Here we are with our host mother at a fiesta rosa (celebration for a quinceañera, 15 year old girl). We are also joined in this picture by Colleen, an excellent trainee who spent three days in our site for her Immersion Days. She spent her nights with one of our favorite families, went to her first fiesta rosa, and joined us on an excursion we took with our community to Perquín, Morazan-—hot spot during the civil war and home to a great museum.
Rocket launchers at el Museo de la Revolución Salvadoreña in Perquín. Ex-guerrilla fighters serve as guides in this museum about the civil war (1980-1992). We saw craters left by bombs. We crawled through war-era tunnels. The experience was heavy. You, the reader, might find it interesting (and disturbing) to read up on the war--including the role of the US.
parts of planes from the war
Atop Cerro de Perquín. That’s Honduras in the background.
Kelly on a bridge at the reconstructed guerrilla camp
After Perquín, we went to a small village called Mozote. In December of 1981, the Salvadoran armed forces massacred all inhabitants: men, women, and children. There was one survivor, a woman who died a few years ago. Behind the silhouetted family in this picture, there are plaques with the names of over a thousand victims.
The Garden of the Innocents is next to these church walls that celebrate the children’s arrival in heaven.
Before returning home, we made a final stop at Río Sapo. We ate, swam, and enjoyed the views.
Our almost-two-mile “marathon.” There were bands playing. There were prizes. It was great. Some people cheated.
A friend of ours won second place in the women’s category.
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