Immersion Days

In the distance: Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Golf of Fonseca


Heading back from our hike


Nubes (clouds)


These leaves retreat when you touch them.


Vacas (cows)


The youth group we hiked with thought I should take a picture of this bird.


Banderas of the two major political parties (ARENA and FMLN). There is a presidential election in March.

Kelly and I experienced our “Immersion Days” this past Thursday-Sunday. It took about four hours to get to our destination: a beautiful pueblo in La Union, the easternmost departamento (like a state or province). Two current Youth Development Volunteers (a married couple) are serving there. They showed us a great time. The first two nights, Kelly and I went to separate host families in small communities outside the pueblo. The third night we spent with the Volunteers.

It was a gorgeous walk on an old, rocky road (no vehicles) to the canton where I slept. The father lived in the U.S. for over twenty years; we talked at great length about the States over homemade pan dulce (sweet bread) and his Rand McNally Road Atlas. I walked to the local Catholic Church with the father for an hour of prayers and songs. The parents and four children made me feel at home. I helped the son with his English homework. We watched a DVD of the daughter’s recent fiesta rosa (enormous party celebrating a girl’s quinceanera, fifteenth birthday). Their view of the mountains was basically awesome.

(Kelly now writing) When Bruce and I arrived at the volunteers’ site a woman named Anna was waiting to take me to her family’s house, which was a 20 minute bus ride out of the pueblo. We had some lunch and then Anna and her four kids and I set out on a walk to go bathe. I was not completely sure what was going on, on account of not speaking Spanish (just kidding, I think my Spanish is coming along quite nicely, but sometimes I choose to go with the flow rather than ask people to repeat themselves). We walked along a dirt road for about 25 minutes then headed off the road down a very steep, very rocky, very slick path (I was trying hard not to fall and I was wearing hiking shoes, while everyone else was running past me in flip flops). We arrived at the base of a beautiful waterfall where there was a large pila (like a big sink) overflowing with water from a nearby spring. There were several women washing clothes at the pila and chatting. I awkwardly and slowly learned how to properly bathe myself when surrounded by other people and wearing clothes. It was a very memorable experience; the base of a waterfall in El Salvador is as good a place as any to take a bath. The rest of my time with the family (which included Anna’s parents, her four sisters, one brother and four kids) was wonderful. They are certainly some of the nicest and most generous people I have met and made me feel very much at home. If we find ourselves in that region of El Salvador again, we will certainly stop in to visit.

We were “immersed” in the lives of the Volunteers. We observed and sometimes participated in their classes at the school (English, Life Skills—sex education and so forth). Their classes included games and songs. We attended one of their youth group meetings in which kids brainstormed activities to do over vacation; their school year will end next month. We played baseball with a group of smiling kids. We took a great uphill hike through corn fields to a beautiful view. To one side was the San Miguel volcano. To the other, we could see Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Golf of Fonseca. We ate delicious chicken pupusas. We played a game called Sequence. We met a lot of great local people. We were not eaten by the Volunteers’ ferocious dog. It was a great experience.

We made it home just in time to attend a two-year-old neighbor’s birthday party. The piñatas were smashed. The chairs were musical. We still had confetti in our hair when we got into bed.