Saturday, August 30, 2008

What's in Erin's Suitcases

Changing apartments, cities, and continents is never fun, especially when you have to fit everything into more or less two 50 pound bags. I've been packing and travelling and repacking for about a month and a half now. Earlier this week I went back to Ohio for two days for the final switch of stuff, and am now in Bogota feeling like doing nothing but sleeping (sad because I love Bogota and because I'm not even motivated enough to go out and buy a new SIM card so I can call friends here). I left piles and piles of stuff in San Sal with Edwin and with Silvio that I'll try to retrieve later on, but not sure how. I'm not even sure how I'm going to get my bags to Manizales since the weight limit on national flights is much lower than international, but I don't think I'm allowed to take the bus anymore (or at least I can't tell anyone if I do). I can basically take me, my computer, and some clothes. Rest I guess will go courier since even my carryon is double the weight limit of 15 kilos.

I did go out yesterday to eat and shop with Jose...great day, didn't rain, and it was actually a little warm! I finally found the mandatory coat and scarf and had fun criticizing all of the boot styles the bogotanas are wearing (all with pants tucked inside or with leggings...felt like the eighties again). I also discovered that most of the music I had added to my ipod was mistakenly erased by Edwin. All of my salsa and merengue...gone for the next year since the cds are in Ohio. This makes me verrrrrrry sad. Time for San Andrecito I guess. I need to catch up on my Colombian movies, too. Just looking forward to Tuesday and Wednesday so I can unpack and get settled.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

More caliche

Continuing on with the words that start with "c" that may or may not exist anywhere other than El Salvador. Happy to say that this is not only problematic for me, but also for other Spanish speakers that are not from here.

cachudo
- devil
Deja de mencionar el cachudo.

chapudo- red-colored
Estas chapuda. (What people say to me after I go to the beach or really anywhere outside here)

chompipe- turkey (like Thanksgiving dinner)

chulunco
- too short (like pants)
Me queda chulunco.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

El Salvador Impresionante

Someone at work gave me this first video of El Salvador made by CORSATUR. It has some horribly cheesy moments that I thought were worth sharing. Why cheesy? It shows the airport...without people. 49 Av. Sur/Los Heroes...without cars, or people, or bus. Other major streets and places...with no one. Reminded me of the first Colombia es pasion videos that I saw


The second clip has some more cheese...two goofy chelitos.


Here's some other (better) short commercials from MiTur. I've actually acquired a lot of nice info from MiTur. I've gotten bags with nice up-to-date tourist info at two conferences now.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Fiestas agostinas

August 1-6 was vacation finally this year, after two years of missing San Sal's yearly celebrations. I think it's the first "real" vacation time I've spent here in El Salvador (as opposed to running away as quickly as I can to other countries). Here's what happened on my vacation:

1. Went to El Imposible for the second time and watched Edwin's family all be as afraid of insects as he is. Watched them kill these insects. Saw a 6 year old beat me back up the trail. Next time maybe we'll get to the 8 km path. You could see the coastline looking back down...Barra de Santiago, Costa Azul, etc. Beautiful. I was happy that the 2 hours on the stone road going up to the park didn't kill my car or the rental.

2.Went to the feria de consuma twice and ate all kinds of things that were definitely not good for me, but they sure tasted good. There were lots of nice indigo artesanias that were more than just simply tie-dyed (me wearing some in the last pic) at decent prices and now I know where to find some of the talleres.

3.Went to Joya de Ceren and San Andres with Maria Eugenia, Paulina, and Kevin. Saw corn preserved in volcanic ash. Note the building in the back of the first pic...that was the family's sauna (these were some short people).

4.On the same day went to El Boqueron and Puerta del Diablo with Edwin and Kevin.

5.Danced.

6.Reserved the place for the wedding and went there to try the food.

7. Attempted to pack up some of my apartment (again), which wasn't particularly successful (again).