Volunteer Stories  |  Tristan

A hundred days in El Salvador

When you decide to leave your own country to stay in El Salvador for 7 months, it's not an decision you make lightly. You might regret it if you don’t prepare properly for all the differences in culture that await you. This week I realized that I've been here for a hundred days now. And those hundred days may well have been the most exhausting and “personality growing” days in my live. Simply because everything is different from what you experience in your own country. Let me give you some insights in the things that have happened here, and believe me, this is only a small selection!

Teaching English and…learn Spanish underway!

Try to imagine entering a classroom for the first time and seeing 40 pairs of eyes staring at you! And they only speak Spanish (and you don’t)! And while I started with a hand and foot communication, week after week I spoke more Spanish and the children spoke more English. Now we meet each other halfway and we understand each other! Its like magic!

Besides the English I also teach Computers in El Salvador. I thought I knew everything about Microsoft Office. Now, try that in Spanish! So, now I really know everything, I even learned some functions in Excel in Spanish. And I can explain all the menus now in Dutch, English and Spanish! I have never been a teacher before so this is learning the hard way. I have 15 different groups and over 30 hours of lessons. So you have to prepare and take note of what you’ve taught to whom! But it is also learning in the most fun way. In The Netherlands they say that you grow by being a teacher. This proves to be very true! While the children grow and learn you grow and learn with them. A fascinating experience when you start realizing your world grows larger every day! And the best experience is when you really were able to teach people new things, amazing!

Visiting the country

El Salvador is a country mostly unknown by many people in the world. If you take the Dutch Wikipedia for example, it only takes notice of violence and drug related problems. That’s an awful shortcoming, because this country has so much to offer that it's really a nice place to live for 7 months!

Let's give you some interesting tourist information. El Salvador has some nice heritage from the time when the Spanish people and culture entered the country. Really nice cities are Suchitoto (with an amazing lake too), Apaneca and Juayua. Also noteworthy is the Maya Ruin of Tazmual or the grand volcano Izalco (now THAT was an exhausting climb) or the amazing view in the cloud forests of Pital or the paradise like Meagra Isla or...etc etc! And if your at all into beaches, well… there's plenty of them! I traveled a lot by car, sitting in the back of a Mazda Pick-up.

Experiencing this country in that way is like living a movie. The amazing landscapes pass you by, the crowded cities, the grand shopping malls, the empty fields and the rural forests. And you will meet next to no tourists either!

And meeting the people!

The most amazing experience of living and working here for seven months is the opportunity to meet and befriend people who live here. Thanks to my work at the school I met Samuel, the math teacher. With him I traveled a lot in El Salvador and he introduced me to a lot of friends. And my... those people from El Salvador are colorful and friendly!

For example, we played football on the beach, as simple and beautiful as life can be. Afterward we went to an El Salvadorian family to eat some home-made soup with LARGE fishes, while listening to Rammstein Music (now that was a special combination!).

And while I was feeling old in my struggle to climb the Izalco volcano, there were these young El Salvadorian guys who even made made me feel older by running up(!) that really steep sloop. They were even so nice to wait for me on the summit and teach me how to slide down the mountain in an amazing speed on the way down. Maybe I was just lucky that I didn’t break my bones that day or maybe it really was their El Salvadorian technique that saved the day, who can say?

At the Estadio Cuscatlan (stadium) we celebrated a 3-0 victory with the Ultra Blanca, the fanatical supporters of Alianza FC. Dancing, jumping, singing and screaming with every goal, while laughing about some “loco” guy trying to direct the choir of football supporters!

Recently we visited an old grandfather living in the woods (literally middle of nowhere). We brought him a wheelchair and a guitar. The image of this 83 years old “señor”, sitting in his wheelchair while playing guitar and singing beautiful songs, will linger in my memory forever.

While time slips through your fingers

A hundred days have gone by and time silently slips through my fingers. You can’t really imagine what you'll experience when you start an adventure like this. The same goes that no person at home will fully understand what I have experienced here. The only thing I can say to all those people is….Jump in…experience…and be amazed that every single detail is special again.....