El Salvador after two years

It's been two years since I was last in El Salvador, but it feels like yesterday.  Strangely, it still feels like home, much more than Baltimore does. This is where family and friends are. This is where I can be at the beach in thirty minutes or at the mountains in another thirty.  There are many things that I haven't missed, like the crazy traffic, horrible drivers, long work days, lines at the bank, and San Salvador in general, but there is so much more to it than that. 

My husband and I came for two weeks of vacation and a wedding, then I stayed on for another week of work and the National Conference for Teachers of English at CCSA. The vacations were much-needed and the work left me with a deep feeling of gratitude for the job I have in Baltimore and the fabulous people and students I have the pleasure of seeing everyday.  It was satisfying to see the research that I helped begin two years ago finished and presented as a final product, and reminded me that I need to make some sacrifices this year to get my doctorate on a role. 

Today I head back to Baltimore, happy to have come back to El Salvador, and with the certainty that it will continue to be home for a long time to come. 

Apodos nuevos

Cuando mi esposo habla con sus amigos, siempre me llama "la Chele."  Tengo otros amigos quienes me dicen "Chelita" (also my name in SL).  Como siempre estamos escuchando al programa de La Choly, ahora tengo unos apodos más.  

Sueño eterno, debido a mi gran don de poder dormir dónde y cuándo sea en cuestión de segundos.  I love it!

Patas de yuca es lo que tengo después de un largo invierno en Maryland.  Como dicen, ¡necesito asolearme las yucas!

The 10 Best of 2010

Peru & El Salvador, Summer of Conferences

After almost a year of living in the US again and 10 months since I had traveled out of the country, it's time to leave again.  I'll be headed to Peru in June to serve as an English Language Specialist and to present at various conferences.  Even though I won't get to play tourist this time like I wanted, I'll have time to explore Lima, as well as Tacna and Iquitos, with a little Amazon trip planned on the side.  Then again, in July, I'll be headed back to San Salvador for a month to present the BNC's biannual conference and to help write up some research.  I can't wait to be back in Latin America!

Salvadoreñisimos with Don Wicho

 My husband made me read through this email quiz on salvadoreñisimos I don't know how many times, but erased all of his copies of it by the time this was on La Choly's program on February 18 (http://www.miradio.com.sv/wfProgramaLista.aspx?radio=4&codigo=14).  I just got it back, so here it is: the Salvadoran nationality test. 

1.COMPLETE LAS SIGUIENTES FRASES:

Saludemos la patria orgullosos __________________________

¿Mató tunco tu tata? __________________________
Sana sana ___________________________
Chinchilete ___________________________
Ponponte Niña Ponponte______________________
Zapatito Cochinito_______________________
Piedra, Papel_______________________

2.TRADUZCA AL ESPAÑOL UNIVERSAL LA SIGUIENTE FRASE:

A un cipote peche y chele, un tetunte lo apachó._________________________

3.TRADUZCA AL ESPAÑOL UNIVERSAL LAS SIGUIENTES PALABRAS:

Chucho_____________________
Cincho_______________________
Ataché_______________________
Chingaste______________________
Chambre_______________________
Paila__________________________
Pisto__________________________
Bolo_________________________
Careto(a)______________________
Chiliyo_______________________
Jeta_________________________
Cabal_______________________
Híjole_______________________
Chichipate____________________
Cholero______________________
Utual________________________

4.EXPLIQUE LAS SIGUIENTES FRASES:

Le estan dando atol con el dedo________________________________
Pegue una gran guinda______________________________________
Le gusta el arroz con tunco___________________________________
Es de mecha corta________________________________________
Esta comiendo frito_______________________________________
les tan dando en la nuca___________________________________
Nació mordido por la luna___________________________________

5.Explique la diferencia entre un tamal de sal, y un tamal de azucar.

6.Detalle los tres tipos de nuegados que existen.

7. Cual es el “poder medicinal” de la sopa de patas

8.Que se come con chicharron o merienda?

9.Que se come con curtido o salsa?

10.Que calle de San Salvador tiene dos numeros al mismo tiempo

11 Que otro nombre recibe el area de sol, del estadio Cuscatlán 

12.Cual es el procer de nuestra independencia, mas narizon 

13.”Quien no ama el lugar, la tierra natal, y donde ha nacido…” es la canción de un comercial de gaseosa, nombre esa gaseosa

14. Que personaje de la vida cotidiana decía ya se va papito…salu pues

15. Quien es la PIPIRIPAU

16. Según la canción, quienes bailan el  CANCHIS CANCHIS

17.Escriba el coro de la cancion "El sapito" de grupo "Bongo"

18. En que programa habia una seccion llamada “NI SI NI NO, NI BLANCO NI NEGRO”

19.De donde vienen las pupusas de Arroz?

