Walking With El Salvador

"She's a lways got her camera out the window taking photos." It's true. In between the singing, the story-telling, the joking around, and the occasional tour-guiding, I spent a fair amount of time looking out the bus window and snapping photos. This was a source of great interest to our Salvadoran friends. At one point one of the grandmas told her little guy to "sit up and enjoy the scenery - this is a chance to see things you don't usually get to see." So, for everyone on the bus who didn't have a camera to stick out the window and click away, here are the sights along the road during our recent Tourist Day of Fun...

He is a teenager. He is looking forward to going to high school. He is intelligent and kind. He lives with a serious medical condition. He is a devoted son and big brother. He sent us a message: I hope you are well, surrounded by your loved ones. I hope when you read this you are in good health. I think you remember that I told you that I had been threatened. Later, after some time, in other words today, I received a telephone call from someone who said they had not met me but had heard that some people who I don't know are going to kill me. Not me alone but also my whole family. They are going to cut up our bodies into pieces: the hands, or the arms, or the head or whatever parts they want. We want to leave our community. Help us... At first he thought his family could go far away to be more safe. Later he said it wouldn't matter. Maybe these are idle threats meant to scare, to intimidate, to exact a payment for some perceived level of security. Maybe...

Entrance to Santa Lucia Church, located in the center of Juayua After lunch in Santa Ana, our little group of sister church friends headed out on a beautiful mountain highway to the small town of Juayua, a place about which I wrote briefly in a Just Click story once before. Juayua seems like such a little town, sort of off of the beaten path, but it's a place that has a reputation as a tourist destination for Salvadorans and foreigners alike. I have been there a number of times.   Juayua is a destination point on the Ruta de las Flores (the Route of the Flowers). When we planned this joint "tourist experience" for our US delegation and Salvadoran church friends, the a lovely scenic drive was something everyone wanted to experience.  Pausing in Juayua seemed like a perfect opportunity to rest, grab a snack, and spend a little time soaking in the local culture.  Just one example of the colorful flowers in the central square We parked the bus along the town square, and...

The "Tourist Day of Fun" bus journey with our sister church community friends continues... We took a short drive from Tazumal to the city of Santa Ana. Neither we nor our driver had ever entered the city from that side, so we had to stop and ask for directions. Soon we were on a street which showed up on our city map. It was fun to see the modern outskirts as we navigated our way into the colonial and early 20th century architecture and narrow streets of the old city center. We emerged from the bus across from the cathedral, counted heads, and like a row of ducks walked across the square to enter the cathedral. Ines was the only one from our sister community who had been to the city of Santa Ana. She had come to visit the cathedral twice, quite some time ago. Ines told us that when her twins were born, they had health problems. She came to the cathedral for some purpose at that time, either for a blessing or to pray or to request a mass -- her serious face and lo...