What is the difference between you and a tourist? blog assignment number...I lost count Larissa :p

I have been avoiding this blog assignment not because it's not a great topic but because there are so many angles I can approach it. For me personally for this experience I do feel like a tourist at times but being Salvadoran I don't fit the stereotypical look I would rather adhere to the term traveler. Even when I am with the rest of the volunteers and interns at CIS I just tend to blend into the background and receive less attention from the locals.

I think tourism is a good thing for El Salvador in order to help the country economically. One of my students said yesterday while we did an assignment on tourism, “Tourism is good because then people will know we exist.” Upon further reflection on this it is true people don't realize what the small country of El Salvador has to offer. Often people associate the country with war. Mind you the country did go through a twelve year civil war however the ecotourism in El Salvador is spectacular. I have forever changed my ways. I was the type of person that can appreciate beauty but just don't ask me to hike a long trek with you. Now I find myself planning a five hour hike through “El Impossible” perhaps the country's most outstanding wildlife sanctuaries. I may bitch while I am hiking but I will complete the whole hike...lol

Last night while I was asking my students about their vacation (San Salvador has a week long vacation) we discussed the ongoing trend of turning Civil War history into a tourism draw. Perquin a town in Morazan use to be the headquarters for the FMLN during the war. Now there is a museum to display different memorabilia from the era. “Museum of the Revolution” features cannons, uniforms, weaponry, among other things that were used during the war by the guerilla. I asked my students what they thought about that. I also brought the argument that some think that foreigners know more about El Salvador than its own citizens. One student voiced that, “it is important to know this things in order to know our own history. Salvadoran people do not know about their past because they don't like to read and educate themselves.” Another student brought another interesting point, he said “I think civil war tourism is good for foreigners but for locals not good because some people don't want to remember the bad things.”

El Salvador is the first Central American country to promote their civil war history as a tourism draw. Perhaps Nicaragua will be next, the one thing I am sure is that more people are coming to ES not only for the beautiful beaches but to learn of the history. This is something that I am proud of because it is a country that people can travel through and learn instead of limiting themselves to a resort.

I know that I went on a bit of a tangent but hey.....this thing is informal...:p