Buen Viaje!

El Salvador turned out to be my favourite Central American country (so far that is!). There are many horrific stories and horrific reminders of a gruesome civil war, as in so many places in Central America, but it seems that through openly talking about the past they have reached acceptance of a brighter future. The country is mired with economic problems, high unemployment and the highest murder rate in the world, yet the people I met were the warmest, friendliest and most accepting people I have ever known. Unlike in other Central American countries, a conversation starting “What's your name? Where are you from?” is not immediately followed with “buy this”, instead continuing to “What do you do? Why are you here? What do you think of our country? Do you need any help? OK, have a safe journey!”.

In El Salvador I hitchhiked. I know that this isn't the safest thing to do in Central America (or anywhere for that matter), but it kept happening completely by accident. We would arrive somewhere having just missed a bus, or be waiting for a pickup (used as collective buses in the countryside of Central America) and someone would stop, ask where we were going and offer to take us there. When we got there (always they would drive out of their way to drop us somewhere perceived as safe) we would be about to offer to pay and they would hop back in their car, wish us a safe journey and give us a cheery wave as they sped off! I also found myself in many conversations on buses, the locals being happy to chat, and sometime not even caring if they were going too fast for my level of Spanish!

For such a beautiful country I didn't spend enough time there. I visited Alegria, a well cared for village nestled on an extinct volcano above the cloud line. The kind of place where everyone says “Hola!” in the streets, even to gringos. After Alegria I visited Perquin – headquarters for the FMLN during the civil war. Here I saw a museum dedicated to FMLN martyrs (usually commanders killed in action) – many of whom were students, and many women. We were showed around by an ex-guerrilla soldier, who was relieved to hear we were English, apparently the British ambassador was helpful to the FMLN during the war. One time that we didn't side with the US (who funded the government army). We saw exploded shells and some of the craters, and saw the FMLN radio station, Radio Venceremos (we will win – nothing like positive thinking!), basically a small room covered in egg boxes, yet the reason behind the El Mozote massacre. El Mozote was a small village around 15km from Perquin. The army thought it to be full of FMLN sympathisers, and possibly the site of Radio Venceremos, so they killed everybody. Down to the last child (the youngest recorded victim was 3 days old). The village was destroyed. Approximately 750 people died that day, but most of the bodies reclaimed are those of the children, and a peace garden with their names is now beside the church. The most haunting part of it was that some of the children are simply listed as “son of...” or “daughter of...” as no-one remains alive who knew their names. We were shown around by a lady who was 11 at the time. She was spared the massacre because she left the village early in the morning to work with her father at a finica, which was unusual for her. They returned to find they had lost everything. Yet in true El Salvadorian style El Mozote has risen from the ashes. Around the rebuilt church and memorials, the entire village has been rebuilt. Children play in the streets, cheery songs radiate from the church, and life goes on. Interestingly the civil war in El Salvador did eventually produce a change. The FMLN have formed a government.