Little Cabaña in the Salvadoran Mountains
How we are living like a modern-day “Little House on the Prairie” in more than a few ways!
¡Buenos días, amigos!
We just celebrated our youngest turning 7 this past week! It feels like a bit of a milestone, since we left Canada when she was 3.5 years old—which means she’s now officially spent HALF of her life in other countries!
It’s funny—that still feels a bit weird to say. I often say to myself, “Does our family ACTUALLY live in El Salvador?” And then I look around and assure myself that yes, we really do…strange how the everyday normal can still seem so surreal at times.
I told you about my car accident (back in December) in this post, and I ended up with some pretty awful whiplash. From mid-January onward, I’d often wake up in pain, and my normal range of motion when I turned my head was impossible due to pain from the soft tissue damage. But since starting some physio exercises Tom’s sister gave me in early February, my neck has healed significantly, I’m sleeping without pain, and I can turn my head normally again. What a huge difference! So grateful to be on the mend.
When I was a girl, my mom would read to us kids from the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I remember sometimes wishing my life was as simple as theirs. Now as I nostalgically read them to my girls, I feel the same way.
As much as I appreciate lots of our modern conveniences, things are much more complicated nowadays…and we have way more choices to make at the grocery store and beyond.
Maybe I’m slightly exaggerating, BUT…do you ever feel like you’re fighting a never-ending battle?!
“Don’t eat this LOOONG list of foods!! Don’t use this toxic product, OR that one. Don’t drink bottled water (micro plastics) or sugary drinks, or diet soda drinks…or anything from a (toxic aluminum) can! Don’t ingest fluoride. Don’t go outside after they spray the plants…or the sky! Don’t stay out in the sun too much! Or use toxic sunscreen! Don’t be on your phone too long…or live near a 5G tower. Avoid this, avoid that…”
Ugh…how do we possibly navigate a healthy lifestyle in this “toxic world”?! Reminds me of this poem my grandparents had on their wall when I was a kid…
Since we moved up to this little (1,100 square foot) cabin in the mountains in August, a few people have commented that we’re like the Ingalls family from the Little House on the Prairie series now. It’s funny that we’ve been watching the wholesome TV series (made in the 70’s and 80’s) more as a family lately too. And I’ve been thinking about some of the similarities…
We left our country and family behind in a similar way that they left the comforts of their familiar life in the east behind…in order to “find a better life.” And we’ve been pretty transient (like they were) since we left “home.”
They had 3 daughters in the first several stories: Mary, Laura, Carrie…and then later Grace was born. We can relate to having all girls!
They were looking for more opportunities and more land…and we were looking for more freedom and less wokeness for our kids, but still, we were all looking for new beginnings!
Like “Pa” Ingalls, Tom has been opportunistic in how he’s been finding work. Pa would often travel for days on foot, horse, or train to get work for a few weeks, if the family needed income. And Tom is doing a LOT of driving these days for his job—in the city, down to the beach, and up here in the mountains. He’s helping run a coffee farm in the mountains and an Airbnb on the beach, so there’s always travel involved, and unexpected hurdles. Obviously there are lots of differences, but they both had to be flexible in order to provide for their families.
Our girls are always playing and learning together—and have a tight bond like the Ingalls girls did. And they are keen to learn from nature and in the kitchen from me. Our oldest recently started baking and selling her banana-raspberry muffins at the farmers market when we go.
Although I don’t dry and salt pork for future dinners like Ma Ingalls did (since she didn’t have a fridge), I’ve been making lentil soup, hummus, granola, etc, and I started to make sourdough bread in the last year. We soak beans, cook them up, and add them to lots of meals. It’s quite a challenge to avoid all those processed seed oils and the corn syrup most pre-made foods come with.
We’d like to do more living off the land, but we do get the benefits of picking and eating our own mangoes, mandarins, avocados, and soursop (“guanabana”) from the property these days.
“Guanabana” / soursop is a cancer-fighting tropical fruit In this little community where we rent, there are raspberries, blackberries, and “marañones Japoneses”—like a pear-shaped red apple with a bit of a strawberry taste. Yum!! We also love all the delicious tropical fruit and vegetable options at the local fruit stands.
We may not be growing huge fields of corn or wheat, or fishing in the local pond, but we spend much more time in nature now, learning and exploring, and more time caring for the animals that have come our way than we ever did in Canada.
We want our girls to dress and act in polite and modest ways. What?! Did I just say that—how old-fashioned! Lots of women in the towns and villages of El Salvador wear long, colourful skirts or dresses, and it looks so pretty. But something we’ve noticed, in the more modern parts of El Salvador—like the big fancy malls—is how women dress (or the lack of clothing). And my girls notice it too—“Mommy, that lady’s dress looked like it was WAY too small for her!” Or, “She was only wearing a bathing suit top.” Don’t get me wrong, they never say this if we’re down at the beach!
I have to agree with my kids—unfortunately dressing this way is often seen by modern women as “empowerment”…but I’d rather teach them an old-school view of modesty.
