The Initial Salvadorian Experioso

Well, I'm here. I arrived in San Salvador, capital of El Salvador, last night. It's been interesting from my first step on the ground. Even before then, actually. The plane was extremely turbulent, not up-and-down but side-to-side, like the pilot was drunk (quite possible). I looked out the window and realized those lights out there were about level with us, and no runway in sight. They never came by and told me we were landing, or to shut off all electronic devices, so I assumed it must be my iPod causing all the problems. I quickly shut it off and we landed safely.

Took a taxi to my guesthouse, Ximena's, which was difficult because I can't figure out the right way to pronounce X in Spanish. Nobody here speaks English, which isn't surprising, but even the staff at the international guesthouse seemed clueless. So my highschool Spanish, which invariably comes out mixed with Cantonese, is getting a healthy workout. I hadn't eaten so even though I'm told it's death to go out after dark here my hunger overwhelmed my caution and out into the wild I went. It was oddly quiet - too quiet - except for the occasional rifle-wielding guard. About the time a bum started trying to stop me by blocking my path I found a restaurant and ducked inside. Steak and fries - 5 bucks! I can say bucks because they use US dollars here. They also mix salsa with ketchup, which sounds odd but is quite good. I had intended to get right back before it got too late and really dangerous, but various young people kept approaching me so that they could practice English. I talked to a surfer, then a guy who had brought his dog and liked putting it on the table. He gave me a high-5 every five seconds. I am not exaggerating. Finally he fell out of his chair so I began talking to three other people, who offered me a ride home and thus probably saved my life.

San Salvador is much more friendly in the daylight. It's laid-back with a lot of trees, and there are giant hills and volcanoes surrounding the city. The people here are extraordinarily friendly. Case in point - my Uncle John arrived today (this trip was his idea originally) and wanted to go to church. So we looked up an address, took a taxi, and got left in the outskirts of town at somebody's house. They just happened to speak English and were leaving for church themselves, and offered us a ride. Once there we conveniently realized how tired we were and left to go take a nap. It only took a few hours of wandering, as we had no idea where we were. Gave us plenty of time to see the beautiful shanty-towns and myriad polluted rivers of the city. We stopped for a lunch of local exotic cuisine, pretty much an El Salvadorian version of KFC. The food is just as expensive as in the US, only here you get a waiter! Then I realized that for the comparatively imoverished El Salvadorians expensive fast-food like this must be for special ocasions only, hence the fine-dining atmosphere. We didn't tip though because, come on, it's still fast food. Now we're safely back and enjoying my favorite local tradition: the siesta.