Tarantula Pinata Waterfall

Kelly with a neighborhood family



Our host brother (eyes closed) with friends



Our first tarantula



It was big. Now it is dead. Our host brother´s friend stomped it to death.



At la Fiesta de las Familias. Eeyore´s name here is Igor.



La Fiesta de las Familias.



Our host family´s nephew with a pinata before its utter destruction at the hands of other bat-wielding host family nephews.



Our volcano hike was canceled, so we joined a friend on a trip to this local waterpark. However, there was a special event with thumping music and a pupusa-making contest. Not the tranquil daytrip we expected.


Random Observations
Just about all the buses are decorated in the same fashion. There are stickers and posters of either Jesus or Che Guevara both inside and outside the bus. There are definitely stickers and posters of both Tweety Bird (Piolín) and Winnie the Pooh (Winnie Pooh). Many buses are former U.S. school buses.

Roosters crow all day long. Cartoons and songs during our childhood led us to believe that roosters crow in the morning. Serious disillusionment.

Soup is a popular breakfast item. We eat corn flakes with hot milk. Eggs and bananas are common dinner items. In fact, the staples of the diet in El Salvador are tortillas, eggs, beans, rice, bananas. We eat delicious avocados. Pupusas are El Salvador’s most famous dish. They’re similar to tortillas, but filled with cheese and/or beans and sometimes vegetables called ayote and lorroco. We hear there are other varieties.

A small bag of chips only costs 10 cents, but it costs 60 cents to print one photograph at la tienda Kodak. El Salvador’s currency has been the dollar since the early 2000s. Dollarization has been controversial due to sharp price increases. Many folks also speak ill of the somewhat newly-formed CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement).

“Lady in Red”, “Nothing Compares to U”, and “Total Eclipse of the Heart” are among the most popular English songs here.

There are several movies about El Salvador’s Civil War (officially 1980-1992, but things had been really bad for years before), notably “Voces Inocentes” (Innocent Voices) and “Romero” (about the archbishop who spoke out against the military dictatorship until his assassination). They were filmed in Mexico. “Romero” was filmed in English and dubbed by actors from Spain (the difference in accents is significant).

People greet most everyone they see here. Neighbors know one another. These are definitely some of the most endearing aspects of life here.

There are many gestures that take the place of words. People often indicate a direction not with their fingers, but by pursing their lips toward something. To get someone’s attention, you go “Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch” (sounds like the jingle for Chia Pets, minus the –ia sound). It is common to state the obvious. When people are just standing around, you say, “Paseando?” (Just hanging out, huh?). So when people are washing their clothes, you say, “Oh? So you’re washing your clothes?” Et cetera.

The mythology here (mostly scary stories) is fascinating. There is El Cadejo, the wolf-like creature whose eyes shine like embers as she pursues folks who are out after dark. There is Padre Sin Cabeza (the Headless Priest). The Carretera Bruja: a cart that passes by at night with skulls on stakes. However, by far the most popular stories are those of La Ciguanaba and El Cipitillo. La Ciguanaba appears to men (who may have been drinking) as a beautiful woman. Oftentimes, the man will allow her to ride behind him on his horse. La Ciguanaba will then transform into a hideous woman with a terrifying face and breasts that sag down to her waist. The man flees for his life and returns home with a tremendous fever. Sometimes he goes insane. The father of our host father has such a tale from his younger days. Cipitillo is the son of La Ciguanaba. He is basically an uneducated hick. He eats ashes and bananas. His belly bulges out from malnutrition. He wears a gigantic sombrero. His feet are reversed. He is funny—not scary.

Real Madrid and FC Barcelona are the most popular fútbol teams.

Sunday nights there is a popular four-hour long Mexican program on tv called “La Academia”. It is similar to “American Idol”, but with several twists. At the beginning of each show, each contestant needs to write the name of the contestant that (s)he thinks should be kicked off and give reasons why in front of everyone (including that person). Though that may seem cruel, it is nothing compared to El Salvador’s “Cantando por Un Sueño” (Singing for a Dream). Each contestant has a friend or relative with a dream. For instance, someone needs a life-saving operation (s)he can’t afford. Someone else’s house still hasn’t been rebuilt from a hurricane. Only the winner of the contest wins the dream for their friend. Muchos sueños rotos.