Presidential Nominee

I'm going to laugh if the Democratic Party and/or the Republican Party shoots themselves in the foot by nominating someone who probably won't win the presidential election. Some candidates are more likely to win the presidential election than others, no matter who the parties want to be president. For example, the Democratic Party might nominate Hillary Clinton because most members of the party might want her to become president. But Barack Obama might be more likely to win the presidential election than Hillary Clinton. In that case he would be a better choice. My point is that winning the election is more important than winning with whoever you want to become president. Someone in your party serving as president is better than no one in your party serving as president.

War

The American Civil War ended 142 years ago. Americans read about it in history books because everyone who experienced it is dead. The Salvadoran Civil War ended only 15 years ago. Everyone old enough to have lived through it has war memories. It is like a living history lesson. Not every Peace Corps volunteer gets to serve in a country scarred by war. It's interesting because I see and feel the remnants of the war.

Though people don't always talk about the war, the memories and scars cannot be ignored. Salvadorans raped and tortured each other. Family and friends were killed. Some of the survivors lost limbs. A member of our Peace Corps training staff said that during the war, there were bumper stickers that read (in Spanish): "Be a patriot; kill a priest."

Recent history has been difficult for El Salvador. The civil war lasted over a decade, and two earthquakes in 2001 destroyed some of the country, including the town I currently live in. A young Salvadoran woman told me that she asked her mother, "Why did I have to be born in El Salvador?"

Sadly, history is repeating itself. Current conditions are similar to conditions that led to the civil war, and some Salvadorans believe another civil war might start soon. Perhaps I will have some war memories of my own.