Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
This bus tour is filled with Americans eager to learn and hungry for inspiration.
I'll never forget the parade that day. Everyone in our group crayoned
Romero Vive
(“Romero lives”) on our white T-shirts. We piled into the repainted but obviously recycled
circa 1960s American school bus (the standard public transport in Central America today),
drove as close as we could, and then spilled into the streets. Joining masses of Sal-
vadorans, we funneled through their capital city and to the cathedral, which held the
body of their national hero. Entrepreneurs sold bananas from woven bins and drinks in
clear plastic bags pierced by paper straws. Parents packed along children born long after
Romero's day. Prune-faced old ladies who couldn't handle the long march filled the backs
of beat-up pickup trucks, adding slow-rolling “granny floats” to the parade of people.
Banks, Western Union offices, strip malls, and fast-food joints seemed to stand still and
observe as the marchers shut down the city. Soldiers looking on appeared humbled by the
crowd.
