Life in El Salvador

Presidential Election Update

History of El Salvador, Life in El Salvador -

Yesterday was the run-off election in El Salvador. This morning, there is uncertainty and tension in the air because no one has emerged as a winner in the tight Presidential race. That hasn’t stopped both sides from claiming victory as just a few thousand votes separate the two candidates. There have been claims of fraud, and tensions are high. Last night we could hear one of the parties celebrating in the streets. We could hear politicians shouting over the microphones as their supporters responded with cheers and fireworks. This morning I encountered police barricades surrounding the streets close to  where election officials are working to find a winner after protests last night. It is clear that whoever wins will have to take into account that a full half of the […]

Children of War

History of El Salvador, Life in El Salvador -

There is a powerful video by Save the Children circling social media networks this week. The video shows a year in the life of a young British girl. The goal is to bring awareness to the plight of children in Syria, by urging Westerners to imagine their child forced into the trauma that children face in countries torn apart by conflict. As I watched the video, tears came to my eyes. Tears for children in Syria, and in every other country at war today. But the tears were for my friends too. The truth is that many of my friends grew up in a conflict zone right here in El Salvador. During the 80s while I was attending parties, and going to school, and riding my bike safely around my neighborhood, […]

Election Day

Crossing Cultures, History of El Salvador, Life in El Salvador -

Today Presidential elections are being held in El Salvador. A new President is elected every 5 years, so this is the first time we have been in the country for a presidential race. Things are a little different in El Salvador, as we saw this morning as we drove to church and passed buses with various party colors weaving through traffic to get voters to the polls. The polling places had the usual traffic you see in the States, plus pick-up trucks waving party flags lining up to drop off passengers. El Salvador also has some unique policies for elections. We read in the paper yesterday that polling places are established along gang lines so that no one has to cross into another gang’s territory to cast their ballot. In […]

Downtime

Advent, Family, Holidays, Life in El Salvador, Places to Visit in El Salvador, Third Culture Kids -

It feels like we’ve been “up” a lot lately.  I’ve learned in my life that if I stay up for too long, I eventually fall down. That’s why we decided to make an intentional effort to be “down” during the kids’ Christmas break from school. It gave us a chance to catch up on sleep, to take it slow, and to spend some time connecting as a family. A bonus is that we got to do lots of fun stuff that we have to put off doing when we are “up.” This is what “downtime” looks like around our house… spending time with the kiddos celebrating a traditional Latin American Christmas watching Christmas Eve fall over San Salvador lighting fireworks in the streets with our friends like crazy people looking up […]

Bruised, but not Broken

Justice, Life in El Salvador, Thinking About God -

” A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out. In faithfulness, He will bring forth justice.” Isaiah 42:3 Two weeks ago I stood in front of a classroom and taught this verse. I shared with students preparing for missions work the promises of God for us in the hard times. We talked about growing in the painful places and the closeness of God in the shadows. The truth is, I never knew so much about suffering until I followed God’s call to the mission field. I don’t say this in a “poor me” sense, because there is a richness to really living out a conviction and paying something for it. I don’t regret it, and I know that you don’t have to be […]

Tornadoes on Volcanoes

Life in El Salvador, Natural Disasters -

Here is a special post for all you weather geeks out there! Yesterday evening as Ian and I pulled into our driveway, he pointed at a crazily spinning cloud just down the hill from our house. The clouds whirled around each other and a small funnel cloud began to fall down from the cloud. We called to Jon and Tori and soon we were all watching the birth of a tornado. From our vantage point, we could watch the clouds spinning apart, then together, until a definite tornado was visible. It was a wisp of a twister that we could see right through until it moved down the volcano and out of sight.  I’ve never seen a tornado before, so even this tiny one was a big thrill! Thankfully it did […]

Settling In…Again

Crossing Cultures, Family, Life in El Salvador, Third Culture Kids, Transitions -

We made it back to El Salvador last Thursday night and the weekend was a whirlwind of filling our empty refrigerator, buying school uniforms, and covering books and materials with plastic in preparation for the first day of school. This morning, the kids climbed into Jon’s big red truck and headed off to school for the start of a new year. I got a lump in my throat watching them wave good-bye and start First and Fourth Grades. With the start of school, and a return to our regular routine we are back into Spanish, San Salvador traffic, and life in El Salvador. Our time in the States was wonderful and the good-byes were hard (as they always are), but it’s good to be settling back in where we belong. Ready […]

A Walk on Good Friday

Family, Holidays, Life in El Salvador, Places to Visit in El Salvador, Third Culture Kids -

Yesterday we took a walk on the streets of Santa Tecla, just outside of San Salvador, to view the beautiful alfombras, meaning “carpets” in English. These are beautiful creations of sawdust and sand that are dyed bright colors and crafted into pictures of Christ’s life and death. They form the “carpet” for the Good Friday processions as they pass on their way to evening services. Different groups, churches, and families sponsor the carpets and they get up early in the morning to create these works of art in the streets. It has become a family tradition for us to enjoy the culture of El Salvador each Good Friday. Here are some pictures from our walk down the street yesterday: The kids and I! Ian checking out the alfombras. Street vendors selling […]

Operation Chicken Coop

Family, Life in El Salvador, Our Animals, Third Culture Kids -

I know you have all been on the edge of your seats waiting to hear the latest on my chicken drama.  Well, the chicks are out of the huge dog cage just outside the kitchen door and into their very own chicken coop. I have to give the kids credit. They worked for two afternoons straight helping Jon to construct the little darlings’ home. For those of you who are familiar with chicken-lore, these two little guys are chickens of the “Pollo Indio” variety, and apparently the structure pictured below is what they like to hang out in (at least that’s what we’ve been told by local farmers). One is a boy, and the other is a girl so we should have more chicks in a few months, and lots of fresh eggs. Jon […]

Chickens?????

Family, Life in El Salvador, Our Animals, Third Culture Kids -

When the cat is away, the mice will play…or in my case, when the Mom is away the Dad and kids will add two chickens to our family. That’s right, folks, chickens. “We” have just added Ping-Pong and Jake to the mix. I’m still not quite sure how this happened…they were offered, no one could say no and next thing you know we’ve got chicks. Apparently Jon knows how to deal with them. I, however, do not.  So, I’m off to search for an “urban farming” blog or some such useful resource. In the meantime, take a look at the newest members of our family, the kind of gross and definitely smelly adorable Ping Pong and Jake.

Search

Categories

Mini Cart 0

Your cart is empty.