TT’s Reviews > Rick Steves' Travel As a Political Act > Status Update

It's not easy to see God in the child who cleans the windshields at a San Salvador intersection, but we must."

Rebellion and rebellion was put down as the land was Christianised. Making religion the opiate of the masses, the priests preached, "Don't question authority. Heaven awaits those who suffer quietly"

1524 the Spaniards arrived in El Salvador. They killed the indigenous people, burned villages, and named the place "The Saviour" after Christ. Enslaved locals -- branding them like cattle, with hot irons -- those first conquistadors established a persistent pattern.

even if you're motivated only by greed, if you know what's good for you, you don't want to be filthy rich in a desperately poor world.

Still, even a round-trip revolutionary flies home with an indelible understanding of the human reality of that much-quoted statistic, "Half of humanity is trying to live on under $5 a day."

I was wha locals jokingly call a "round-trip revolutionary" (someone from a stable and wealthy country who cares enough to come down here... but only with a return plane ticket zipped into his money belt). That's fair enough: Entwined as I might become in the stories of El Salvador, it's only honest for me to acknowledge that my trip here is an expression of my privilege.

Poverty erodes cultural characteristics and distinctions. Wherever you travel, there’s something uniform about desperation.

In the midst of relative affluence. Americans seem to operate with a mindset of scarcity — Focusing on what we don’t have or what we might lose. Meanwhile, the Salvadorans I met, who have so little, embrace life with a mindset of abundance — thankful for the simple things they do have, they’re extremely generous. Considering their tough economy reality.

I find it easier to connect with people in poor countries than in rich ones. Perhaps that’s because when there’s almost nothing to earn, time is not money. The key : A good traveler needs to be an extrovert.

In a big shake (earthquake), it's the poor whose home crumble--seismic safety is a luxury only the privileged can afford.