The museum was beautiful and taught us about the many massacres that have occurred over the past several decades here. We learned about the history and general circumstances of the conflicts which have haunted the country of El Salvador. Surprisingly, these massacres were directed at the Catholic population for promoting a peace that was mistaken for a Communist ideology. The deaths accrued throughout this twenty-one year civil war were inscribed on a memorial named the Wall of Martyrs, which the students were able to visit later in the day. The wall was reminiscient of the Vietnam War Memorial standing in D.C.
After this emotionally impactful experience, the mood was lightened through an adventure to a western mall. Students were given the opportunity to explore for a couple of hours in the San Salvadorian mall, visiting icecream parlors (we can confirm, icecream is indeed delicious here), clothing stores, and electronic shops all with a local twist. At the end of the day the students returned to the retreat house and engaged in a 5-on-5 Futsol tournament (a variant of soccer played on a short court that is very fast-paced and favors ball skills) in which the very good looking team of Clark, Shetty, Miller, Rogers, and Markho emerged victorious.
The famished players were then fed and directed towards the basement for a group reflection. At the end of the reflection the student played an intense game called Mafia during which all our persuasive skills and social observations were put to the test. After this long day, the students then retreated to their rooms for a healthy night's sleep, effectively forgetting about the blog. We are writing to you now as we drive through the Salvadorian countryside towards Guatemala.
The Brown Bandits (Shohan Shetty and Vamsi Chodisetty)
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