Hello Everyone. Yours truly is heading back to El Salvador for a week to get footage for a documentary. 
I’m very excited. Will be flying out Sunday.
The documentary will be focused on the school in el sal that has been donated a very nice computer lap powered by solar panels.
I just wanted to update all of you. I’ll be blogging on here to keep you updated.
Peace
-Betsy
Well, by now, I’ve made it back into the United States. And I have developed no diseases and am very healthy.
I want to take this moment to thank everyone for commenting on my blog. You made my day everytime I had a comment! So thanks for reminding me people were keeping up and interested.
For photos: Here is a link to my Flickr site containing many many photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/45119936@N00/
Please Enjoy.
Sadly.. my laptop died the other day. This presents a small problem. Luckily I already made a backup of all my photos, however, I didn´t make a back-up of future blog posts. I lost a big one about Romero, which I will re-write soon.
And I fly back this Saturday, so my time here is nearing a close. I didn´t get to see all that I wanted to see, but if I did, I would be here for another 6 months.
Don’t be scared with all the danger down here. It’s just the way things go. I ain’t scared, and you shouldn’t be scared either! ~
With the wonderful conversations at the beach, I also had a lot of fun. I got to eat at a Papusaria. It was the best, cheapest food ever. I’m sure i’ll get some fun bacteria or amoebas from it. But it was sooooo good. Also I got to put my feet in the Pacific Ocean. Something I had not done yet in my life.
It is breathtakingly beautiful down here. I’ve got pictures I want to share, but it takes me too long to get them on this post, so there will be a wait until I get back to the states for pictures.
Top 10 list of Salvadoran best qualities:
1. Friendly
2. Personable
3. Industrious
4. Helpful
5. Interpersonal
6. Giving
7. Kind, Sweet
8. Closeness — Meaning, Kissing hello, more touching than i’m used to.
9. Religious — Mostly Roman Catholic and Evangelist
10. Laissez-faire with time
I’m sorry for not posting for what seems like a very long time. But alas, this past week has been very busy. This weekend we went to the beach. It was beautiful, awesome and eye openining as well. I got to hang out with cool people who had been raised in El Salvador their whole lives, and are about my age. They spoke excellent English, and I got my grammer corrected a few times!
I made a mistake with the Health Care. Talking with my new friends at the beach, there is a good job market in El Salvador, and you can get good healthcare. If you have a college degree here you’re an “Expert” in the field, no questions asked.
I was also suprised to learn about the political party systems. The FLMN, Frente Farabundo Marti para la Liberacion Nacional, and the ARENA, Alianza Republicana Nacionalista, are the two biggest parties and the FLMN are the “liberals.” The most intresting thing is the big separation of rich and poor. The FMLN is for the poor and the ARENA is for the rich. They are also in power here in El Salvador, and nothing has changed with the povery.
My first discussion was with an 18 year-old, who’s parents both have a college education, one is an architect, and i forget the other, and she goes to British school.
SIDE NOTE: American School , French School and British School are types of private schools in El Salvador that parents can pay for their children to go.
She was telling me about the current riots that had just occured and how it scares her, because she said this is how the civil war started in the 80’s . (Here is a link to a news article about the riot: http://bridgenews.org/news/062006/cispesalert )
Because of her age she was telling me about the best clubs in San Salvador, Code and Envy. You need a membership to get into these clubs, and they are expensive. However, she said that you have to make sure you go everywhere in the club with a group of people, as well as around the city, because a girl was gutted at one of the clubs a few weeks back. And lately there are guys in the club with tattoo’s and knifes.
Danger and fear is a force Salvadoran’s live with every day. It’s inborn into their culture with the Civil War in the 80’s, Massacre in 1932 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1932_Salvadoran_peasant_uprising) and the gangs of today.
The Gang, Mara Salvatrucha. or Those who shall not be named.. hehe
During the civil war in El Salvador (1980-1992), approximately 1 million people fled to the United States. Most of them ended up in the ghettos of L.A. The mexican gangs in L.A. we’re pretty mean to the incoming Salvadorans and would not let them join the gangs. Then in the late 1980’s in L.A. the Salvadorans began to start their own gang. These gangs we’re to stand up against the Mexican gangs already in L.A. When the war in El Salvador ended in 1992 the Para Militaries fled the country of El Salvador and ended up in L.A. where they joined with the gangs. (the para militaries were the guerrillas of the left whom were trained by the united states) When the para militaries met up with the gangs all of a sudden the Salvadoran gangs were becoming military trained. They were taught military tactics and weapons training. All of the other gangs in L.A. began to bow down to this new strong gang, Mara Salvatrucha, meaning “The Gang of Street Tough Salvadorans.”
Because of 9/11 attention was taken off of the Mara Salvatrucha and they have become more organized in the last five years. They are now the most violent, most international, and most organized gang in the world. Their trade mark is the Machete, and are known as the machete killers. Now they do have a “terrorist label” in the United States and are being watched very carefully. In El Salvador they opened up an FBI Office in the Embassy, which is unheard of to have a federal agency in a foreign country.
This gang is in L.A., El Salvador, all over Latin America. And I’ve heard rumor’s they are joining with the mafia in the United States. Here in El Salvador they are distinguished by tattoo’s and weapons, such as knifes or machetes.
Friday night I got to go to a Salsa club with a live Salsa Band! I’m sure you all know me pretty well, so you know I was dancing all night long. Curiosity stuck me, and I thought, I wonder if dancing up on stage is the same as dancing up on stage in the states… So, I discussed with a few other PVC’s if they had ever been on stage, and one girl had and told me the ropes. So I went up there. Danced around a bit, tried to dance with the lead singer fella, but he wasn’t having it. So I danced with the lead guitar and then got down.
Nothing too different from dancing on stage in the states, except in the US the band would have been more receptive. I think it’s because I’m a gringo.
Ah well, it was fun!
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/es.html
(This is for Bonnie and Dale.)
El Salvadorian Health Care. Not many workers get health care. All government officials have health care and dental. The teachers at the school do not have dental, but do have health care, just not the best.
Going to a doctor for a check up is $1. And it used to be the doctor would give you the drugs you needed right then and it was included in the cost of the visit. Now they have pharamcies and health care does not cover the percriptions.
I do not know if there is a Cancer Hospital. I know the sanitary practices at hospitals are not very good. The most common trouble for PVC’s (peace corp volunteers) are stomach bacteria and amoebas, because of the water or unsanitary foods. But if caught early, by pooping in a cup, you can be cured easily.
No matter how much of the water you drink to try to “build up defenses”, it won’t work. Americans and El Salvadorian’s a like are all succeptable to stomach bacteria and amoebas. Looking around you can see people with puged out bellies, which is a sympom of both infections. This country cannot afford to have water cleaning plants.
But what really really urks me, is that this place is only as big as Massacusetts, how much could it really cost to get some water treatment plants down here. At the Sharaton we stayed at you could drink the water, and they had warm showers! A double standard in my eyes. However I know it’s also a catch-22. Guatamela, Hondouras, all the surrounding counties have the same water problem. And it would be a very very big project to make all the water safe.
