Salvadoran Grandma Chronicles: Setting the stage

As a first generation American, I’m on a quest to document family stories. I hope the Salvadoran Grandma Chronicles inspires you to (re)connect with your own heritage, regardless of if you are Salvadoran or not.

El Tazumal Mayan Ruins in El Salvador; photo kindly shared by my mom's friend.

Before we get into the plethora of endearing family stories to come, we will use this post to set the stage for Salvadoran Grandma Chronicles. I absolutely love to hear about how people lived across the world at different points in time. If you do as well, this is the post for you!

Perspective: These chronicles document what my mother primarily recalls and describes

Location: My mom was born and raised (up until 10 years old) in San Francisco Menendez, El Salvador, a town near the border with Guatemala. After 10 years old, she and her family moved to San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador.

Main geographical lineage: Indigenous Central American, Spanish, West African

Family Profession: Tailor (my mom's father) and Pharmacist (my mom's mother)

Housing: Single story house

Daily meals: Meals mostly consisted of rice, beans, fruits and vegetables (e.g. mangoes, bananas, plantain, yucca, corn products), meat, and milk.

School: Attended first to twelfth grade at local schools in San Francisco Menendez and San Salvador

Religion: My mom grew up Catholic, but has Protestant and Catholic family. She no longer practices at a church, but is religious and reads religious texts.

Number of siblings: 7

Childhood hobbies and pastimes: Imaginary role-play (e.g. shopping, dolls), playing outdoors (e.g. tag, playing in the creek, gathering fruits), watching TV, cooking and cleaning, visiting her grandma, baseball

Migration to the USA: My mom migrated to Washington, DC after attending university in Panama. She migrated as El Salvador was in the middle of its bloody civil war and two of her siblings and mother already moved to Washington, DC. When she first moved to Panama, she always thought she would move back to El Salvador and never imagined moving to the USA. However, the civil war drove her to join her family in Washington, DC in 1985. She migrated at the age of 27 with no knowledge of the English language.

Values: Family loyalty, child-rearing, religion

Level of Education: University-level degree in Panama City, Panama

Profession: Teacher’s Assistant

Current location: Outside of Washington, DC, in Maryland.

Current age: 63

Love Salvadoran Grandma Chronicles? You’ll probably love Greek Grandpa Chronicles too.