Walking With El Salvador

Baby Pastor.  This is the name lovingly bestowed on a painted 2-liter soda bottle. Why, you ask, would I paint a 2-liter soda bottle to look like my pastor?  To raise money, of course! Here is the back story.  About 13 years ago, Bishop Medardo Gómez of the Salvadoran Lutheran Church had an idea to establish a fund that could produce a basic income for the ordained pastors of the church.  As a church committed to walking with those who struggle with injustice, oppression, poverty, violence, the Salvadoran Lutheran Church is rich in faith, rich in hope and poor in financial resources.  It's not easy to grow an endowment fund when current needs are so great, but this is exactly what the Salvadoran Lutheran Church committed to do, with the help and structure of the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America). The Salvadoran Lutheran Church Endowment Fund for Pastor Salary Support (yup, the legal name is a mouthful) is set up so that the principal will exist...

Yes, "Part 1."  There is just so much to share about plastic bottle art.  Do you doubt me?  Read on... The plastic bottle art described in this piece, now known as "Part 1" was created in the hope of solving a small problem. Each morning at our home in El Salvador, we are awakened by an alarm provided by Mother Nature and a large flock of small parrots.  The birds spend the night roosting on one side of the valley, and shortly after sunrise, every single day, they relocate to the other side of the valley with great speed and an enthusiastic cacophony of squeaks and squawks.  The parrots navigate their morning migration in 4 or 5 groups, sometimes flying so close to our open window that we can hear the whirr of their wings.  As they swoop into the light, their feathers shine brightly green, and within a minute they all settle themselves into the shadows of fruit trees, gardens and forest.  They spend their days hiding and eating, and then just befor...

Last month, I realized it has been a while since I posted an odd collection of photos taken out the car window.  As I browsed through my photos, I realized that during the past few months I have taken fewer pictures while driving around El Salvador.  Well, I would hate to think that I am becoming less observant or less curious about the curious...so I started keeping my phone in my lap and snapping a few more pics.  I always miss more odd sights than I capture, but I managed to record a few images for this edition of Just Click! Several months after the fact, Black November signs still adorned the sides of this roundabout.   Black November is a copycat English phrase based on the US idea of "Black Friday" but since Salvadorans do not celebrate Thanksgiving, there is no such thing as Black Friday. Black November  is a meaningless advertising gimmick. Sugar cane in a midland plain Random clown and his kid.  Even clown dads are creepy. Guy...

One day, a little boy accompanied his mother to a meeting.  She gathered with friends to learn about a new sewing project.  He accompanied because he was too young to stay home alone.  The meeting took place in the  Casa de Mujeres  (Women's House - like a community center for women in the region) outside of a small town.  Inside and out, the walls of the house were painted in beautiful shades of purple. The little boy felt comfortable in the house.  While the women studied the patterns and the sample Days for Girls washable feminine hygiene kits, the little boy ate his breakfast and did homework in a small notebook.  He was in second grade. The women were focused on their project.  The little boy was bored.  He started to create his own fun.  He grabbed a few colorful streamers off of the wall - remnants from the Day of the Woman celebration a few days earlier.  The streamers became flying dragons with long flowing tails...