20. Que quiere decir la expresión “Tumblinblin”

21. De que color eran, los siguentes billetes antes de la dolarización:
Un colon______________________
Dos Colones_____________________
Cinco colones____________________
Diez colones_____________________
Veinticinco colones_________________
Cincuenta colones__________________
Doscientos colones_________________

22. DE QUE GRUPO O ARTISTA SALVADOREÑOS SON LAS SIGUIENTES CANCIONES:

-El Cipitío______________________
-Las Pupusas______________________
-Con Zapatos de Tacón______________________
-Mi País__________________
-Patria Querida__________________
-Zangolote____________________
-Moviendo el Atol de Elote________________
-Pájaro Picón _____________________
-Bolo y Solo__________________
-Hacer Nuestro El Universo_________________________

23. LOS JUANETES ES UN MAL DE:
-Las Manos
-Los Pies
-Las Orejas
-La Espalda

24. EL BIENTEVEO ES UN MAL DE:
-Los Ojos
-La Piel
-Las Uñas
-Los Párpados

25. EL PISPELO ES UN MAL DE:
-El Ombligo
-Los Calcañales
-Los Ojos
-El Hígado

The Aftermath of Ida

I got these pictures from I don't know how many emails sent by my husband and friends in El Salvador.  It kills me to know all of these places, have friends that are there, family that's not been heard from in a couple of days, and know that there's nothing I can do except send money. 

 

 

 

 

San Sal Quick Trip

Taking a break from interviews and filling out job applications, I decided at the last minute to go to El Salvador to visit with my husband and bring back my cat. Unfortunately the tickets weren't as cheap as they were the first time I looked, but Continental was recommended for pet travel anyways.  Five days wasn't enough, but at least it was five days where I felt like I was at home again.  Ohio still feels foreign to me after a month back.  We spent the majority of the time running around to get papers for the cat (which by the way, no one ever checked in any of the airports), seeing friends, watching soccer games, and just enjoying being together.  No news on Edwin's visa yet; it's apparently still "in the mail." We made it out to the beach on Sunday, which was empty since vacations had just ended. 

 

Why do I feel at home in San Salvador, I wonder? I haven't lived there for a year, and still am not fond of its violence and crazy drivers, but how can you not love a place where you see guys on the corner holding large venomous caterpillars? Where the menu is painted on the wall and includes rabbit, iguana, armadillo, and turtle eggs? I love having the Pacific a half hour drive away, and same for mountains.  I love the comfort food (sorbete, plantains, pupusas, beans, and such) even though I gained about a pound a day that I'll now have to run back off. I've been offered a job there, and am tempted, but I'm holding out for the US. What's meant to happen will happen, I suppose. El Salvador has so many problems that even though I want to be with my husband, I also want to be safe and finacially sound, and he agrees. 

I'm also happy to note that there are still lots of nice people in airports, contrary to my previous international travel experiences.  The cat's kennel/bag lost a zipper at the first security checkpoint in San Salvador when I had to take him out. A nice couple gave me all their safety pins and luggage locks, and helped me punch holes in the bag to try to keep it closed.  This got me back to the gate, where a very nice police officer pulled out his leatherman and tried to fix the zipper, along with another airport employee.  This didn't end up working, so he went and found someone from Continental to help.  The Continental guy and a lady from the duty free shop next to the gate punched more holes in the bag and then laced packing tape through it. Thank you, friendly airport people!  In Houston, other travelers helped me get the cat out and through security, thank you all, too!  It's nice to be proven wrong about grumpy people in airports, and I had more enjoyable conversations in one day than I've had in the past four years traveling thanks to one pretty black and white Salvadoran cat (who was adopted from http://www.aranielsalvador.org/).

Casa de Alejandro Cotto

Don Alejandro Cotto recently donated his house and museum in Suchitoto to CCSA (the institution I worked at for two years in the English Language Fellow Program). The structure needs a lot of physical work to bring it up-to-par, and CCSA doesn't have the resources to handle it on their own. Does anyone know where funding for such repairs can be found? One of my friends was asking me to see what I could find out, but that's certainly not my realm of expertise. Alejandro Cotto is well-known in Suchitoto and in El Salvador for supporting the arts and preserving the past of Suchitoto, as well as putting it on the map for tourists.



