El Salvador and Don Juan

I have had some great experiences this week and neglected to blog! What am I thinking?

Monday night we went to a lecture at our new church by a Jesuit priest who has been working in El Salvador since 1989. 1989 was the year that those six priests and two female staff people were murdered; he was the first priest to arrive.

His speech was great and very refreshing. Here are some points that I think were worth noting:

1. He made a comment on the US education system and how at all levels we are not taught about the poor. Essentially, he thinks the education system fails us by not giving us a true global view and understanding that we—Americans—are not the norm. Most of the world is poor and uneducated and we simply are not taught about them, which I agree. Unless you traveled to a poor country or took a specific class in college, you could go through your Ph.D. and not have experienced or truly understand the impact of poverty in our world.

2. I learned that 16% of El Salvador’s GNP comes from family members sending money back from the US to relatives in El Salvador. 16%!! This influence a recent election (where the right wing candidate won) because the candidate had ties the Bush Administration and promised that if elected relatives in the US would not be deported and also instilled fear that if the other candidate was elected, relatives would be deported which means no income coming from the US. A note: the average numbers of (not particularly quality) years of education in El Salvador is 4-6.

3. Someone asked how can we be sure the media is asking the right questions (are they restating government policies/reports or are they digging deeper and finding the real story). His advice was to always consider are they asking the questions that consider everyone. The example he gave was the Iraq war and how it is rarely reported about Iraqi civilian casualties and there are far fewer stories on the impact of the war on their lives. In fact, I guess the total number of civilian causalities is not even tracked by the US government. We’re taking their lives but we don’t even bother to count them?!? Like their lives mean less or something???

Valentines Day was awesome! I don’t know that I have ever felt that way about V-day before, but I am very happy with our plan to experience something versus buying gifts. We got some sushi and this cute place that has the conveyer belt and you pay by the color of the plate. It was yummy, and I have been craving sushi every since.
(A note on cravings: I have mad cravings since being on prednisone. My appetite is seriously out of control. I hate it because I never feel satisfied, and I had finally reached the point in my life where I could eat to the point of satisfaction.)

We saw Don Juan at the Shakespeare Theater and it was absolutely tremendous. The seats were fabulous and it was so well done—the acting, costuming sets. etc. The Shakespeare Theater really is a world-class theater. The play itself was historical, enlightening, and funny! I left feeling exhilarated.