lost her son. The women begged Peggy, "we want to know the story, tell us the story". So Peggy told the story, of how John the Baptist was persecuted and beheaded. 

Tears began streaming down her friends face, along with a little smile. She began to laugh and cry at the same time, yelling and dancing. "Somebody knows my pain! Somebody knows my pain!"

So may it be for each of us, that someone knows our pain. That we might walk together on the journey.

I cannot make sense of any war, much less a Civil War in which the United States of America gave over 6 billion dollars to the El Salvadoran government. What I can make sense of is the strength and determination of Salvadorans to build a better life. To move forward with scars, grace, and laughter.

As one of my favorite songs about El Salvador, "Sombrero Azul" says:

En que venga la alegria,
a lavar el sufrimiento

And then the joy comes, to wash away the suffering.

Through Romero, God passed through El Salvador.

(notice the beautiful elderly woman behind Elba)

(Noel's candle holder is on fire in this picture. Too funny!)

Espeluznante

Last night, Chris and I were watching a movie on our little computer. It was almost 11, a very late bedtime for Suchitoto. We turned the movie off, and Chris was headed to the bathroom when he exclaimed "WHOA" and smacked something with my flip-flop.

A big scorpion had fallen from the beam of our ceiling onto the floor, right in front of him.

We have recently learned that scorpions are very common here. Almost everyone in El Salvador has had a sting or two. If you do get stung, your tongue may go numb, and other parts of your body. You may feel intense pain at the sting site. 

In order to avoid the wrath of the scorpion, we have to check the bed every night. If we leave clothes out to wear the next day we have to check those too.

There are many great things about living here in Suchi, but I will admit our lives are not nearly as clean and tidy as they used to be. 

Ants are...everywhere. When we first moved here I would get at least 10 ant bites a day. Our door is not well sealed at all, so we currently have a little colony of ants living in our room. 

Let me just say that I hate ants. I think my skin is overly sensitive to their bites. The itch is intense!

And then there are the spiders, worms, bats, mosquitoes carrying dengue. Our kitchen and living space are outdoors. We have seen it all.

One of my favorite things to do is watch the geckos on our wall. They sit so patiently waiting for just the right moment to pounce on their prey. The ones by the light bulb always get the best dinners.

Sometimes in the night I hear a loud noise coming from our roof. The rats again! They are always chasing something it seems.

Our room is a small, dark space with a lot of cobwebs and dirt. We need to borrow a ladder and clean the ceiling, that is true. But with time we have come to peace with the dirty walls and bugs. Except when they bite me, and then I want to go back to my air conditioned room with an indoor kitchen.

We have a view of the lake at our house, which is really beautiful. It is like living in a jungle. Sometimes, you can't see the water because it is covered with ninfa. The green plant fills the lake and sometimes makes it impossible for any ferries to pass. 

No one said life was going to be easy, or without bug bites. 

(note: this is an ant carrying dog food. they love the stuff far more than our dog does.)