The Castanedas

My mother works with a woman, Cristina Castaneda, in Tucson who grew up in San Salvador.  I went out to lunch with Cristina a month or two ago, and she told me that her family in San Salvador would be happy to host me.  I eagerly accepted the invitation.  I was elated that I would be able to stay with a family who has lived through the previous decades in San Salvador.  

I arrived at the Castanedas' house late on a Saturday night after a long day of traveling.  Cristina's parents, Orlando and Ana Maria, lived in a four-story house in Barrio Miramonte, a neighborhood near the center of San Salvador.  They had lived in the same house since the 1970s, changing the purpose of various rooms over time to fit their needs.  Although their daughter lived in Tucson, both of their sons lived in the same neighborhood.  One brother, Fernando, 33, lived a block away with his wife and young one-year-old child.  He had a huge house with many extra bedrooms.  He rented his house out to five young people who were working or going to college.  The other brother, Antonio, 37, ran a gym a couple blocks away.  He had been overweight for most of his life but, about 7 years ago, had become a dedicated body-builder and had placed sixth in a national competition last year.  He was still single and, to my understanding, intended to stay that way.

Fernando in the Castanedas' dining room

Photo of Cristina shamelessly taken from Facebook

Photo of Antonio shamelessly taken from Facebook

Orlando, Ana Maria, and me near La Libertad

It seems like Orlando's entire family has been entrepreneurs in one form or another.  His brother had owned a hardware store.  Fernando owns business renting sound equipment out to large events.  Orlando still runs a business after 40-plus years, constructing mainly tables, benches, chairs, boxes attached to motorcycles, and specialty items.  During the civil war of the 1980s, when all three of his kids were young children, Orlando's business was booming.  Naturally, many other businesses were not willing to sell in El Salvador because of the overwhelming danger and tenuous political environment.  Orlando expanded his warehouse and construction facility in the distribution center of San Salvador.  However, soon after the civil war came to a close in 1992, his business diminished because of all of the competing stores popping-up around town.  A few years ago Orlando closed and sold his warehouse.  Fernando allowed his father to build a three-story factory behind his house about four years ago.

The Castanedas are very skilled in speaking English compared to the general El Salvadorian family.  Cristina speaks almost flawless English.  She had attended a private British university in El Salvador and now has lived the United States for years.  Ana Maria seems to be the most nervous when speaking English.  She has not spent an extended time in a English-speaking country.  Beginning when he was 16, Orlando spent 11 years in Northern California although he still speaks with a heavy accent.  Fernando and Antonio speak very good English because they spent extended periods in the United States and had taken English classes continuously when they were in school.  The Castanedas' maid and her daughter spoke no apparent English at all.  They were from a poor and small community outside of a slightly less poor and slightly less small pueblo called Apaneca, about an hour outside of San Salvador.  They had received very little education, much less English training.