Here's the story, plus video, posted in El Diario de Hoy
http://www.elsalvador.com/mwedh/nota/nota_completa.asp?idCat=8615&idArt=3862723

and another article written about Don Cotto's house in La Prensa Grafica
http://www.laprensagrafica.net/reportero/nota.php?idcont=1771

Although Suchitoto is admittedly not one of my favorite places to visit in El Salvador unless it's after dark (think killer sun and not much breeze), this is an extremely important project for the town and for El Salvador.

Yensy's Stuff

Love what I can find through tweets...check out my friend Yeny's jewelry. 

http://e-commercesa.blogspot.com/

Real academia de lengua guanaca

Learn "spanish" with la abuela.  The paisas got a kick out of all the crazy things my husband says. 

Playa El Pimental

Hundreds of sand dollars at Playa Pimental.

Barra de Santiago

Barra de Santiago was a quick stop on the way back from Safari Chapin.  If the hotel had taken credit cards, we would have stayed.  Ni well. 

Traffic Rant

Just now, on our way back to Edwin's house in Soyapango, we saw yet another pedestrian hit by a car.  It was on the other side of the boulevard, right in front of Plaza Mundo and the Hiper.  Ironic, because there was not only one, but two pedestrian bridges right above this guy.  The traffic is always, always horrible at this spot, but yet people are still don't use the bridges.  They'd rather take their chances with the traffic.  And the worst of it is that the person driving the car who hit him is at fault here.  They'll most likely go to jail, as that's what the law stipulates.  Although I don't know exactly how it happened, I'll bet they didn't even see him.  It's dark, there's tons of buses right there.  The guy wasn't exactly dressed in light colors you could see. 

That's the law that scares me the most here.  If some drunken fool walks out into the highway in front of me while I'm driving, it's my fault.  If some lady climbs over the cement barrier dividing in the road and falls in front of me, it's my fault.  I've never seen this many accidents in my life--pedestrians, drunk drivers, going way too fast.  Awesome.

Pólvora, Cuetes, Cuetillos...Nasty

At 10:30 am on Wednesday, December 24, the Ministry of Social Protection (of Health, I suppose) in Colombia, had registered 186 cases on burns from fireworks.  111 of these were children, 75 were adults, and 3 died (http://www.minproteccionsocial.gov.co/VBeContent/NewsDetail.asp?ID=18170&IDCompany=3).  The sale of pólvora is outlawed, apparently.  I was watching the news one morning in Manizales, and there was a story about parents who had allowed there children to set off firecrackers and such in the street unattended.  The police caught them in the act, and the parents now have to do community service, along with having their faces smeared all over the news (a big deal in a small town, I imagine). 

Too bad they don't do the same in San Salvador.  In my post from last Christmas, you can see the sky the morning after New Year's Eve.  Disgusting.  And Christmas Eve is no better.  I understand why people like fireworks, but to have every one set off firecrackers, bottle rockets, etc for a whole evening is just too much. Sorry, they're not for children, especially not unattended children, and even less for drunken adults. Yes, it's a tradition here, but it was in Manizales, too.  They got over it.  There's a to-buy-or-not-to buy article in Tuesday's La Prensa Grafica, and one about what our lungs would ask for for Christmas (we know it's not cuetes for sure).  I myself will be hiding inside someplace, wishing the sky were gray because of snow and not pollution from pólvora (can you imagine how many firecrackers and snakes one would have to set off to make the sky still gray the next morning??).

More Wedding Pics

The Wedding

I'll add more pictures as I can. Despite my serious doubts, the wedding turned out great. We had the live music (Tierra Caliente), it wasn't high tide (although I seriously believe that the hotel should acquire tide charts), and I could pay with my credit card (instead of carrying a very large wad of bills with me to the beach). The sunset was perfect, the flowers, even the crazy sealife cake...wow....and soooo much cheaper than home! I now have a small fortune in makeup that I don't know how to use/am too lazy too use, but thanks Quyen, I looked awesome! I learned my lesson about inviting people though. They may say yes, but change their minds at the last minute, or simply just not tell you. Hmmm. Oh well.



I needed a break from chilly, rainy Manizales, and this was just the ticket. I only wish that I'd had longer than two weeks, but work calls!

Operation Canadian Santa

Check out what Santa's doing this year at http://operationcanadiansanta.blogspot.com/

Christmas 2007

From Christmas with Centro Cultural Salvadoreño Americano

My Friends Paterna and Anona

More fruits that I'll miss from El Salvador, anona and paterna.

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.

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.