Here are the basic plans I have for my trip so far (these plans are subject to change!).
On June 3rd, I will fly to San Salvador which is the capital city of El Salvador. For about the first two weeks, I will be staying at the house of two amazing Lutheran pastors, Pastor Matias and Pastor Martina (more about them later). They live in a city called Apopa which is a good sized city pretty close to San Salvador.
My wonderful friend Julie is coming on June 14th, and she will be there a few more days than I will be there. After that, I will be staying mostly at the Casa Concordia which is the Lutheran guest house in San Salvador. A variety of people stay at the Casa Concordia including Salvadoran students attending university, refugees, visitors and missionaries from the U.S., Germany, and other countries, and the wonderful family that takes care of all the guests at the Casa Concordia. Another wonderful friend, Amanda, will be joining us for about ten days from July 8- July 18th. Amanda and I will fly home together.
As for my activities while I'm in El Salvador… I plan to:
• Shadow Pastor Martina and Pastor Matias and hopefully learn from their leadership, their strong faith, and their dedication to the people they pastor in the five rural congregations they serve
• Help at a day shelter for the homeless- Casa Esperanza (Hope House) provides a meal, some medical treatment, and a safe place for homeless men to be in one of the poorest areas of San Salvador
• Do some "tourist" things. I wouldn’t really classify El Salvador as a tourist destination, but there are tourist things like markets to go shopping in and museums and historical sites to visit.
• Teach a few English classes
• Try to improve my Spanish speaking and listening skills. I’m hoping that having a good stretch of time where I HAVE to speak Spanish will help.
• Play with beautiful children.
• Do some research (more on this in another post)
• Eat delicious food. The food staples in El Salvador are corn tortillas and beans which is just fine with me- I'm sure that I'll be sharing more about the food once I'm there.
• Worship in some beautiful churches with some great Lutherans
• Learn more about the life stories of the Salvadorans I know and those I will meet
• Spend time with some great friends
• Take too many pictures. I will share some with you through my blog!
As you might be able to tell, I don't have a lot of specific plans for what I'll be doing on my trip, but this is intentional on my part. My main goal for this trip is to gain a better understanding of the struggles and joys that Salvadorans experience daily. I want to first understand what life is like for Salvadorans and to understand the injustices and difficulties they face. My ultimate goal is to determine ways in which I might be able to take action to make life better for my Salvadoran friends and those like them, but understanding their lives is the first step. I believe that such a goal can best be accomplished by forming relationships, "going with the flow," and simply being with Salvadorans in their "normal" everyday lives. More than learning data and information, it is forming relationships with Salvadorans that I believe will be the key to understanding the issues facing Salvadorans and how I can best take action to reduce the injustices in El Salvador. The first action is this trip which I see as an opportunity for me to walk along with my fellow sisters and brothers through their sorrows as well as their celebrations.
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