Second Week in El Salvador
This week started with a trip to el campo (rural area). On Sunday, Robin Denney and I went with Bishop Barahona to San Juan de la Tran, southeast of San Salvador. The occasion was the celebration of the 14th anniversary of the founding of the community. The community was established as a result of the peace accord of 1992. Most of the people in this community were combatants on the side of the FMLN during the war.
The celebration took place at the La Iglesia de San Pablo Letrán. The service was broadcast by Radio Mangle, the local community radio station. The telephone that the radio station was going to use did not work so the bishop lent them his cell phone to connect to the radio station. Padre Gérman Lopéz, the priest in charge of the mission, and I con-celebrated with the bishop and I acted as the deacon. The bishop’s sermon during the service was inspiring. It was about the community and the church working together in the struggle to establish the Kingdom of God here on earth.
The church is located on land owned in common by the community, so the community has the authority to decide who occupies the church. At one time a non-denominational church was there and when the community asked them to leave they took everything that was not anchored to the ground: windows, doors, roof, etc. The Anglican Church in El Salvador has an attitude of being in the struggle with the people. Because of this attitude, when the church came to mission in San Juan de la Tran the community realized they had a real partner not only in their spiritual life but in the struggles in their daily lives. The community recently elected to deed the land the church is on to the Diocese of El Salvador so that the diocese can make the necessary repairs to the church. The diocese wants to build a clinic in the vacant lot across from the church and the community is in the process of deeding tat property to the diocese, also. The clinic is presently operating the house of the lay person in charge of the church, Cain. There is also a medical specialist that works in the clinic.
There was a grand fiesta after the service with games for the kids. Of the 100 or so persons at the service about half were children. When I started to take pictures of them they all gathered around to look at the results in the digital camera. Then more and more of them wanted to have their pictures taken in various groups. It was a lot of fun seeing the smiles on their faces. The pictures will be printed and given to Padre Gérman for the community. Later on there were piñatas for the children. The food was typical of the campo: chicken soup, rice, and tortillas. There was the touch of imperialism, however, as we were served Pepsi to drink.
On our way back to San Salvador from the fiesta we stopped in Ciudad Romero where the bishop was interviewed by Radio Mangle. The station is located in the facilities of the Mangle Association, a cooperative that helps the people in the region in many ways and is aided by the diocese. During the interview the bishop handed the mike to me and asked me to say something to the audience – I said that I was glad to be in the country and I thanked the people of San Juan de la Tran for their hospitality. Not very original but all I could come up with at the time in Spanish.
This week in Spanish class we had a new teacher, Wilmer. He is a good teacher. Although I am in intermediate Spanish, I still am struggling with conversation. It seems like there are so many things to remember when forming a sentence; almost like I have too much information.
My partner in class is a young woman named Beth from Manchester, England. She is working on a PhD studying the reasons for the violence in El Salvador.
My baggage finally arrived on Tuesday; eight days after it had arrived in El Salvador and ten days after I had arrived. Not much to say for the good service of American Airlines. The positive thing about the luggage was that everything was supposed to be there was there and nothing was damaged. The clothes were a bit wrinkled, however.
Tuesday was also the birthday of my host mother, Susanna Barrera. We had a small party for her.
People began arriving for La Revereda Amy Denney Zuniga’s ordination this week. Her mother and my fiend, Shelley, arrived on Thursday in time for Christmas. On Friday, a group went to Quezeltapec with Hector Mira, who works at CDSP, to distribute baskets and toys to the less fortunate there. They all said it was a fantastic time. There is more about this event on Amy’s blog at http://www.updatesfromelsalvador.blogspot.com/.
On Christmas Eve, I was invited to lunch at the comedor (a place to eat) that belongs to the mother of Alex, my host father. It is located in the bus terminal near downtown San Salvador. She has owned the restaurant for 25 years and Alex says he grew up in that bus terminal. The food was excellent and it is a great place for people watching.
Later on Christmas Eve, I went over to Amy’s and we went to San Andres Apóstol for Christmas Eve service. I presided in Spanish wearing the new stole that Amy gave me for my ordination. It was a fantastic service with lots of participation by the children. After the service the children all received gifts from the church.
You would not believe the fireworks display that took place from about 11:30PM till 12:30 AM in San Salvador. It was just incredible and it was all put on by private individuals. Fireworks are legal in El Salvador much to the detriment of 175 young people who were injured in the month of December and the 20 or so that were killed. Nevertheless, Amy, Vince, Audrey and Robin set off fireworks in front the apartment during after midnight on Christmas morning.
