home

World History Period 1A
= = =I WOULD HAVE NEVER GUESSED =

====

Sandra Benitez
In 1941, a young book writer was born by the name of Sandra Benitez in Washington D.C. Sandra’s father’s name was James Q. Albes and her mother’s name was Marta Benitez-Albes. Growing up, her family moved around to many places because her father did Diplomatic work. She and her family lived in; Mexico, El Salvador and Missouri. Sandra had a sister named Anita who was married to a surgeon. He was eventually kidnapped by Guerrilla forces in El Salvador. Sandra’s life wasn’t all bad even though she wasn’t born into a rich family. When she was a young adult, Sandra and her family moved back to the United States from El Salvador. Sandra attended college at Truman State University. In 1962, Sandra earned her Bachelor’s degree in Education. Soon after, she returned to college and earned a Master’s degree in Comparative Literature in 1974. In 1980, Sandra married James Kondrick and had two sons from a previous marriage. Christopher Title was born in 1963 and her second son, Jon Title was born two years later. She worked several different jobs, one as a teacher, one as a Spanish translator and one as a marketing liaison. It took Sandra 13 years to publish her first book. In 1993, when she was 52 years old, the book, “A Place Where the Sea Remembers”, was published and released. Sandra first started thinking of being a writer when she was 39 years old. She discovered this love for writing when she took a writing class. Also, the fact that she lived in El Salvador was another reason why she started to write Latin American books. She loved writing so much; she quit her job and became a full time writer. Sandra left her job that consisted of translating management-training manuals, to begin writing her first novel. All of her books are based on Latin America. There’s even a book she says is “too dreadful to submit”, and the book is hidden underneath her bed. “A Place Where the Sea Remembers” earned the Minnesota Book Award and the Barnes and Noble Discover Award. "Bentitez`s first novel has been called a universal tragedy which resounds with a sense of hope".  “Bitter Grounds” was her second book, received accolades from Hispanic writers and won the 1998 American Book Award. "A story of passion, politics, death, and love . . . . This is the kind of book that fills your dreams for weeks".  “The Weight of All Things, Sandra’s third book, conveys the intimate and authentic sense of a personal experience of living through war. "A graceful and unabashedly tender hearted novel".  Sandra’s fourth book, “Night of the Radishes”, gives a bicultural background of her family history.  In her fifth book, “The Saving Grace of Story”, reveals her as a twinless-twin, because her identical twin sister, Susana, died 37 days after their birth. Her novels allowed her to capture her mother’s Latino heritage and her father’s Midwestern heritage. Sandra represents Hispanic American writers that give voice to the experiences of people that endure political struggles and warfare in Central and South America. ([|Disheroon-Green]) 

Political
====


 In El Salvador, almost 90% of the people who dwell there are Mestizo. Mestizo is a mix of European and Indian ancestry, for those who did not know. These people are also educated. Seventy percent of the people over 10 years of age can read and write. During the 1970’s, El Salvador was the most industrialized nation in its region. About 15% of the labor force was working in manufacturing. Many products are sold and traded from El Salvador to other Central American countries. Food, beverages, chemicals, fertilizers, textiles and furniture are the main products sold. Coffee, sugar, beef, electricity and shrimp are the main products traded. The government in El Salvador works a little different from the government we have here in America. The most recent Constitution was adopted in 1983. The president serves as the head of State and government, but after a term of 5 years, the president is not eligible for re-election immediately after. From 1969-1979, El Salvador faced over population, extreme poverty and a bloody civil war that started between “right-wing” government and the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN). In the book, “The Weight of All Things” by Sandra Benitez, it started out with this issue. Many people fled to get away from the carnage. “The crowd had filled the Cathedral to overflowing”, “after bombs went off”. (Sandra Benitez) During this period, in 1980, the Archbishop of San Salvador, Oscar Romero, was assassinated and his body was placed in a cathedral. “Archbishop Romero’s casket gleaned in the noonday sun”. (Sandra Benitez) This savage war did not cease to end until the early 1990’s period. ([|Winsberg])



