Desde otra lugar que nuestro pueblo llama home.
My eyes have seen–that is, they have glimpsed at–another world from which a people hail. Today I rode El Salvador’s shuttles through Soyapango, on past San Salvador, and even onto the Metrocentro to have a drink at Bulevar de los Heroes’s Pueblo Viejo. I heard the corridos playing through these bus-lines, the sound of the operator’s calls inviting passengers onto the ride, and just as importantly, the urgency with which vendors make their way through these microbuses offering their small goods–everything from medicine pills to chocolate and other sweets for the little ones–to each rider in their periphery.
I purchased a small chocolate from the last of the vendors, which is still placed right by my bedside for just the right moment, and it was another major step in the development of these JIMBO TIMES, which I’m thankful to be able to share with this constituency.
J.T.
[…] the summer, I got to visit the states of El Salvador and Guatemala for the first time. Then, fluttering with a burst of energy from these two trips, I […]
[…] Two years since our first sojourn through familial homelands in central America and beyond, one lesson remains: the need to continue discovering our cuentos in yet more places is as important as ever. Admittedly, this particular time is a difficult one for us to discover more of the world beyond familiar borders, but that doesn’t mean we can’t take some time to learn about the world from afar through a good book; I’d say a good starting point would be Eduardo Galeano’s Open Veins of Latin America. Of course, it’s also said that a picture’s worth a thousand words, so here are a handful. More with yours truly once again soon, Los Angeles. And with hands extended in prayer for all the people of the world during this extraordinary time. […]