On Sunday, Christmas Day, we all went to San Andreas Apóstol again at 10AM and I presided at the Eucharist chanting the mass in Spanish. After church we went back to Amy and Vince’s and opened Christmas presents and took a nap as we did not go to sleep until 2AM Christmas morning.
The celebration took place at the La Iglesia de San Pablo Letrán. The service was broadcast by Radio Mangle, the local community radio station. The telephone that the radio station was going to use did not work so the bishop lent them his cell phone to connect to the radio station. Padre Gérman Lopéz, the priest in charge of the mission, and I con-celebrated with the bishop and I acted as the deacon. The bishop’s sermon during the service was inspiring. It was about the community and the church working together in the struggle to establish the Kingdom of God here on earth.
The church is located on land owned in common by the community, so the community has the authority to decide who occupies the church. At one time a non-denominational church was there and when the community asked them to leave they took everything that was not anchored to the ground: windows, doors, roof, etc. The Anglican Church in El Salvador has an attitude of being in the struggle with the people. Because of this attitude, when the church came to mission in San Juan de la Tran the community realized they had a real partner not only in their spiritual life but in the struggles in their daily lives. The community recently elected to deed the land the church is on to the Diocese of El Salvador so that the diocese can make the necessary repairs to the church. The diocese wants to build a clinic in the vacant lot across from the church and the community is in the process of deeding tat property to the diocese, also. The clinic is presently operating the house of the lay person in charge of the church, Cain. There is also a medical specialist that works in the clinic.
There was a grand fiesta after the service with games for the kids. Of the 100 or so persons at the service about half were children. When I started to take pictures of them they all gathered around to look at the results in the digital camera. Then more and more of them wanted to have their pictures taken in various groups. It was a lot of fun seeing the smiles on their faces. The pictures will be printed and given to Padre Gérman for the community. Later on there were piñatas for the children. The food was typical of the campo: chicken soup, rice, and tortillas. There was the touch of imperialism, however, as we were served Pepsi to drink.
On our way back to San Salvador from the fiesta we stopped in Ciudad Romero where the bishop was interviewed by Radio Mangle. The station is located in the facilities of the Mangle Association, a cooperative that helps the people in the region in many ways and is aided by the diocese. During the interview the bishop handed the mike to me and asked me to say something to the audience – I said that I was glad to be in the country and I thanked the people of San Juan de la Tran for their hospitality. Not very original but all I could come up with at the time in Spanish.This week in Spanish class we had a new teacher, Wilmer. He is a good teacher. Although I am in intermediate Spanish, I still am struggling with conversation. It seems like there are so many things to remember when forming a sentence; almost like I have too much information.
My partner in class is a young woman named Beth from Manchester, England. She is working on a PhD studying the reasons for the violence in El Salvador.
My baggage finally arrived on Tuesday; eight days after it had arrived in El Salvador and ten days after I had arrived. Not much to say for the good service of American Airlines. The positive thing about the luggage was that everything was supposed to be there was there and nothing was damaged. The clothes were a bit wrinkled, however.
Tuesday was also the birthday of my host mother, Susanna Barrera. We had a small party for her.People began arriving for La Revereda Amy Denney Zuniga’s ordination this week. Her mother and my fiend, Shelley, arrived on Thursday in time for Christmas. On Friday, a group went to Quezeltapec with Hector Mira, who works at CDSP, to distribute baskets and toys to the less fortunate there. They all said it was a fantastic time. There is more about this event on Amy’s blog at http://www.updatesfromelsalvador.blogspot.com/.
On Christmas Eve, I was invited to lunch at the comedor (a place to eat) that belongs to the mother of Alex, my host father. It is located in the bus terminal near downtown San Salvador. She has owned the restaurant for 25 years and Alex says he grew up in that bus terminal. The food was excellent and it is a great place for people watching.
Later on Christmas Eve, I went over to Amy’s and we went to San Andres Apóstol for Christmas Eve service. I presided in Spanish wearing the new stole that Amy gave me for my ordination. It was a fantastic service with lots of participation by the children. After the service the children all received gifts from the church.
You would not believe the fireworks display that took place from about 11:30PM till 12:30 AM in San Salvador. It was just incredible and it was all put on by private individuals. Fireworks are legal in El Salvador much to the detriment of 175 young people who were injured in the month of December and the 20 or so that were killed. Nevertheless, Amy, Vince, Audrey and Robin set off fireworks in front the apartment during after midnight on Christmas morning.
On Sunday, Christmas Day, we all went to San Andreas Apóstol again at 10AM and I presided at the Eucharist chanting the mass in Spanish. After church we went back to Amy and Vince’s and opened Christmas presents and took a nap as we did not go to sleep until 2AM Christmas morning.
posted by Fr. David Starr at 2:47 PM
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