El Salvador

Going to El Salvador

For the first 3 years of elementary I lived in a small city in Taiwan, somewhat ghetto actually. I walked to school everyday passing the fruit lady with her fresh fruits, the metal gates of stores yet to open and this small medical clinic filled with pharmaceuticals that I could smell at 7am through closed doors. There was a homeless old man who laid by the front door every morning. I could smell him too. He wasn't thin, but just looked limp and you can see his saggy wrinkled skin through his dirty grayed T-shirt. Sometimes he would mumble and freak the shit out of me. Sometimes his shorts slid all the way up to his hips showing the most horrifying flaccid piece of "ji ji" as I called it back then. I was afraid of him and felt sorry for him and I wondered if the doctor inside does anything for the man. So, I would tell my grandma that I wanted to be a doctor. She was ecstatic. At that time I didn't understand why. Then I told her I wanted to help those poor people and she just told me to stick with the first part, “just finish studying first."

So, I finished studying. I'm not your pill doctor but I do something more hands on and I'm about to do something I've always wanted.

With finances on my mind I was hesitant at first. I started making up excuses of why I shouldn’t go. I talked to CB who asked me what I would get out of this trip. That upset me a lot. I just assumed most people would understand why 'cuz it sure as hell ain’t for the money. How do I explain why I’m taking an unpaid week off work, paying for flight and housing in El Salvador instead of Hawaii? I'm staying in a church, I have to bring my own sheets, there's no hot water (not that I'll need it) then be sweating in 80-90deg weather with no A/C and working M-F 8-5?

CRIME: The U.S. Embassy considers El Salvador a critical crime-threat country. The homicide rate in the country increased 25 percent from 2004 to 2005, and El Salvador has one of the highest homicide rates in the world. Both violent and petty crimes are prevalent throughout El Salvador, and U.S. citizens have been among the victims. Travelers should avoid carrying valuables in public places. Passports and other important documents should not be left in private vehicles. Armed assaults and carjackings take place both in San Salvador and in the interior of the country, but are especially frequent on roads outside the capital where police patrols are scarce. Criminals have been known to follow travelers from the international airport to private residences or secluded stretches of road where they carry out assaults and robberies. Armed robbers are known to shoot if the vehicle does not come to a stop. Criminals often become violent quickly, especially when victims fail to cooperate immediately in surrendering valuables. Frequently, victims who argue with assailants or refuse to give up their valuables are shot.

Ok, so i'm only spending one week there and it's not like I"m Angelina Jolie pulling babies out of 3rd world countries. Besides, my cousin Josephine is in the Peace Corps located in El Salvador too. She's been there for a year already...I haven't seen her in years, so it will be very nice getting to see her again.

What I"m looking forward to: Seeing Jose, going to the beach :), site seeing, hopefully performing miracles with stories to bring home, eating.... I love trying local foods when I travel.. hopefully I won't get a case of Monteczuma's Revenge. And returning safely with minimal mosquito bites or gun wounds.