one dollar pupusas and a mental bus ride

san salvador
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sunday dawned and i decided i HAD to do something! due to my alejandro being busy, and me not being allowed out on my own (a major disadvantage), i was going a bit nuts at the thought of being indoors in such an amazing place. so i called yasser and he came with a friend from norway who had been living here for a while, and we drove up san salvador volcano to admire the views, eat pupusas with loroco (a kind of edible flower and very delicious), one dollar each i might add (city pupusas cost about 35 cents each), but it was worth it for the view across el salvador right to honduras, till the clouds gather, as they do every night in rainy season, and we watched a lightning storm going on over the top of another volcano. despite the fact it thundered and lightninged every night in san salvador, it never failed to impress me every single time. it sounds cheesy but nature is a truly bloody powerful force, and it's quite humbling to see! after the sun set we went to el atrio, probably my favourite bar, and watched a film, and then nextdoor to les tres diables (or los tres diablos depending on which language you want to speak!) to drink mojitos (YUM!) and then back to the house to watch a film and go to sleep.

arrrg!
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monday, this was one of my favourite days in san salvador and i'm smiling my head off remembering now.

i caught a bus into just near el centro with jandro, we went to look around a church nearby, and then had a few beers in a bar nearby, complete with 'bocas', little pieces of cheese or chicken you get with your beer, a salvadorian equivalent of a bowl of peanuts on the bar, except hopefully this was slightly more hygienic! after a few beers, and feeling very merry, we went on a walk down the main street into the centre. what an absolutely crazy, and amazing place! el centro is not the prettiest place when you're looking straight ahead, but if you can concentrate on walking and looking up at the same time you can see all these old, beautiful, crumbling buildings. this is dangerous though, you run the risk of being robbed, ran over, or stepping into a hole and breaking your legs. all along the street there are stalls selling copied cds and dvds, clothes, shoes, belts, sunglasses, hammocks, batteries, anything you can think of, and these stalls spill onto the streets, so vendors, buses, and pedestrians are all fighting for room down the street.

the view from cafe miranda
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nuts, but i loved it!

next we went into san salvador cathedral to watch a service, and had to get down on knees and pray out of respect, first time for everything eh? next to what yasser called a 'proper working class' bar. this place was the size of a small office, with a loudspeaker placed on the wall right next to where we were sat, and cranked up to full volume, after 2 beers we left with temporary deafness and ran for a bus as it was getting dark and dodgy. and hopped off near la uca and pizza nova, where we went for a huge pizza and jug of beer, and then hurried to catch the last bus back.

san salvador, and volcan chichontepec
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this is where i can explain about buses in san salvador! most are the kind you see in guatemala city, big, old US schoolbuses painted and adorned with allsorts, some with fantastically musical (but irritating) horns. there are also minibuses, a little more expensive, but get you to where you want to go quicker. the music (almost always full volume) as a bizarre mix of cumbia, salsa, old british dance music, techno, hip hop, and anything else the driver fancies. there's one guy who comes to collect your fare when you sit down and hangs onto the outside of the bus whistling for passengers to get on and off. this bus driver obviously decided he wanted to finish his shift as soon as possible. so the moment we sat down on the back of the near empty bus, he slammed his foot down on the accelerator and we spent 5 minutes on a mini rollercoaster. going over speedbumps so fast i left the seat and went 4 feet into the air, legs and arms too, and was winded when i hit the seat again. we were both in hysterics and trying to hang onto each other as we went sliding towards open windows and onto the floor. fantastic fun. i was so dissapointed when we had to get off!

sadly i spent the next day on my own again, trying to book a flight home (some unknown force was stopping me doing it!). but the next night... time for some rum!!