Blogs from El Salvador, Central America Caribbean - page 40

I´ve been through a complicated set of emotions in the past few weeks--through what I would consider my latest "adjustment period." The thing they usually don´t tell you about "culture shock" is that it comes in waves...some that are more intimidating and crushing than others. I had thought it was an orderly process--the honeymoon period, the culture shock, then the delicious profundity of feeling "settled" in a "foreign" place. Not true. Every time I´d get a wave of depression, self-doubt, or have another experience that convinced me that I truly don´t have as secure a hold on things as I thought, i think...NOT THIS AGAIN! I´VE ALREADY BEEN THROUGH THIS! Because, yes, I have reached a certain point of profundity in my relationships and my lifestyle here, but something I have come to realize is that ... read more

Click the above link to see the work I´m doing featured in the ArtCorps May e-newsletter! (Haz un clic para ver una versión en español también!) Here´s the beginning of the article... Theater has proven to be a necessary tool for helping the youth of Bajo Lempa, El Salvador develop teamwork and leadership skills--and receive an invitation to perform internationally. "We believe that art is a tool that greatly facilitates the work that we do every day to achieve the empowerment of our communities and the strengthening of our organization," says Nohé Reyes of the Mangle Association, which received its 4th ArtCorps artist in 2008. Robyn Saxer is the 2008 ArtCorps artist working with the Mangle, reinforcing three years of collaboration. While Robyn comes from a theater-obsessed family in California, she says she has l ... read more

When people go travelling by themselves, there's usually no shortage of opportunity to meet other travellers. But I've found that travelling in the eastern half of El Salvador, travelling by myself really means travelling by myself, I've gone entire days without seeing another gringo even so much as on the other side of the street. My last blog mainly covered the western half of El Salvador which seems to be more popularly backpacked, but in the eastern, less-travelled half it has felt like its really just been El Salvador and me. I mentioned last time that there'd be a major reduction in number of travellers here compared with Guatemala, but as I moved east across El Salvador it was less like reduction and more like termination! I checked into hotels in 3 towns in a row ... read more

As well as being the most "off-the-beaten-track" destination in Central America (95% less backpackers here than in Guatemala, for example) El Salvador also has to go down as quite possibly the friendliest country I've ever visited. Almost from the moment I arrived (when I asked the bus driver where a certain hotel was, and he told me to stay on the bus and he´d drive the bus there for me once the other passengers had gotten off), I´ve been treated more like I´ve been a visitor in someone else´s home rather than just a traveller passing through. Sure, most people in Mexico, Belize and Guatemala were pretty nice too, but me and some of the folks I've been travelling with all agree - there´s a genunine-ness and amicableness about the way Salvadorenos treat us and interact ... read more

It is easy to talk about the first performances of this year in quantitative terms. The youth from Nueva Esperanza performed their play "Juntos podemos" (from a quote from the community--"Juntos podemos, pero solo no podemos nada": Together we can, but alone we can´t at all) on the night of March 28th. The play "Que no se vuelva a repetir!" was presented the morning of March 29th for an audience of representatives from the Committee of Victims, people from various organizations around the country and Central America that are working on re-constructing historic memory. The jóvenes from Ciudad Romero performed their play "Mi Gente Sufrió la Guerra" (My people suffered the war) in the afternoon of March 29th in the newly built community center/flood shelter. The details that aren´t included in these facts are: the electricity ... read more