Remote Headquarters of the Revolution

Wednesday, Apr. 27, 2011--Alegria to Perquin

I had a sore throat all night.  It started on Tuesday.  By this morning, I could hardly talk.  Yet I had to force myself up early for the trip that would involve 4 buses and 5 1/2 hours.  Once the first bus arrived (after a wait of about 40 minutes, each one connected with the other smoothly.  In San Miguel, a family waiting for the same bus to Perquin started visiting with me.  It was a man who lives in San Francisco, his mother, and his aunt.  He left here 21 years ago to go to the US to help support his family.  This was his first time back home since then.  He was amazed at all the changes.  He said he will have to work harder when he gets back to the States, because he can see that the money he has been sending home is not enough now and that they are having to struggle to get by here.  He drives a short-haul truck during the week and has a second job on weekends.  He says a friend who is a dentist can pay him more if he goes back to school and trains as a dental technician.

Perquin is up in the mountains near the border with Honduras.  It was the FMLN headquarters during the civil war here.  The main reasons for visiting here are to see the museum of the war and to see a guerrilla campground that they have set up.

I didn't feel well enough to go to the tourist sites today.  I ate a nice lunch--beef stew with red beans and rice. Then I relaxed at my room at the Perkin Lenca reading and napping.  My plan is to see the tourist sites tomorrow morning and then catch the bus across the border to Honduras in the afternoon.