Friday, 26 October 2007
Funerals
I've been to two in the past four months.
Ruby the the beautiful little four year old taken away suddenly by a brain tumour.
And now Alejandro.
At both, the terrible sight of parents mourning a lost child.
The photo exhibition of Alejandro really hit me hard. Huge prints and projections of the beautiful guy with the beautiful hair. My head is full of the images still. And of his brother, standing there at the graveside, dark glasses and wearing Alejandro's trademark black trilby.
There was also a whole political dimension to his funeral.
His dad, Mauricio Funes, is the FMLN presidential candidate for 2009, and widely regarded as the first realistic chance that the FMLN has had. Alejandro had been planning to come back to El Salvador in June 2008 to work on his dad's electoral campaign (when he would have graduated from his photography and film degree).
Ruby the the beautiful little four year old taken away suddenly by a brain tumour.
And now Alejandro.
At both, the terrible sight of parents mourning a lost child.
The photo exhibition of Alejandro really hit me hard. Huge prints and projections of the beautiful guy with the beautiful hair. My head is full of the images still. And of his brother, standing there at the graveside, dark glasses and wearing Alejandro's trademark black trilby.
There was also a whole political dimension to his funeral.
His dad, Mauricio Funes, is the FMLN presidential candidate for 2009, and widely regarded as the first realistic chance that the FMLN has had. Alejandro had been planning to come back to El Salvador in June 2008 to work on his dad's electoral campaign (when he would have graduated from his photography and film degree).
Tuesday, 23 October 2007
Alejandro
Some of you will remember Alejandro from SuperPakitoChac - the Latin Rock band from El Salvador who toured England a couple of years ago.
Alejandro, the free spirit. The beautiful one with the dreadlocks.
Tragically on October 10th he died in Paris after being assaulted.
27 years old.
My strongest memory of him is at Chayo's 2nd birthday party. Alejandro with a huge smile playing the keyboards. Chayo on his knee joining in, laughing, wearing one of Alejandro's crazy hats.
Alejandro, the free spirit. The beautiful one with the dreadlocks.
Tragically on October 10th he died in Paris after being assaulted.
27 years old.
My strongest memory of him is at Chayo's 2nd birthday party. Alejandro with a huge smile playing the keyboards. Chayo on his knee joining in, laughing, wearing one of Alejandro's crazy hats.
Sunday, 21 October 2007
Chayo's Assembly
So Chayo learnt his lines to be one of the narrators in his class assembly:'Every day around the world children are laughing and crying, eating and sleeping, playing and learning'.
But Mum "you can't eat while you're asleep" he said to me again and again.
Sunday, 7 October 2007
Birthday Bhajis
Well I've managed to celebrate my birthday pretty well. The kids at school were very sweet and gave me lots of cards and pressies, then dinner with work colleagues at Asia Grill in posh Multiplaza shopping mall on Friday night. Next morning yoga class and massage (preceded by a flat tyre and nice man who changed it for me...), then lunch out at La Ventana with my Salvadorean family Vilma, Paty, Aleida and Osiris. Spinach crepes and tiramisu... wow! Then flowers and card from Chayo, followed by very lovely and relaxing dinner at some friends. Onion bhajis, sag aloo, aubergine curry - my favourites and completely unheard of in El Salvador. Plus homemade birthday cake!!!
Sunday, 23 September 2007
This Crazy Country (1)
Driving to school the other day on the very busy dual carriageway I suddenly noticed that the road looked wet. Yet, it hadn't been raining, and the pavement was dry...
A few police, and a few crashed cars. 'What's going on?' I thought, as suddenly my wheels started to slip and my car began to skid across the road. I somehow managed to make it safely to school by crawling along the next half mile, watching cars skid and slide. The police stood looking.
It turned out that at 6am that morning a truck had left a lethal trail of oil for 40 miles along one of the main roads in El Salvador. When he was finally stopped by the police he did a runner.
Lots of crashes. And it seems that, at no point was the road closed.
A few police, and a few crashed cars. 'What's going on?' I thought, as suddenly my wheels started to slip and my car began to skid across the road. I somehow managed to make it safely to school by crawling along the next half mile, watching cars skid and slide. The police stood looking.
It turned out that at 6am that morning a truck had left a lethal trail of oil for 40 miles along one of the main roads in El Salvador. When he was finally stopped by the police he did a runner.
Lots of crashes. And it seems that, at no point was the road closed.
Monday, 17 September 2007
Some of the things I'm getting used to...
eating pupusas regularly
not drinking water from the tap
sleeping under a mosquito net
that we only have running water in the morning
ants... of all sizes... everywhere... in the garden, in the kitchen...
seeing volcanoes
eating papaya and watermelon, plus huiskil, lorocco and pipianes
that drivers hardly ever use their indicators, and if they are they've probably left it on by mistake
that there's huge holes in the road at frequent intervals, bloody scary when you're driving along at 60mph
seeing street children 5 mins from my house, sniffing glue and sleeping on the pavement
armed guards everywhere including outside our local icecream shop and at the gate of our street
doing my private yoga / pilates class twice a week
not running as much as I want to
having 24 kids in my class
that most of my students' families have maids and drivers
that every time I go to visit my friends in the countryside someone else has gone to the USA (illegally)
not drinking water from the tap
sleeping under a mosquito net
that we only have running water in the morning
ants... of all sizes... everywhere... in the garden, in the kitchen...
seeing volcanoes
eating papaya and watermelon, plus huiskil, lorocco and pipianes
that drivers hardly ever use their indicators, and if they are they've probably left it on by mistake
that there's huge holes in the road at frequent intervals, bloody scary when you're driving along at 60mph
seeing street children 5 mins from my house, sniffing glue and sleeping on the pavement
armed guards everywhere including outside our local icecream shop and at the gate of our street
doing my private yoga / pilates class twice a week
not running as much as I want to
having 24 kids in my class
that most of my students' families have maids and drivers
that every time I go to visit my friends in the countryside someone else has gone to the USA (illegally)
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