Walking With El Salvador

Yellow and white paper flags lined the little street that leads uphill to the chapel at Divina Providencia. Each flag featured a hand-colored, cut out figure of Monseñor Oscar Romero. I chuckled to myself, thinking of of the Flat Martins we have colored with children for Reformation Day, and of course, Flat Stanley from the beloved children's book. I think Saint Romero might also chuckle at the idea of children coloring Flat Oscars and taking him on adventures with them, or pasting him onto a fluttery flag next to the noni trees at Divina Providencia. Flat Martin Luther hanging out in my office Yellow and white paper chains decorated the chapel fence. The doorway was arched with white and yellow flowers. We peered inside: not too many people yet. The altar was beautifully surrounded by hundreds of yellow and white roses. This is the altar where 45 years ago today, Oscar Romero stood saying mass and where he fell - murdered by an assassin's bullet. Many years and many masses of ...

For Christmas this year, my husband gave me an experience: a bird tour with guide Julio Acosta .  I've been following Julio's social media posts (found on various platforms as El Salvador Birds - Julio Acosta) for a while, in an effort to learn more about the birds we hear and see as we go about daily life in El Salvador. We decided to do a boat tour of Lago Suchitlán. Over the past 23 years, our Mission of Healing itineraries periodically included a boat ride on the lake as a way to relax after expending lots of energy teaching and providing care for families. Although a few local pastors and boat drivers shared stories along the way, we never learned much about the multitude of bird species we encountered and enthusiastically tried to photograph. A tour with a professional guide, in a boat, on a lovely lake, at sunrise seemed like a most excellent opportunity to learn. Lago Suchitlán at sunset from Suchitoto (©2023 Linda Muth) The Embalse Cerrón Grande (Cerrón Grande Reservoi...

The Rose Garden at the UCA - with memorial posters for  the six Jesuit priests and two women who were murdered on November 16, 1989. (photo taken in 2022) Segundo Montes, S.J. was a physicist, philosopher, sociologist, theologian, humanitarian, teacher and Jesuit priest. His writings are extensive, and he is well remembered for his humanitarian work with internally displaced people and refugees during the 1980's civil war in El Salvador. It was during that time, that he founded the Human Rights Institute at the UCA (Universidad Centroamericana José Simeón Cañas). He, like several of his colleagues at the UCA , was originally from Spain. He followed his heart and his calling and became Salvadoran, teaching sociology and defending human rights.  On November 16, 1989, Segundo Montes was murdered, along with Ignacio Ellacuría, Ignacio Martín-Baró, Juan Ramón Moreno, Joaquín López y López, and Amando López,  together with Elba Ramos and her 16 year-old daughter Celina Ramos, ...

During the first part of May, we went on vacation - in El Salvador. My husband and I and another couple from our US neighborhood decided to take a life break and do the touristy thing.  We traversed the country, from San Salvador to Auachupan to La Unión, driving along the coastal highway and enjoying plenty of good food and fun. This is a thing the four of us do together in the US, so we know that we are compatible travelers who can live together, drive a distance together, and agree on food places. In the US we do a lot of exploring of new places. Our mutual goal for the vacation in El Salvador was to relax, so we chose a mix of experiences that were tested out by my husband and me and some which were a little more unknown.  When traveling around in El Salvador, it is wise to use a guide for anything off the beaten path, to do your research, to enter neighborhoods with trusted folks and to confirm plans by phone shortly before you head out.  When the four of us travel, ...