Over Christmas break, Mount girls traveled to El Salvador on the Mount Immersion trip. It is a beautiful country with unique wildlife and natural landscapes.

There are calm beaches with white sand and seashells, and tropical forests with fruit trees and animals. In San Salvador, a volcano is visible in the distance and the sounds of birds are everywhere despite being in a city.

El Salvador is captivating in its environment, but also through its rich culture.

City streets

By just driving through El Salvador, visitors can already get a taste of the culture. In San Salvador, the highway walls are covered in art, both graffiti and murals. The art is elaborate and colorful, and visitors see it throughout the city.

Also, it is common to see people riding in the back of pickup trucks without any harness, even on roads with speed limits over 50 miles per hour. This is something that would have drivers pulled over immediately in Philadelphia, but in El Salvador it is widespread.

In addition to cars and trucks, motorcycles are very popular. More than half the driveways there had motorcycles and they are everywhere on the roads.  There is no shortage of coconuts in El Salvador and it is common to drive past more than 10 coconut stands on the road.

Popular foods

In addition to coconuts, common foods there include pupusas (corn tortillas with beans and cheese in between), plantains (cooked bananas), mashed beans, salsa, and rice.

It is typical in El Salvador to drink soda from a bag. This surprised Mount girls because it seems inconvenient and messy, but surprisingly it is not as difficult to drink as many would guess.

Countryside

Just like the U.S., El Salvador has cities and countryside. In the countryside there are many small communities that are very tight-knit. One of these communities, which Mount girls visited, is called El Papaturro. In this community, everyone knows everyone.

“My biggest cultural shock in El Salvador was probably how everybody in the community knew each other,” Megan Bader ‘28 said.

Kids’ lives

Children can often be heard running around and playing soccer at their community field. In El Papaturro, soccer is highly valued and every year the community has a huge soccer tournament where they invite other communities to join. In addition to soccer, children participate in activities such as the theater group, riding their bikes, and swimming in the river.

During the Christmas season, children throw firecrackers throughout the day so loud bangs are often heard.

The schools in El Papaturro are very small. There is one that goes from kindergarten through sixth grade, which only has three classrooms, and then another school that goes from seventh grade through high school.

When asked what cultural shock she experienced when traveling to El Salvador, Lily McGann ‘27 said, “Their schools are so different from us and they live so much more simply than we do. They go to school for half a day, and the rest of the day they farm, which is something we never have to worry about.”

Wildlife

Throughout the community there are roosters and cows. Everywhere in El Salvador there are many stray dogs and cats that roam. Also, the country is home to pumas, monkeys, lizards, toucans, and sea turtles, although these animals are rarer to see.

“Here in El Salvador, you can find a lot of kind people and a lot of history,” Michelle Recinos Calderon, San Salvador local, said.

Is it safe?

Despite the beauty and culture of the country, some people are afraid to visit due to concerns regarding safety. El Salvador had a civil war 34 years ago and a lot of gang violence in the past so many people worry that the country is dangerous with a lot of crime.

Now that the war has been resolved, local residents say the country’s crime rate is very low— lower than the U.S. Also, locals say the gang violence has been resolved because the president imprisoned many suspected gang members in 2022. This doesn’t mean the country is perfect though, while it’s safe for tourists, citizens worry because if someone accuses them of being a gang member, the government can arrest them without proof.

“They have to worry about the government arresting them, just because people said they were in a gang and I think it’s crazy having to worry about getting arrested for no reason,” Lily McGann ‘27 said.

While the country has flaws, nowhere is perfect and the culture and wildlife in El Salvador are vibrant and one of a kind. The cities, communities, nature, and people leave visitors with a unique and unforgettable experience.