Last weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to stay at Las Delicias (my praxis site). Going into the weekend I was nervous and not sure what to expect but it turned out to be an amazing experience.
We arrived around dinnertime on Friday and were at the library playing games with some children from the community (mika=tag, uno, hielo y sol=freeze tag). I had a great time laughing and making a fool out of myself. The night turned into a giant slumber party as I realized that a woman from the library (Niña* Ruth), her entire family, Denora (the woman we are mostly with), her husband and a sweet girl from the community were going to be spending the night with us. We were crammed with 5 people on 3 tiny mattresses but it changed my relationship with the community, especially with Denora and Niña Ruth, in a way I cannot quite describe.
*Niña is a word used to show respect for a woman
Saturday we ate breakfast with a delightful woman named Isabel. She welcomed us into her home as old friends and gave us everything she had to offer. Fortunately we had a lot of time to spend with her and her family during the weekend.
We visited the school after breakfast. We spent our time in the kindergarten classroom playing and somewhat supervising. As an outsider looking in, I could not understand how the children were learning. They worked for a short amount of time and then would have a break but come back and just continue playing. The teacher would sit at one table and the kids would pass through so she could write the words they have to copy for homework. It did not seem efficient to me but at the same time it could work a lot better than our system of education.
The other aspect of Salvadoran education that has been striking is the lack of creativity. Creativity is not encouraged in the school in fact to a certain extent it is discouraged. The students copy whatever the teacher does and every picture has the correct colors. It is not something that is bad necessarily but it is just such a different way of thinking.
We returned to Isabel’s home for lunch where we continued learning the art of making tortillas. She served us chicken from their small chicken coop (without knowing that I am a vegetarian) which I graciously ate but it was a bit of a struggle. All I could think about was how generous she had been to share that with us and how could I possibly turn down a gift like that. After lunch she showed us all of her pictures of her family. It was then that I learned that her two sons are in New York. I could see and hear how much pain this caused her since she was not able to see them. She told me that she didn’t think it was worth having them in the United States and how she just wanted them back in El Salvador. It was hard to hear her pain and only be able to hold it in my heart without being able to ease her sadness.
Another person who lives with Isabel is her niece Marcella. Marcella is 14 years old and has a vida muy dura (hard life). When she was only 1½ years old her mom left for the United States and she was left with her father. Unfortunately her father did not treat her well and said “ugly” things to her. So she left to live with her aunt when she was quite young. Marcella does not attend school at this point and rarely leaves her home because people say horrible things to her in the street. So she does not have any friends. Can you imagine yourself, your daughter or your relative at 14 years of age dealing with such difficult issues? I wanted to so badly give her all my love and just be her friend. We invited her to join us in the library and hopefully we will get to spend more time with her.
The other person in their home who had a big impact on me was a man named Carlos. He clearly had some mental disabilities but was quite functional. Carlos’ mother died about 15 years ago and whatever family was left abandoned him. Isabel somewhat took him into her home. In El Salvador there seems to be a different culture surrounding people with disabilities. They are much more isolated from the general community and people make comments that they don’t realize are harmful and degrading. For example everyone just calls Carlos crazy and do not understand that he is just different. So Isabel has him do yard work in exchange for food but he never eats with them and he has to sleep outside at night. I just could never imagine treating Maddie or any other person with disabilities in the same way. I know a lot of those feelings come from how I was raised and what I have experienced but it doesn’t make it any less difficult to deal with.
Saturday night we learned how to make pupusas from Isabel and did a fairly good job for the first time. We ended up staying at Isabel’s home the second night. She gave us their two beds to sleep on while her and her husband slept on their couches. It was incredible to see how much she wanted us to feel at home that she did everything she could to make that happen.
On Sunday we visited homes in the community and met a lot of Denora’s friends. One of the homes that we visited was especially fun. The family was so excited to see us and talk with us. One of the girls was named Clarita (como yo/like me) and when she found out that we shared the same name she gave me the greatest hug and gave me all the love she could. That love she gave me right away just filled my heart and made me want to give my love to every person I met.
I went home after the weekend completely exhausted but so full of life.
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