No more blogs until I'm stateside.

I'm sure most of you have already heard via e-mail or Facebook, but last Wednesday I went to the emergency room in Sonsonate, and I left Friday afternoon without my appendix. I had stage 2 appendicitis and I was told I had to have surgery within 24 hours or it could burst. I guess that explains my stomach problems that I've been having over the past month! So far, I'm recovering nicely, although some narcotic painkillers would have been nice (I've had only 200 mg of Ibuprofen 3x per day since leaving the hospital...). I should get my stitches out on Thursday and fly home on Saturday. No more blogs for now, though I will keep updating Facebook and I'll add more videos and a few blurbs here once I get back to the U.S.

8 de mayo

I finally was able to upload another video! I have taken several videos that I"ll have to upload when I return to the U.S. because my laptop and the Internet here are far too slow to let me upload videos in a timely fashion. Here you go! I'm speaking Spanish. Whee.

Immigration Part 3: don Carlos Armando

Don Carlos Armando is one of the teachers I have the pleasure of working with in Caluco. He's a dedicated teacher who is very knowledgeable, intelligent, and caring. Although he's an English teacher, he actually majored in Castellano, the official language of El Salvador. In addition to his linguistic skills, he also knows a fair bit of history, politics, and he's a skilled guitar player to boot. I enjoy talking to Carlos Armando partly because both his Spanish and English are very clear and easy to understand, but partly because he's so very intelligent and I've learned a lot from him.

Last Friday, we had a conversation that began with talking about language and linguistic differences and socio-linguistic evolutions and ended up talking about immigration and politics. We talked about some of the reasons that people would choose to immigrate to the U.S., and of course, the big reason was money. People want to go and work and send money back to their families. There are always jobs done by mostly migrant workers, like construction and field work. Even here in El Salvador, a lot of work in the fields is done by folks from Honduras who want to earn more money to send back home to their families. At any rate, we talked about some of the U.S. policies and how the U.S. tends to send aid to countries ravaged by war, even by its own troops like Iraq and Afghanistan. Armando said that if the U.S. feels so strongly about immigration and doesn't want so many people coming into the country, why doesn't it send aid to the countries people are coming from? Because people won't want to migrate if they feel safe and comfortable at home in their own country, so why doesn't the U.S. help the poor countries of Central America?
I had no answer to that question, though in my mind I was thinking, "probably because there's no oil here."
I mean, really, the last time the U.S. "send aid" to El Salvador, it was to arm the government for war, but the war was against its own people. It was during those same years that the biggest flood of illegal immigrants from El Salvador ran to the U.S. seeking freedom and safety. Of course, now, there are folk from the Peace Corps working here in El Salvador, and that's certainly some aid from the U.S., yet it's not quite as widespread as bombs, guns, and bombing jets are. Surely it would cost less than those arms to provide rations for all the starving people here.
I don't claim to know a lot about politics and I don't claim to have the answers to immigration policies and world peace, though I wish I did. I've had many conversations and seen many things here that have given me a lot to think about.

11 Days Left

Today, I had the day off of working at the school. It was some sort of teacher in-service day for the teachers to calculate students' grades or something. I have spent almost all day in bed, since I feel quite unwell when I get up. I wish I were able to spend more than two weeks here without being sick after some manner or other. I have managed to enjoy my time and my experiences here, but it would have been ever so much nicer if I didn't keep getting sick with symptoms that make me fear that I'm worse off than I really am.
I digress.

Yesterday, I worked with the 11th and 8th graders before coming home. I bought four songs on iTunes on my computer so that I could bring my laptop to class for some music for the kids to sing to. I'd talked to the students about the possibility of singing popular songs in English. I'd prepared bilingual lyrics of "Happy" by Pharrell Williams for yesterday's classes, but the 11th graders BEGGED to sing a song by One Direction, so during recess, I quickly copied down the lyrics to "Best Song Ever" and the kids made copies of it for me. First, we listened to the song, then we read through each stanza of the song before translating the first stanza. When we finished reading and discussing the first half of the song's lyrics, I played the song again up to that point. Then we worked with the second half of the lyrics, sang the rest of the song, then sang the entire song again. The kids seemed to have an enjoyable time, and the purpose of this exercise was for them to listen to and speak English.

