I am a descendant of very large family. The Blanco Family started with Mama Tina and Papa Tino (my grandmother and grandfather) who through small means were able to raise a family of nine daughters. Yes, nine daughters, I think grandpa was looking for the elusive boy, but threw in the towel after the ninth daughter, tia Julia. Then again, Tia Julia may have broken him as she is quite the family character.
The nine daughters, my aunts, all but two have kids so to say I have a lot of cousins is an understatement. Our family is large, we roll deep whenever we get together, which unfortunately it is not very often because we are all dispersed across several states and even Europe. Different events have brought some of us together, but we never really had a family reunion back in El Salvador.
This year was different as most of us decided to take a trip to El Salvador to celebrate one of our cousin’s (my Godson) graduation as a Chemical Engineer. This celebration afforded us an opportunity to gather as a family and officially call it a “Blanco Family Reunion”. However, several of our immediate family were missing, including my beautiful family, since they were unable to take a week off from school. The same applies to several others who were unable to make it; nevertheless, we eventually ended up with over 30 members of the family who through sheer determination made the trip that could have resulted in a lot of disagreements into something enjoyable for everyone, even the younger members of our family.
Through our short stay we enjoyed reminiscing about our childhood, learning from the childhood of our parents, and meeting new members of the family. We also took advantage of showing the new generation the country were we were born and shared memories with them. They received a small glimpse of the country, and also commented that they came to the conclusion that they should appreciate what they have; this was a lesson well worth the trip.
Overall the trip turned out to be a success in my eyes and solidified the fact that I should return more often with my family. It also provided me an opportunity to reflect on several things as identified below:
As you can imagine, making plans for more than 30 people is nearly impossible unless you are talking about a wedding. It is the perfect definition of insanity when it comes to that many people with different agendas of what they would like to do and see. Compound it with the type A personalities of all the nine daughters and you have a receipt for fireworks to go off at any given moment. It is a ticking time bomb with the potential of going off at any given minute. There were many close calls during the trip with the fuse being lit, but put out just prior to it going off…many close calls, but no major malfunction. Unlike a true tribal council, this one has no consensus…each and everyone’s point of view or idea is the only idea to be considered and accepted, and therein lies the problem. With as many people as we had there was no way we would all end up doing the same things at the same time every day…nearly as impossible as landing on the sun. Consensus was reached only after a significant number of time was given to debating the pros and cons of each idea and even then there was never really an aligned decision made. To say I was outnumbered was an understatement, but we made it all work in the end albeit painful during the process to reach a conclusion. They gave me an opportunity to lead the very last day, which I accepted as a great honor!
I Will Never Complain of Traffic in The US
For the indoctrinated, El Salvador provides quite the experience when it comes to moving around the country especially during rush hours. If you are coming to the country for the first time I would not recommend getting a rental car to drive around. I did it once and that was enough to age me 20 years; I believe the car I rented may still have my hands imprinted on the steering wheel. Uber is a thing in El Salvador and it is making moving around a whole lot easier, just use the app, get a rate, pay cash or credit and off you go…and you get the added benefit of having a tour guide. They also have a vast public transportation system of large buses which if you were to tell the driver he was driving a bus he would laugh at you because they seriously do things with these buses I have never seen done at speeds and within congested traffic that thinking about it makes me nervous. Now add the overpopulated areas and personal vehicles and you have a traffic jam recipe unlike any other, or at least that I have experienced. Moving around during off peak hours is ok, but at rush hours, be prepared, wear a diaper, and pack a cooler cause it is going to be a long time before you make it anywhere. What would typically be a 15 minute drive can easily turn into an hour commute or more. The rules of traffic go out the window and everyman for themselves merging, honking, speeding, slamming on brakes, and dodging potholes and dogs…it is quite the thing to experience, you just may want to take a few anti-anxiety medications before you step into a vehicle. The traffic in San Salvador makes the northern Virginia traffic seem like a walk in the park, and the Hampton Roads traffic a smooth uneventful commute. The most surprising thing though is the fact that there are hardly no accidents (that I saw anyways). In comparison in Hampton Roads a good storm can create havoc with cars careening off roads, people crashing into each other, and sometimes schools closing…quite a different perspective.
