Santa Clara University

Hi! This is Diana in El Salvador and here is my second blog! Thanks!

 Most Salvadorans claim to have pena, or a fear of being known. From what I understand, this translates to reserved modesty and an awareness of your presence in any given social situation. Children have pena when they peek out from behind doors as they first meet you. Women have pena when they hide their opinions for the sake of being gracious. Even street dogs have pena when they sneak under parked buses as you pass. Pena is what controls every person of El Salvador, prohibiting them from expressing themselves and forcing a false air of formality. But...we have yet to experience pena. Perhaps there is a confusion in translation or cultural understanding, but from what we have seen thus far, all it takes is one question as to the number of siblings a Salvadoran has to compel the retelling of their life story--traumatic deaths, life changing moments, political affiliation and all. It's more than just hospitality and openness, it's a full on upchuck of the soul. Add some tears, a couple of chickens, and Spanish, and you've got quite a confusing situation.

 But, I guess this is just another reason why Salvadorans aren't Americans. Despite the fact that they listen to Lady Gaga and scream for cake on birthdays, Salvadoran social rules are so drastically different from ours. While it is impolite to pass someone on the sidewalk without a con permiso or buenas, if you are in the street during rush hour, you are asking to die. In fact, there are barely any rules regarding roads-pedestrians have no rights, you can go any speed you please on any side of the road or sidewalk you find appealing, and there is no expectation that you must actually be in the car. I guess pena is lost once you enter a car. It is also lost at some religious services. The church across the street can be heard ever evening and all hours on Saturday and Sunday, praising God as if he is hard of hearing.

 But, actually, I don't think it has anything to do with social norms at all, but instead, has a lot to do with the fact that we're Americans, or not Salvadorans. We met with Trena tonight, one of the directors of the program, as we were overwhelmed and not quite sure we understood the life story of one of our praxis hosts. We had been taken by surprise on Wednesday when, seemingly out of nowhere, our praxis host divulged her entire past, leaving us wondering why she felt the need to be so open so quickly. The problem is that El Salvador is a place where many of the people have traumatic pasts. And, as these histories are usually bound up with political sentiment or affiliation during the war, it could potentially be dangerous for Salvadorans to expose their back stories to just anyone. Therefore, as Trena was telling us, Salvadorans welcome the opportunity to openly share their stories with people that won't come in with a bias, making our presence a benefit to their livelihood even in a small way. Our naivety gives them an excuse to drop their pena, and simply by listening without judging, we gain their full trust. There aren't too many perks to being a foreigner, but this is definitely one of them.

Once you get a Salvadoran talking about something they're passionate about, it's hard to get them to stop. As Dean Brackley, a renowned Jesuit in El Salvador, told us one evening, in a life that is so volatile, all the Salvadorans have are their stories and the mere act of listening is often the greatest sign of respect. The women of La Valencia cannot stop the rain, but talking about it gives them a sense of control. The comfort that seems to come from the Salvadorans' power over words and their ability to share that has been apparent in every town we have visited. The best example of this would have to be our visit to San Ramon, where we spent time with a group of women who practice liberation theology. In a culture that struggles with machismo and religious systems that give preference to men, these women have redefined faith. They strive to follow through on the Gospel's mission to promote justice and equality, trying to eliminate the hierarchical system they often see in the church. Therefore, they don't have any central priest figure and their services consist of an equal sharing of lives, stories, and food.

And speaking of food, although Salvadorans are more than hospitable, this is often shown through the generous portions they often give. Boy, we're eating a lot of tortillas. And, as it is not socially acceptable in El Salvador to decline mountains of food, we have become quite dedicated to our running group, No Gringo Left Behind. Yeah, we're quite a sight-eight to ten Americans running through the streets of Antigua Cuscatlan at the beginning of the workday. However, despite the ridiculousness we sometimes seem to cause, Salvadorans so far have been nothing short of welcoming. Every drive through town we find ourselves constantly waving to kids on the streets and most greetings are filled with hugs, kisses, and gracias a Dios. And in most cases, it is the people with the most tragic stories that see the most hope and inspire the greatest happiness.

