Migration

I made my way to San Salvador via buses through Copan.  I caught a taxi from where the bus dropped me off in Ocotepeque, a town a couple of miles away from the border, straight to the border town of El Poy.  The taxi ride took about 10 minutes and was down a straight road void of much traffic besides the occasional pedestrian.  This was the second time I had crossed a Honduran border, the first time coming just six days prior.  I was much more confident this time.  I easily went to the migration office, exchanged my Honduran currency for Salvadoran American dollars, and even helped answer some questions for a person distributing a Honduran tourism census.

A few happy taxi drivers posing at El Poy

The Migration Office on the El Salvadorian side of the border

The official-looking border

On my bus ride from Citalá, the border town in the El Salvadorian side, to San Salvador, I sat next to a glasses salesman from Apopa, El Salvador, a city just north of San Salvador.  He was about 50-years-old and had four children.  We started chatting.  He had taken a year-and-a-half long trip around the United States in 2000 and 2001.  I assumed he had just gone to work in the United States, and I asked him multiple times.  But he remained adamant that he had simply gone on a road-trip voyage, and I believed him.  He said he had flown into Los Angeles and then taken buses from city-to-city, much like I am currently doing in his part of the world.  I couldn't help but think about my road-trip after college, where I traveled around the United States, Canada, and Alaska by van.  He said that he went to Seattle and Chicago and Maine.  He made friends in Texas and Wisconsin.  He stayed with a man at his cabin in the woods, where he hunted and and learned about this man's culture and traditions.  He spoke little to no English, which made this man's journey even more impressive.

Glasses salesman from Apopa

Most immigrants from El Salvador and Honduras come to the United States to work and live, not to travel.  I have met numerous people in those countries who have spent time working in the United States.  I have also met people desperately wanting to go to work and live in the United States.  It seemed as if everyone in El Salvador or Honduras knew multiple close friends or family members currently living the United States.  There is a deep desire for most people to immigrate to a place where there are more economic and social opportunities.  This general attitude towards emigration is opposite of the attitudes of people in Nicaragua.  There, they generally want to continue living in their country despite the weak economy.  There tends not to be as much violence and coercion in Nicaragua as opposed to in El Salvador and Honduras.

When I was on a walk around the relatively small community of Gracias, I stopped into Casa Galeano, a museum and garden concerned with educating people about the indigenous tribes in the area.  I met two people who worked there.  Both of them were about 50.  One was a short and stocky woman.  She had a curious and inquisitive personality; however, I could tell she was not educated.  She helped clean the museum daily.  The other person was a well-built but worn man.  He was missing most of his front teeth and worked in the garden.

Many years ago, the man had made his trek to the United States.  He took "La Bestia," or the beast in English, the train system in Mexico which most immigrants take to the United States border.  His trip north was arduous but not uncommon.  He saw people get cut in half right by the shear power of the train right in front of him and watched as people were robbed and beaten by gang members in broad daylight.  When he reached the border, he crossed only to get picked up immediately by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement police just south of Houston.  He was put on a plane and flown back to Honduras.  He said that he was now content with his life and planned on spending the rest of his days in Gracias.

Man that I met in Casa Galeano

The woman on the other hand was still eager to improve her life.  She wasn't married and planned on leaving in the next year or two.  She had a daughter who had at least one child.  Her daughter spent time at the museum too, occasionally cleaning but usually attending to her young child.  She planned on riding La Bestia north, knowing perfectly well that it is much more dangerous for women, especially solo women.  In the United States, she planned on becoming a housekeeper or maid or anything that would pay her.  She wanted to stay in touch with me, I'm assuming, because she didn't often get the chance to speak to Americans.  I gave her my name and information but never heard from her.

Woman that I met in Casa Galeano 

I can understand the variant views on emigrating to the United States.  I admire the ambitious attitude of the woman and also respect the content and fulfilled demeanor on the man.  It is a extremely different migration culture in El Salvador and Honduras from the United States.  In the United States, we tend to emigrate for adventure or the opportunity of a higher, more prestigious salary.  In Central America, migration is mainly due to the search for a more secure future.