President Obama y CARNAVAL

Obama in El Salvador? Por que? Por que no? The U.S. president is coming to El Salvador today together with his family. This will end the Latin American tour traveling first to Brazil and then to Chile. My understanding is that one of the main reasons the stop in El Salvador is to highlight the drug trafficking and violence that occurs in Central America, which is a source of great debate in the ongoing "war on drugs", which it is safe to say is not working. It is the debate of Supply or Demand. Why doesn't the U.S. just stop their illicit drug problem --- end the demand and the profitable business? (more treatment, legalizing illicit drugs, etc...) Or why don't we stop the illicit drugs from coming into the U.S. --- stop the supply? It is a complex problem. But remember, the usage of illicit drugs in El Salvador is very low - even marijuana use is low... We do have a couple of days off from school - today and tomorrow (Tuesday and Wednesday) due to the closure of roads nearby to the school and the havoc that will cause with traffic. The government in El Savador closed down operations in San Salvador for these two days. U.S. Embassy folks have been busy over the last couple of months preparing for the visit...We will only be seeing him in the news (some past presidents have landed in the field of Escuela Americana, but this one I believe has other priorities). http://www.elsalvador.com/mwedh/ AND as of about noon today - President Obama and family have arrived and went to the Presidential Palace. So far, I have heard of plans to go visit the tomb of a national hero, Archbishop Romero who spoke/fought for "the people", and it is considered a departure for most presidential visits. As well as a visit to a famous archeological site, Joyan de Ceren. Here is one photo I was able to get in "real time":

On another note, a couple of weeks ago was Carnaval! (Fat Tuesday) Celebrated widely in Brazil and the Carribean - my parents were in Cozumel, MX and had a great time watching the parade there. It is not celebrated here in El Salvador, but the Friday following Fat Tuesday, one of Cole's classmates, Rafael, (Guatemalean family) invited him over to celebrate Carnaval Guatemalaen style. For the kiddos they had fun dressing up and running around in their costumes (Cole wore The Incredibles costume), painting eggs, decorating cupcakes, and the most fun was when they cracked hollowed-out, decorated eggs filled with confetti, over each other's heads! Here, there is no boiling of eggs (or plastic eggs) and then decorating them ---- you peck the top off of an egg, empty it out, clean it, fill it with confetti or candy, and then top it off with a piece of tissue-type paper to cover the nickel-sized hold in the top. Here are the pics - you can see the fun they had! The girls in the picture are the older sister of Rafael - Paulina and friends.