On our first day of traveling, we visited Giovanni and his family in the hills of Tepecoyo. Their home is typical of those in that region—dirt floors covered by tin roofs with clothes lines overwhelming the walking space. And of course no Salvadoran home would be complete without a handful of aimless dogs, chickens, and toddlers. We sat around Giovanni's wheelchair, watched him smile and listened to his mother's account of his story. A couple of years ago, Giovanni decided to leave school in order to work and pull his family out of economic trouble. However, just last year, Giovanni fell, putting him in the hospital for a great deal of months and leaving him wheelchair bound. Now, not only is Giovanni not able to support his family, he has become their greatest economic burden, making it impossible for them to feed themselves and pay for his treatment. Giovanni's wheelchair is too big for him, leaving his limbs contorted, and as they cannot drive to the city for physical therapy, Giovanni sees a future of dependence on his mother. However, despite their circumstances, as his father put it, Giovanni's smile makes it all worth it. Giovanni loves to talk. He told us of his passion for music, his dream of being able to dance again. He loves working with the kids of Tepecoyo and hopes to some day find a way to resume a somewhat normal life. But despite his troubles, we saw how much love he had for his family, a love that was extended to us, not because we offered financial support to the family or taught Giovanni to walk, but just because we took the time to listen. To Salvadorans, a willingness to listen is often the best thing you can give them and the best way to win their respect.

“If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time...But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together” Lilla Watson

Stereotyping is something everybody does.  Just because a person is a certain height, gender, race, ethnicity, or anything else that can define a person, these defining qualities allows other people to assume they know something about a person without taking the time to get to know them.  Today, I came across the stereotype for the typical American college student.
       I was waiting in Nizamuddin Park for the kids participating in the NGO I’m volunteering at, and a boy around my age, asks if it would be okay to sit down and talk with me.  Eager to make new friends, I agreed and we began with the basic getting-to-know-you conversation.  As always (or so I believe) in a conversation between a girl and a boy in India, he asked me if I had a boyfriend.  He then proceeded to ask if I have sex with my boyfriend.  Shocked by his upfront and personal question, I just replied that was inappropriate to ask someone you just met.  He apologized and told me that he thought all young adults in the US, in their college years had sex all the time.
       I was ashamed that he had this view on the American society, but sadly I could see his point.  How many movies had I watched that have sex scenes in them?  How many songs that we listen to on a daily bases that have references to sex?  Not only is sex everywhere in the media, but also it is in real life.  How many times have I seen “walk of shames” in the mornings on my way to early classes?  How did we let it get this far that we are stereotyped into people who have sex for a hobby?

As I boarded the plane at San Francisco International Airport and headed to London I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I had been planning to go to London for the better part of a year and dreaming of this moment my entire college and high school career. Now that it was happening it still did not seem real to me. It felt as if I was going through the motions of getting ready to study abroad without having it
sink in that I would actually be studying in another country for 3 ½ months.
       Everything began to seem all too real as I got off the plane at Heathrow Airport and was expected to make my way down what could possibly be the longest hallway ever. As I struggled to find all of my suite cases and find my group of fellow Santa Clara students I was amazed by everything around me; the sights, the sounds, the accents. It was clear that I was no longer in the United States and that I would
have to get  use to all of this soon.
       While making our way through the busy streets of London towards our flat I couldn’t help but marvel at the differences between the U.S. and England. The city clearly had modern touches everywhere but still had what could only be classified as traditionally English. With older building modified and nestled in between newer buildings, people would be able to enjoy both the new and the old no matter where they were.
When I entered my flat I quickly unpacked my belonging and headed out the door to explore my neighborhood and the amazing sights. It was overwhelming being here for the first time. Seeing sights I’ve only read about before and now I was getting to see it firsthand.
       A few days later going on a coach tour around the city only increased my love for London. In the 2 ½ tour around the city we were still unable to see all the major locations of London. The tour guide was taking us around and pointing to so many different locations and buildings that he would be pointing at ten buildings in a matter of seconds and your head would be turning so fast that you wouldn’t even know what you were looking at nor would you have enough time to take everything in. You would see a tower and castle with a moat from the 11th century right next to a building built in the last 10 years and another shaped like a car's headlight. The eclecticness of this city just added to its character and made it more fascinating.
       Over the last few days I have been exploring the city and learning about all the other areas of the city. I hope to know this city well and see all that it has to offer and take part in the countless activities while I am here. I know that an opportunity like this rarely comes around and I will not let it slip by. With luck I will be able to
do all that I want to do while here and adopt this city as my second home.