Our girls are learning reading, writing, and arithmetic in school. And some science, history, and geography too. But they sure don’t need all the “extras” that Canadian schools are throwing at kids these days—critical race theory, and “sexual orientation and gender identity” classes. No thank-you! The Ingalls girls didn’t learn that stuff and they had solid core values and morals. Let’s leave all the unnecessary and harmful things out of our schools. In the meantime, we’ll continue to homeschool.
I’m so thankful for some aspects of modern medicine—like antibiotics and complex surgeries—which would likely have saved a LOT of lives back in the early days of the settlers. But sometimes people go to the pill cupboard or the doctor a bit too quickly. I’ve been guilty of this in the past. Now I’m using wholistic and natural remedies as often as possible. This includes taking papaya seeds if we have a “tummy bug” instead of the highly toxic anti-parasite pills. And avoiding sugar—which often causes inflammation—using honey instead, and taking extra ginger, garlic, citrus fruit, and oil of oregano if we’re a bit sick with a sore throat or a stuffy nose. We use some baking soda in water if we feel a little queasy or have a tummy ache. Instead of loading up on ibuprofen when I have back pain, I heat up my rice bag for my sore muscles, and do some helpful stretches. You get the idea ☺️
Also, we’ve been hearing great things about the benefits of sunshine for our health.
We’ve learned that processed seed oils in our diet cause sun burn. And avoiding blue light is so important, especially in the evenings. Back in the day, they just ate wholesome, natural, toxin-free foods without even having to think about the alternative, and spent LOTS of time in the sun. We started spending much more time outside since we moved up to this cooler climate, and my phone is almost constantly on “night shift mode” now that I figured out how to dim it. And we use red lights or candles—they used oil lamps—before sunrise and for the last 1-2 hours of the day now. Our circadian rhythms can so easily be messed up by LED lights or bright screens, and cause sleep issues and lots of other health problems. All this is new information I wish I’d known years ago!
I’m sure I could go on…but I’ll stop for now!
In other news, we took 3 pups and a cat to get fixed a couple weeks ago. I know, I know…I’m always talking about the animals we’re helping—BUT, it’s a big part of our lives, so bear with me for a moment! Two of the puppies—Semita and Chele (“chelay”), are from Canela—the dog I wrote about in my last post—so we offered to take them for our new friends.
Through some connections, I found a vet, Nancy, at Peludos Veterinaria, in the city who was happy to help us out for MUCH cheaper than most. She gave us a discount because we’re helping strays, etc, and she has a mission to do the same.
What an adventure, having 2 rambunctious puppies in a crate for a few days! Our girls wanted to adopt these cuties.
When we returned them back to their home, I had to practice my Spanish, explaining to the family how to give the antibiotics with some wet food each day, and asking them when they might want to get their young female cat fixed too. There seemed to be a bit of a disagreement amongst the family members as to whether or not they should let her have kittens. I have a feeling it will be shortly after she has her first litter.
We also took Starlight, a sweet, spirited female we’ve been caring for, who is about a year old. She did great.
And we also brought our little orange, purry Pumpkin. We’d thought our baby kitten was about 4-6 months old, but the vet said it’s a good thing we brought her now, because based on her teeth, she’s 7-8 months old. She’s probably small due to malnutrition, having started out her life on the streets. We sure love her!
I’m sorry to have more bad news for those of you who cried over my last post…since I started writing this, she’s been missing for over a week, so we’re all feeling a huge loss right now! 😢
Maybe because she had no fear of dogs—and there are a few aggressive ones around here—or because she’s so friendly, someone else may have adopted her…but we’re still holding onto hope that she’ll come back! 🙏
Speaking of loss, last week, one of our gate guards, Abél, was killed in a motorcycle accident, just 5 minutes away from here. We’d just said hola to him a couple days before. So incredibly tragic for his family and this community, and such a reminder of how short life is! The families in our little gated community sent care packages and cards to comfort his family in their time of incomprehensible loss.
I know this post was a bit of a mish-mash of topics…and random ideas. It feels like life is a little crazy these days. But every once in awhile we get some time to relax, regroup, and think about our hopes and dreams…and what our purpose for being here is. I truly believe that if we help “the least of these,” showing compassion to fellow humans and God’s creatures, we’re fulfilling our God-given purpose. And so, even though it can be so discouraging when there’s sickness or loss, we continue to take risks and help the ones we can!
And like Ma, Pa, Mary, Laura, Carrie, and Grace, our lives are part of a big adventure, with something new to discover around each turn.
And there is always a story—good, bad, or crazy—to be told!
💗💗💗💗💗💗💗
¡Gracias por leer, amigos! 😊
Thanks for reading, friends!
Happy Easter everyone! 🌺
¡Feliz Semana Santa a todos! ✨
Prayers for Abel's family. I lost a new friend to a motorcycle accident 2 years ago. I also pray for whoever else was involved. Happy Easter.
So sad about Abél. Hits home for me, riding a motorcycle. Yes they are dangerous. Though many things are.. Especially in El Salvador there is no room to lose focus. Expect the unexpected.