The Culture of El Salvador
In generalities, Salvadoran culture is not unlike North American culture. They enjoy the same sports, enjoy the same entertainment venues and celebrate a lot of the same holidays.
Salvadorans have a love of art and literature. They experience a liking for poetry and folk tales. Some famous contemporary poets of El Salvador are Lilian Jimenez and Jose Roberto Cea. Their works are infamous for expressing the struggle of Salvadoran life. Folk tales are usually about Indian legends and are passed down by generations of elders. Salvadorans are also fond of handicrafts like wicker furniture, ceramics, textiles and basketry. Radio stations in El Salvador play salsa, meringue, and Mexican ranchero music but pop and techno are also enjoyed. Their music is very similar to Central American music styles with commonly used instruments such as the pito (a type of flute), a wooden xylophone, and drums.
Salvadorans also love to play sports and games. Their favourites include El Futbol (football/soccer), baseball and basketball. Children enjoy games such as Peregrina (equal to hopscotch), Chibola (equal to marbles), and Capirucho (equal to stick-and-cup). Other recreational activities include dancing at nightclubs, watching television in bars and going to the theatre to see a foreign film with Spanish subtitles. Most families own television sets and most also use cell phones.
Salvadorans are very celebratory and love to get together as a community. Their first holiday of the year is Holy week just before Easter. People get most of the days of holy week off work and they take time to visit with family. The beginning of August hosts a fiesta that commemorates the country’s patron saint, El Salvador del Mundo. Christmas time is an important time of year complete with midnight celebrations, decorating homes with elaborate nativity scenes and children waiting to receive presents from El Nino (the baby Jesus) on Christmas evening. Salvadorans also celebrate New Year’s Day, Independence Day and Teacher’s day which is a day celebrating the work of teachers.
Spirituality is very important to the people of El Salvador. Their faith is mainly Roman Catholic as influenced by the Spanish when they first claimed El Salvador in the early 1500’s. The Roman Catholic population makes up 57% of the people in the country. The other 43 percent is divided between Christian faith (22%) and other faiths like protestant (24%) The spiritual life of the country is shown through public religious festivals and popular devotions to express faith and build community. The government does not run off of religious beliefs making it a secular government. Common spiritual events in El Salvador include most babies being baptized at birth, when a wedding takes place the whole community must attend and that adults rarely celebrate their birthdays.
The school system in El Salvador is a poor one. The schools that exist tend to be in bad condition and often don’t have basic school supplies needed such as up-to-date textbooks. Although primary school is at no charge, families still have fees they must pay such as school uniform, supplies and registration fees. Many Salvadoran children do not finish primary school because of the poor facilities and the children also may be needed at home to help with income. When children do attend school, they learn subjects that are very similar to North American subjects such as geography, math, literature and physical education. If students continue their education they go through four sections of school. Parvularia (which is pre-school), Basica (which is grades one to nine), Media (which is grades ten to twelve), and Superior(which is university, apprenticeship or college education)
Popular dishes in El Salvador include beans, rice, tortillas and tamales (a corn dumpling). Salvadorans eat three meals a day, a like North America, with lunch being the largest meal of the day. Popular drinks of the nation are coffee, hot chocolate, Licuados and Redrescos (fruit drinks), light beers and Tic-tac (a brand of liquor made of sugarcane)
The official language in El Salvador is Spanish, this being because it was introduced to Central America when Spain took over the land. Only a few thousand people continue to speak Nahuat which was the language of the original indigenous people of the nation. Body language and hand gestures are essential in Salvadoran communication. Popular greetings are “Buenos Dias!” (“Good Morning!”), “Buenos Tardes!” (“Good Afternoon!”), “Buenos
Salvadorans have a love of art and literature. They experience a liking for poetry and folk tales. Some famous contemporary poets of El Salvador are Lilian Jimenez and Jose Roberto Cea. Their works are infamous for expressing the struggle of Salvadoran life. Folk tales are usually about Indian legends and are passed down by generations of elders. Salvadorans are also fond of handicrafts like wicker furniture, ceramics, textiles and basketry. Radio stations in El Salvador play salsa, meringue, and Mexican ranchero music but pop and techno are also enjoyed. Their music is very similar to Central American music styles with commonly used instruments such as the pito (a type of flute), a wooden xylophone, and drums.
Salvadorans also love to play sports and games. Their favourites include El Futbol (football/soccer), baseball and basketball. Children enjoy games such as Peregrina (equal to hopscotch), Chibola (equal to marbles), and Capirucho (equal to stick-and-cup). Other recreational activities include dancing at nightclubs, watching television in bars and going to the theatre to see a foreign film with Spanish subtitles. Most families own television sets and most also use cell phones.
Salvadorans are very celebratory and love to get together as a community. Their first holiday of the year is Holy week just before Easter. People get most of the days of holy week off work and they take time to visit with family. The beginning of August hosts a fiesta that commemorates the country’s patron saint, El Salvador del Mundo. Christmas time is an important time of year complete with midnight celebrations, decorating homes with elaborate nativity scenes and children waiting to receive presents from El Nino (the baby Jesus) on Christmas evening. Salvadorans also celebrate New Year’s Day, Independence Day and Teacher’s day which is a day celebrating the work of teachers.
Spirituality is very important to the people of El Salvador. Their faith is mainly Roman Catholic as influenced by the Spanish when they first claimed El Salvador in the early 1500’s. The Roman Catholic population makes up 57% of the people in the country. The other 43 percent is divided between Christian faith (22%) and other faiths like protestant (24%) The spiritual life of the country is shown through public religious festivals and popular devotions to express faith and build community. The government does not run off of religious beliefs making it a secular government. Common spiritual events in El Salvador include most babies being baptized at birth, when a wedding takes place the whole community must attend and that adults rarely celebrate their birthdays.
The school system in El Salvador is a poor one. The schools that exist tend to be in bad condition and often don’t have basic school supplies needed such as up-to-date textbooks. Although primary school is at no charge, families still have fees they must pay such as school uniform, supplies and registration fees. Many Salvadoran children do not finish primary school because of the poor facilities and the children also may be needed at home to help with income. When children do attend school, they learn subjects that are very similar to North American subjects such as geography, math, literature and physical education. If students continue their education they go through four sections of school. Parvularia (which is pre-school), Basica (which is grades one to nine), Media (which is grades ten to twelve), and Superior(which is university, apprenticeship or college education)
Popular dishes in El Salvador include beans, rice, tortillas and tamales (a corn dumpling). Salvadorans eat three meals a day, a like North America, with lunch being the largest meal of the day. Popular drinks of the nation are coffee, hot chocolate, Licuados and Redrescos (fruit drinks), light beers and Tic-tac (a brand of liquor made of sugarcane)
The official language in El Salvador is Spanish, this being because it was introduced to Central America when Spain took over the land. Only a few thousand people continue to speak Nahuat which was the language of the original indigenous people of the nation. Body language and hand gestures are essential in Salvadoran communication. Popular greetings are “Buenos Dias!” (“Good Morning!”), “Buenos Tardes!” (“Good Afternoon!”), “Buenos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUxFducYXyk
A Traditional Salvadoran Folk Dance
A Traditional Salvadoran Folk Dance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpXsPAS6Q9w
A Salvadoran Celebration
A Salvadoran Celebration
