Jul
Sister Cities
Past staff members: David Amdur
Former staff members of U.S.-El Salvador Sister Cities have lived many things while working in El Salvador. Today, we’re going to hear a story from David Amdur, El Salvador staff from 1998-2000 and board member from 2004-2006.
In March, 2000 I worked with Marc Rosenthal and Ian Davies from the Madison Sister City committee when they brought a delegation of students from Edgewood College to El Salvador. Right at the end of the delegation Marc came to me and said the historic FMLN/social movement leader Maria Chichilco was at her house in San Salvador and asked me to come with him to interpret a meeting he wanted to have. Marc had known Maria for years and because of all the internal turmoil in the FMLN wanted to get her perspective. I was tired and Marc wanted us to leave the guest house at like 10:00 pm after a full day of delegation itinerary. I also knew Maria and was interested in what she might have to say, so I said “let’s do it.”
We arrived at Maria’s house and were warmly greeted by her. Already there and engaged in a political discussion was the now deceased CISPES leader, Don White, who’d known Maria as long or longer than Marc. Don spoke next to no Spanish, and Maria had about the same amount of English. I noted, however, that they were having an animated discussion with lots of gesturing and laughing. Don asked, “Facundo [Guardado] malo Maria?” and she got this sour look on her face. She’d say back, “Schafik [Handal] malo Don”, and he made this “I don’t agree with what you said, but will try not to show it” expression. It was obvious the two of them had been talking for some time and having a deep conversation, even with their respective language limitations.
Enter Marc and I. We sit down, Marc looks at me to interpret, and starts asking for an analysis of the current political tendencies within the FMLN and Maria’s opinion of the political struggle taking place in the party. He also wanted to know what was the role and perspective of the former FPL (the FMLN group Maria and most of CRIPDES were affiliated with during the armed conflict) and CRIPDES in this current political dynamic. I interpreted all of this into Spanish and Maria just smiled and really didn’t say much at first, but Marc and Don kept asking questions and she finally started sharing her perspective.
The three of them, with me interpreting, kept talking till close to 2:00am. Maria had done three years in the Legislative Assembly as an FMLN Deputy from Chalatenango and was burnt out and cynical about everyone and everything political. She cursed all the leaders of all the factions of the FMLN, which I interpreted into English. She answered Marc and Don’s questions about the FMLN, the perspective and role of the social movement and the organized communities of CRIPDES, the perspective of the former FPL, and much more.
After an hour of simultaneous interpreting I was exhausted. After nearly two hours I do believe I was almost asleep, with my eyes close and head down and chin tucked into my chest, still interpreting everything that was said. Maria then noticed me and said in Spanish, “Is he asleep?”, which I interpreted into English. They all laughed. Finally, after four hours of meeting and my interpreting, Maria said it was time to let “pobre David go to bed.”
Ian Davies took a photograph of me asleep in a meeting in Aracato from that delegation. I believe it was still in the Sister Cities office in CRIPDES in 2005. Especially in the heat and humidity I could at times come close to falling asleep in meetings, but it wasn’t just with Maria, Marc, and Don that I startled people by being nearly asleep and then coming awake to participate. Perhaps I was the “Pelon Dormilón de Cuidades Hermanas”.
