by Melissa Ortiz

Another year has begun. 2005 is here and we are all still alive and still growing strong. After a year of confusion marked by significant events and governmental decisions that impacted many of our lives, we have passed 2004. A year ended by a determining election where not only political parties rallied the importance of voting and the nation’s terrorist-free security, but the media and many non-profits organized around the nation’s political issues to get informed citizens involved. A year where the youth population got bombarded with MTV’s “Chose or Lose, 20 Million Loud,” commercials, Rock the Vote campaigns, P. Diddy’s “VOTE or DIE!,” and famous celebrities rooting for their favorite candidate. 2004 really moved me in many ways and put a lot of things in perspective for me. Most of all, it created insight for my future goals.

With all of that in mind, it’s a relief to be done. I am done with my third semester in college, and am currently still on vacation. I must say I do love SF State for this long six-week vacation. I couldn’t ask for more. It really serves the purpose of a vacation.

Taking advantage of the holiday season and long vacation, I left for El Salvador in Central America together with my family. My journey to El Salvador was one I longed for after so many years of being absent. I am full Salvadoran. I was born there and at the tender age of three moved to the United States with my parents and older brother. Since my departure I had not returned. So after a sixteen-year absence, I was fortunate to be reunited with my relatives again and witness that small piece of land that was dubbed by the Spaniards as “The Savior.” It really made this holiday season one full of many emotions realized, appetizing meals, and one far away from the Bay Area’s cold weather. My vacation was a tropical one where I visited many of El Salvador’s landmarks that are only known to its residents. I didn’t have high expectations for my native country before my arrival but once there I grasped its beauty and the beauty of my culture.

Upon my arrival, I was welcomed by a hot breeze touching my face. Chaos stirred outside the airport as many people shuffled around in search of their newcomer relatives, loud honks lurking from the traffic, vendors yelling in Spanish selling that week’s lottery tickets. It sure was an experience stepping out of that airport, a well-lived moment in Latin America.

From there we headed into Cojutepeque, a small town where my father lived his childhood. I learned a lot of the slang words they use there. It’s called Caliche, it’s unique to Salvadoran Spanish and it made me feel more at home. And because of its small size, I got to travel up some of its many mountain peaks and oversee its picturesque volcanic landscape with neighboring Nicaragua and Honduras.

I was thrilled to eat many of El Salvador’s exotic fruits and its traditional plates such as pupusas, nuegados con chilate, pitos, yucca con chicarron, and Pollo Campero. I also visited two of its beaches, La Costa del Sol and El Cuco, where I bathed in the Pacific’s salty water and ate a freshly cut coconut beachside.

For Christmas and New Year’s it is Salvadorian tradition to light fireworks, which was another experience of its own. Because it is legal to do fireworks in El Salvador, I was able to live through the exploding sounds and echoing booms that hit the night sky on both of these occasions. All the neighbors, as well as ourselves, broke loose at midnight doing fireworks in the streets. My dad bought a 20-meter long metrayadora that has a shape of a snake, which you lay on the floor and it lasts for about 10 minutes.

All of my adventures were great and most of all I was happy to share them with my family. I met all of my cousins that I only remembered through photographs. I also shared laughs with my aunts and uncles at family gatherings. I went to the places where both my mom and dad grew up, where they met, and the hospital where I was born.

Now that I’m back in California, I feel like that gap of my childhood is now closed. On my return, I remembered the ugly, rainy weather that San Francisco can have. I sure didn’t miss that, but it feels good to be back home and in such close proximity to what I know best. It is this city where I grew up that I dearly love. I loved El Salvador so much that I am eager to go back but I know I couldn’t live there. It is a whole world different from the one we sometimes take for granted here in the U.S.

Now I am at home savoring the last few days of my vacation as my next semester in college waits. I just hope this time around I can learn how to get out of the habit of procrastinating. As a new semester starts and we are at the beginning of a new year, I am excited about some of the classes I am going to take and the many new events that will arise in the world. I will be taking an Introduction to World Affairs course this semester, as I am a highly opinioned student on current events and what is happening in the world today. But most of all I am happy to have taken sometime away from my daily life, as it is healthy for students like me who need a well deserve break from school.

This trip to El Salvador has been one that what you take away from it actions can only speak, but I am happy to have shared it with you in words.

Wishing all writers, students, and masterminds of 826 peace and love in the New Year,

Melissa Ortiz