My Third Home

It was almost one month ago that I was in El Salvador. I remember there clearly even though I feel that is so long time ago. The strong sunlight, the humid air, the clod shower, the very friendly atmosphere, hugging, the friends, the big but very cheap fruits juice, the food (especially pupusas), friends, kids... I miss everything there, and through this experience in El Salvador, I feel I have been changing.

Since it took almost three years to convince my parents to go there, I was so excited to go to El Salvador and Guarderia. I was expecting that the country was totally different from the countries I had been before, and my expectation was right in both good and bad ways.

First, I took TACA airline from San Francisco to San Salvador which is the capital of El Salvador, and when I arrived there, it was almost one hour delay and took a long time to pass in the country; therefore, I was around two hours late when I met a friend who came to the airport to pick me up. He was very worried about me because the electronic bulletin board, which tells you if the flights arrive on time or not, said that my flight was ON TIME!!! Furthermore, I never knew when I would go or do somewhere/things. Since someone picked me up at home every morning, I had to stay home until someone came, but I didn't know when s/he came. So when the things happened was the time to do or go. I knew that people there didn't value time so much as Canadians and Japanese did and was wondering how it worked. But somehow it worked perfectly, and I didn't feel stressed about it.

Second, in El Salvador, there were many tropical trees, beautiful beaches, and blue sky, which was just like Vancouver summer. In the city, I saw many poor people who tried to sell stuff on the roads, and when I stopped for the traffic light, they came to the car and asked me to buy flowers, fabrics, and so on or did some performances in front of cars, and other cars were passing just behind them. On the other hand, in the city, I could easily see many shopping malls like Sears, cinemas, and fast food shops. When I was at a shopping mall, I almost forgot where I was.  It was kind of shocking that I could see exactly the opposite aspects.

Third, what was the most impressive was the people there. I spent my time almost with The Others' members, and I have known most of them since 2008 at the conference in Italy. Even though I didn't know some of them, I didn't feel I met them first time. Everyone I met there was very friendly, kind, and funny as well as the children at the Guarderia. It was first time to go to El Salvador, meet people, and spend such a long time with them though, I felt comfortable and my home. They always tried to teach me some useful Spanish (usually romantic words..) and teased me for fun.

I'm really missing the country and the friends, and the children. I was kind of homesick and felt so lonely when I came back to Vancouver. But what I felt the most was how I was happy because I was luckily born in Japan, which was called developed country, and under normal parents whereas the children were born in the slums. They are considered poor in general but wealthy as human beings because they are always thankful what they have and do. They never complain about their situations, but they just spend their time to study, play around, and be with others preciously. They told me that how I can love others and important a once-in-lifetime experience is.

I'll definitely go back to El Salvador in near future since I promised that to the children and the friends. I want to go back there instead of Japan!!!!

Friends made this little Momo and gave me!! :)