History
 The earliest history of El Salvador dates all the way back to the Mayan Indians that dwelled there before the birth of Christ. There are gigantic stone pyramids that can still be seen. Eventually, the Mayans were replaced by Nahuatl- speaking Indians. These new Indians were related to the Aztecs, who lived in Mexico. The names of these people were Pipil. Pipil soon built a huge population and some were Spanish conquerors who founded San Salvador. They were called Cuscatlán. By 1524, Spanish forces invaded the region of Guatemala, under the rule of Pedro de Alvarado. The Cuscatlán people where overthrown first and soon after the Pipil people as well. Apparently, most Spanish left because no gold or silver was found, but some stayed behind and used the Indians for forced labor for the new plantations built. From 1570 – 1821, the Spanish ruled over El Salvador. By the year 1811, Central American people grew to challenge the Spanish rule. Their leader was a Salvadoran priest named Father José Martías Delago. Eventually, El Salvador claimed its independence from the Spanish rule by 1821, ten years later. By the 1900’s, El Salvador became wealthy and powerful due to its coffee plantations. Soon after, the price of coffee fell by more than half and the plantations were brought to ruins in the 1920’s. The Salvadoran economy began to fall into depression, with high unemployment rates, low wages and dictatorship of General Maximiliano Hernāndez Martínez in 1932. The Indian people became rebels and tried to rise up above the army. Over 30,000 of these people lost their lives as a result of the miss-match between rebels and army. During the 1950’s-60’s, El Salvador was involved in a war with Honduras. Thousands of Salvadoran people crossed the border into Honduras looking for jobs, free land, and to escape repression. This war broke out during a rival Soccer game and as a result, the thousands of Salvadorans were sent back home to El Salvador. ([|Winsberg])



<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> In El Salvador, the main culture is Spanish. The official language is Spanish. Very few people speak Nahuatl, which happens to be an Indian language. The main religion in El Salvador is Roman Catholic. “La Virgen”. La Virgen is one of the most important spiritual figures in this religion. Everyday life included labor in the coffee plantations fields. The sales merchants would wonder the country on horseback selling goods. Salvadoran people ate foods not common to Americans. In America, people prefer to eat hamburger and French fries but in El Salvador, they choose to eat lizard, snake and Spanish foods like: fajitas, tortillas, black beans and other foods typical to their culture. During the war, most of these foods were destroyed and living conditions were harsh. “All we had to eat was tortillas, beans, a piece of cheese and one egg a month”. <span style="color: rgb(0,255,0);">(Sandra Benitez) El Salvador always looked more modernized than most countries around it. In 1854, a huge earthquake hit El Salvador and forced its people to build the country again from the ground up which made it appear more modernized. The architecture of the country includes colonial, Renaissance, Spanish baroque, particularly in church and government buildings. Artists in the village of La Palma create wood plaques and crosses that are painted vibrantly. ([|Winsberg])



<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Geography
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">El Salvador is west of Guatemala and Honduras makes up the north and east borders. The southern region of El Salvador is bordered by the Pacific Ocean. It’s the only country in its region that has no coastline. There are three land regions that make El Salvador different from other neighboring countries. The Interior Highlands were formed by two mountain ranges coming together that have many volcanoes and is the length of the whole country. The Central Upland accommodates most Salvadoran people. This plateau is about two thousand feet above sea level. Between the mountain ranges is soil covered in volcanic ash which makes it fertile. The Coastal Lowland runs along the Pacific coast as a narrow strip of land. Very few people live there because of non fertile land. El Retorno is another sight to see. “El Retorno had rocky hills and jagged ravines”. “Creeks snaked along the bottom of the canyons”. “The vegetation chocked gullies and some areas were menacing”. “Low spots had bamboo trees, fiery chichicagte shrubs, and pointed spines of the izote.” “Ridge tops, scraggly spine and cypress grew like stiff short hairs on the back of riled hogs”. <span style="color: rgb(0,255,0);">(Sandra Benitez) The most important river in everyday life is the Rio Lempa which flows from Central Upland. If you like warm places, El Salvador is the place to go, with an average high temperature of 90 degrees Fahrenheit and an average low of 60 degrees Fahrenheit. ([|Winsberg])



<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">Personal Responce
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">The book, “Weight Of All Things”, really opened my eyes to a lot of new understanding about El Salvador. I didn’t know that the first people to live there were the Mayan Indians. The Spanish people didn’t live there until 1524, while the Indians were there even before the birth of Christ. Over time, 90% of Salvadoran people were a mixed ancestry of Indian and Spanish called Mestizo. These people have adopted the Spanish language and have also become Roman Catholic. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;"> I didn’t realize that El Salvador had so much vegetation and many historical monuments until I read this book for the first time. I thought that there were only sand and hot temperatures. Many people in El Salvador drink coffee because it’s the most popular thing to drink. They are one of the most industrialized countries in its central American region. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;"> I feel that the author could really show the reader that there is more to El Salvador then people think. I enjoyed how the author told a story through a young boy’s eye, and at the same time, stayed very factual. I didn’t dislike any characters, because they all had significance to the story. Overall, I believe it’s a great book and whoever doesn’t know about El Salvador, should read it. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive;">