I plan to listen to and sing songs in the rest of the classes, too, as time permits.

Immigration Part 2: MUNA

Last week, I went to the museum of anthropology (MUNA) in San Salvador, and I was captivated by an exhibit on immigration and its effects on families, the home country, and the immigrant.
There were tons of murals that were created by children and families about why NOT to illegally emigrate to another country. It seems that illegal immigration is a problem not only for the U.S., but also for the country that is left behind.

"To immigrate is something difficult for the people because they suffer a lot. People die, are violated, and disappear, and the women have are obligated to prostitute themselves." This is the image of immigration that one of the artists of this mural has. 

"Immigration destroys homes." "Migration is not the best way to make your life better."

"El Salvador loves you." "Don't immigrate; your life is in danger."

"Think hard before you immigrate...God bless you!!" "I love my country."

"Think about it very hard before you immigrate."

"Enjoy your country. Don't immigrate." "Say 'no' to the Coyotes, mommy!"

"Where is the blessing in living locked up in a country that isn't my own?"

"I'd rather live poor but with my family in El Salvador and NOT immigrate!" 

"Love what you have and fight for what you want." 

Informational poster about immigration. "If you're thinking about immigrating, the first step is to inform yourself!"

"Pupusas taste better in El Salvador!!!"

There were a great many of these canvases with quotes and advice and drawings. 

As you can see, it isn't as though everyone in every poor country wants to ship off to the U.S. Oftentimes, due to expenses and the danger of traveling, only one family member will try to go to the U.S. to find a job and send money back home, but, as you can see, many people are against that splitting of homes. There's also the stress of worrying about the family member(s) who've tried to immigrate. Did they make it? Are they okay? Were they arrested? Beaten? Shot? Killed? There were some sayings or signs that said something to the effect of "The migra (immigration enforcement) will kill you/is evil/etc." There's a great fear for what happens to illegal immigrants should they be caught. So this campaign is an attempt to inform potential immigrants of what to expect if they try to go through illegal channels. There were also signs reminding people  that illegal immigrants have absolutely NO rights, so why try to leave your homeland for a place where you don't count as a person? 

The canvas murals were outside of the exhibit proper. This is the first look inside the exhibit! The exhibit kind of gives a history of immigration/emigration/migration from the days of the landbridge, and then if you walk to the right and go around the room, you'll see snapshots of indigenous migration, the immigration of the conquistadors, etc all the way up to our modern times. 

Migration patterns of ancient peoples across the Bering Land Bridge

Evolution of corn. 

There were a few computers on which one could read some PDFs of information about migration and immigration or read personal accounts of immigrants. This chart shows the population of Salvadoran immigrants in various states in the U.S. As you can see, most people have settled in California, Texas, and Virginia/Wa. D.C.

A little factoid about people immigrating TO El Salvador

Salvadoran immigration to the U.S. was HUGE during the 70's-90's (civil unrest & civil war). That was a time when the Salvadoran government, with the help of U.S. weapons, was assassinating and massacring its own people. You could be shot down just for being a student at a university or carrying a Bible in the streets, because Catholicism and Universities were propagators of Communism (at least, that's what the government seemed to think). I've mentioned before that Conny's brother Fran was arrested and beaten for being a university student; well, he was also one of the folks who immigrated to the U.S. I do believe he's a legal resident, though I forget where he and his wife live. 

This map shows in which other countries Salvadoran immigrants live now.

Girls holding up a sign that says "Return m father's remains to me." Presumably, he was one of the illegal immigrants who was killed.

Gallery of Salvadoran immigrants

Typical food and culture of El Salvador

Quote from an immigrant: "When I left my homeland of El Salvador with the intention to arrive in the U.S., I knew that I would need more than bravery. I knew that it was best to stay on the path. There are three borders that I have to cross. Three countries to get through illegally. Three times I put my life in danger. Because of that, I say I'm three times wet." 

Whiteboards with advice and feedback at the end of the exhibit. 

Reasons to stay in El Salvador: "Short distances, the people, my family, the liberty that I can have only in my country, and LAS PUPUSAS!" Haha, I definitely found it amusing that one of the biggest recurring reasons to stay in El Salvador is "the pupusas," which are a typical food that is basically a stuffed tortilla. They're certainly delicious, but in my opinion, safety and freedom and comfort taste better. ;)