A third instalment from the UBC Thunderbirds group that has traveled to El Salvador to build homes with Global Village.
A weekend in El Salvador was a far stretch from hitting up the Zen for breakfast, followed by yoga class back in Vancouver. The first stop on our local artisan tour was in San Raphael at an old weaving shop. Colourful hammocks and blankets adorned the shop, many of their colours reminiscent of something you would find on the set of Joseph and the Technicoloured Dreamcoat. One of the workers took us to the back of the shop so that we could see how they create the artfully crafted masterpieces that we had seen hanging and folded in the front of the shop. There were two older men working on wooden, piano-like machines with pedals attached to hundreds and hundreds of threads. The machines themselves were 500 years old! It was definitely hard to resist purchasing the comfy looking hammocks hanging throughout the shop especially after seeing how they were made!
The next stop took us to Illobasco, an emerging tourist centre with plenty of ceramics shops to poke our heads into. We sifted through plenty of interesting trinkets at the shops, but our best find had to be a basketball court at the end of the road. We quickly borrowed a ball from a nun nearby and started playing some 2-on-2 basketball. After sufficiently exhausting ourselves we stumbled across the street for some chocolate dipped frozen bananas. On the way home from our artisan tour we stopped by our bus driver, Raphael's, house, which has the most spectacular views of the volcano and the city of San Vicente below. Perhaps it was the day's culture tour that inspired us, or perhaps it was just our love of food, but we walked from our hotel to the local market to pick up some ingredients to make guacamole and mango salsa so that we could watch the hockey game in style. Although the game (game 5, not 6!) was a disappointment, our chips and dip were definitely a hit!
Sunday was a really special day. We were lucky to have the opportunity to visit an SOS village for survivors of the landslides that devastated El Salvador in 2009. Even before we had parked, the children were jumping on the sides of the bus and reaching through the windows to try and shake our hands and give us high-fives. Even as we exited the bus they were hugging us and clinging onto our legs. After speaking with one of the leaders of the village we were given a brief tour of the brightly coloured, completed houses and those still under construction. The best part of the day, however, had to be walking to a nearby soccer field and playing an impromptu soccer game with the children after they were divided into 2 age groups, eight year-olds and nine year-olds. Watching the children play was quite incredible because what they lacked in age, they definitely made up for in skill. A couple of the children could dribble circles around some of us (not Diane, of course!)! Post-game we gathered the children and gave them the gifts that were so generously donated by UBC Athletics and private donors: tooth brushes, balls, stuffed toys, and stickers. The families and children then thanked us for all of the happiness and love that we brought them. The weekend was definitely not something we would have expected in Vancouver, but it was definitely a memorable one!