We opted for the safer way of travel with our family in El Salvador…we used Uber and when we went somewhere en masse we hired the great service of Don Javier and Don Julio who patiently put up with our craziness and safely drove us around through the various places we visited. If you ever need their services I will highly recommend them and willing to provide their contact information so that you can get to enjoy the sights and sounds of El Salvador; they were truly amazing and ultimately the younger members of the family adopted them as tios (uncles).
Fake News
I new this from my past visits to El Salvador, but what you hear in the news is sensationalized for the negative. If you ask folks who have never visited El Salvador, the first thing that comes to mind is the crime (gang activity), the war and the high murder rate. All of which may still be true, but not to the extent of the media portrays it to be. Every time I come to the country I visit several beautiful places, I have never felt scared, and the people are always willing to hep out.
El Salvador is a beautiful country that in my opinion is severely underrated when compared to the likes of Costa Rica or Panama for tourism. I think this is changing through the discovery of eco tourism and surfing in the smallest country in Central America. The substantial Pacific Coast is a surfers paradise lined with beautiful beaches, resorts that cater to all levels of luxury, and large shopping centers equal to those you will find in the states. The food is amazing and the people very accommodating and friendly, but I’m a little biased. You may also want to take a break from the main tourist attractions and travel to the several small towns throughout the country each with its own attractions; colonial churches, gastronomic festivals, artisans, and coffee plantations. It is worth the drive to go these smaller towns and spend a few hours exploring the culture and enjoying great food.
No Matter How Long You Lose Touch, You Will Always be Family
Finally, the reunion was an amazing experience to reflect on a very important aspect of life. We are all blessed with family however large or small, and sometimes we all go our own separate ways. Time passes and we lose touch, our family grows, kids grow up, and some of our loved ones depart from this world. Through it all there is a constant yearning for connectedness, to see each other again, to reminisce on our collective story and to share that story with the new members of our family. The yearning is like a beacon of light always shining and guiding us to safe harbor back to family no matter how far one has gone. We seek comfort in knowing that no matter how bad things get, family will always be there fo us. We celebrate our victories, we pull together in defeat, and we provide love and support in times of tragedy.
Our family is blessed with nine elders whom through their life experiences have shared their wisdom and knowledge to guide an army of four generations into a brighter future. A future where legacies can be made, where accomplishments will continue to be celebrated through the next generation of family members, where life can be better because they made a sacrifice unlike any that their sons and daughters could begin to comprehend. These sacrifices go back to the tenth and most important women in our family, Mama Tina, our matriarch whom is responsible for the genesis of our large and beautiful family. Through sheer grit, she managed to raise nine daughters with minimal means of providing for all of them. She planted the seeds of what would ultimately grow to be the Blanco Family and continues to grow to this day.
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Our family, like many other families is not perfect, but we recognize our faults, acknowledge our mistakes, and ask for forgiveness. I believe the dynamics of our characters, the differences of opinions, and the various different personalities makes it that more lively when we are together. In the end, if we were all the same it would be a very boring and uneventful gathering when we get together. Like many families we lose touch with each other, we go along making the best for our own lives and that of our children. We yearn for a time when we can all meet again, be it here on earth or when we get a call from God. Time is but a mere distraction, but one that cannot be avoided. It is something that we cannot gain and flows through life like a torrent river carving our lives as it flows. As it flows, it finds pockets where pools develop allowing sediment to settle, a gathering of different pebbles in different sizes and colors. In these instances time seems to pause for a brief moment allowing the rocks to settle and collect. Such is life, and such has been this trip to El Salvador. It is a mere pause of time for the family to reconvene and celebrate being us, for us to enjoy the pools created by the river of time and reflect on the years gone by before the next surge of river water comes and moves us all to a different location. Regardless of where we are deposited along the river bed, there will be a time where the currents of the river of time will bring us all together as a much bigger family yet again.
To my family, I love each one of you dearly and I look forward to seeing each of you at our next gathering.
