A quick look at El Salvador

As usual a quick “fly through” plan of seeing El Salvador has turned into a month long all out head first dive into an amazing culture and people that is still incredibly too short. It doesn’t seem possible that each day, complete with a new experience, could be a slight bit better than the untoppable previous experience, but that is what we keep seeming to find. Unfortunately though, while many events of the past month have inspired us in ways we never thought possible, that little spot somewhere deep in the brain that controls the blog inspiration of witty anecdotes and exaggerated stories has not been tapped. So that being said, I am going to try to explain this last month in El Salvador through a technical bulleted list (not quite as exciting) that can be expanded on in the future or in the least, verbally exaggerated over a couple of cocktails once prompted. So here is El Salvador:

• A crazy boarder crossing followed by a 8 hour chicken bus ride and hitchhiking that brought us to the small pueblo, Jauaya.
• A lapping up of new smells and tastes as we tried everything we could at a food festival that had us asking “do you think this could be heaven?” Then highlights were trying conejo (rabbit) and rana (frog).
• A beautiful hostel (Anahuac) that was the perfect first look at a country that prides itself on its art.
• Hikes to four gorgeous waterfalls.
• A trip through La Routa de Las Flores, complete with beautiful crater lake hikes, inspiring artistic villages, great hitchhiking, tasty new food, and crazy trees to climb.
• After being picked up hitchhiking, being invited in to a local’s home and sharing cookies and coffee and a great conversation.
• Great hospitality and a great stay in a tiny village with Marcus, a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) / Couch Surfer (CSer) that opened us up to the PCV network we got to tap into from then on.
• A epic day of hiking, rain, floods, and waterfalls (including crossing a raging river clinging onto cables that stretched above from bank to bank)
• Our first of many tastes of the local pupusas (El Salvador’s national dish, corn tortillas filled with beans and cheese, topped with pickled cabbage and salsa, or some version thereof- delicious!).
• Playing softball with the local women (pretty funny)
• Another great stay at a PCVs house on the southern coast, Barra de Santiago. Thanks Meredith!
• Children giving us candy and attempting to give Brooke their earrings (unparalleled generosity)
• More pupusas
• Spent a late night searching for turtles nesting and FOUND ONE! A meter long green sea turtle (an endangered species) that laid 110 eggs, some right in our hands.
• A backdoor, wonderful hike in Parque National el Impossible lead by local PCVs, jumping off waterfalls and incredible scenery including an ancient cieba tree it would have taken 8 people to ring around it.
• An eighty-four year old man (local) making us (tourist) take 75 cents for bus fare instead of walking.
• Staying with PCVs / CSers, Wendell and Chad in La Hachadura
• More pupusas
• Being hosted by a local CSer, Jose, and his family in San Salvador.
• More pupusas
• Walking around the crazy markets of San Sal, going to museums and enjoying the city.
• Independence Day Party with Jose and friends, not the most traditional food as we bbq’d burgers, but they were delicious!
• Latisha’s generosity. Another great CS experience.
• Playa del Tunco, with an unexpected meeting of an old friend from Guatemala, fantastic lightning storm, surfing.
• Being hosted by another great PCV / CSer, Brian, in his pueblo Jocoro.
• More pupusas
• Beautiful Perquin and PCV Linsey
• More Pupusas
• An awesome hike in San Fernando to a huge waterfall with Brady, including illegally crossing into Honduras, Zelaya style, but all we had to do was hop back across the river to be back in El Salvador.
• Informative yet heart wrenching tours of museums and battle grounds of the mostly heavily affected area of the Salvadoran Civil War.
• The start of another GROW Initiative project – this one starting an Environmental Education Program and teaching English to adorable Salvadoran children at Amun Shea in Perquin. Check out www.GROWInitiative.org this week for more on the projects
• Incredible views, meals, and people, compliments of Ron and the Perkin Lenka Hotel, the founder and main supporter of the Amun Shea School. Thank you once again Ron!
• Teaching about the environment, purchasing recycling receptacles.
• Cooking with the staff at the Hotel Lenka
• More pupusas
• Field trips to the dump to see first hand recycling and composting (over 70 children in all)
• Teaching about and starting a composting program
• Lots and lots of hugs from the children
• A good project finished
• Sad goodbyes

So that was our time in El Salvador in a nutshell- too small of a nutshell to do it any justice, each one could have its own blog! But we’re in Nicaragua now and there’s more to see and do and you have to have priorities in life. As always, the pictures tell it better than we can so check them out!