Personal Narrative: My Visit To El Salvador

Did you know there are seven species of sea turtle in the world? Four of which make home on the Salvadoran coast. Throughout my 19 years of living I have encountered a handful of learning experiences. The most significant was when I went to visit my parent's motherland, El Salvador. For those who don't know El Salvador is a small, in fact, the smallest country in Central America. My experience there changed my perspective about life. El Salvador is filled with gang violence and poverty. Making it one of the most dangerous countries in the world. Yet, is also filled with amazing views, delicious foods and beautiful people. In my visit I witnessed how hard the people work for how little they get paid, the struggle of living there, and how little you need to be happy.

The main reason my family and I went to El Salvador was to visit relatives we hadn’t seen in years. Therefore, we stayed at my grandmother’s house located in San

To begin with, pay is crap and things are rather pricey. Every day you are being harassed by local gangs to pay a fee or else you die. Gangs kill anybody they want including the police, they are ruthless. Having to pay a fee while getting one or two dollars a day and still have enough to feed your family is beyond being. I have a half brother who is a professor in San Salvador, and he told me that his own students threatened him in order for him to give them a passing grade or else he is a dead man. No one is safe and quite frankly, there is nothing one can do about it. They (gangs) know where you live, your family, and your every day routine. There is no escaping this nonsense if you are living in El Salvador. Thank God I never encountered a gang member during my visit albeit, the brutality wasn't as bad as it is today. This made me realize that I wanted to become a police officer to protect people. As well as, how we need to help stop violent behavior not only in El Salvador, but around the