The first half of today was pretty typical. We did our photo critique and had a lecture in the morning. But lunch today was pretty fantastic! We had a Salvadoran dish called pupusas from one of the many amazing local eateries in the neighborhood. These are a dish of thickly made tortillas stuffed with ground pork or beans, then topped with fermented cabbage and pico de gallo.
After we ate (more than) our fill, we headed out to our first assignments. Today, our students were tasked with covering specific stories in very challenging locations. Some were easy like the clinic, the print shop, and the tamale shop, while others were much harder. At one location, our students were meant to photograph a food giveaway program, while at another, students were to work in a local restaurant. At one point, the students had to deal with irate staff and surly patrons loudly voicing strong objections. We did, however, cover some wonderful programs like the community clinic, the print shop, and the tamale caterers. The people were super friendly, the locations were interesting, and the shots ended up being beautiful!
Last but not least, we shot our group photo today. It’s always amazing to see how close we’ve become after a few short days.