Ok I decided it would be easier to just do one entry to cover the events of the long weekend. On Friday night Joaquin revealed to us what I considered to be a little piece of home only a short (yet violently jerky of course) 10 min bus ride away. Picture the Westechester Mall (it even has a ZARA)...in El Salvador..now add a movie theatre and a bunch of American restaraunts. This place (the name escapes me right now) has a Bennigans, Benihana, Chili's, even an Irish pub!- best of all I don't have to give up my sushi addiction! (granted the spicy tuna rolls here do not compare to my beloved Haiku, but its enough to get me through) Even though its obviously a little more expensive- it's nice to know there is a place to go when I'm missing the comforts of home....trying to restrain myself from shopping may be the hardest part.



On to Saturday- DEFINITELY my favorite experience so far! Joaquin woke us up early and said he was going to someplace called "Comasagua" to do a project for school and to come because it was "really beautiful" - I was up and bored so I figured, why not. SO GLAD I did. His dad drove us in the pick-up, through the mountains till we were looking down on all of Santa Tecla. I think this is the first time I was actually awestruck by a view. Then we stopped at this little restaurant. The owner is orginally from El Salvador, went to NY for school and then lived in Switzerland for 3 years- he came back to make this adorable home/ restaurant that has kind of a log cabin feel with beautiful gardens all over-lookting the same breathtaking view. It was a clear sunny morning that day and I was in heeaaavan. They are right near the coffee plantations so he offered me fresh capuccino...okay, we all know I don't even like coffee, but this was delicious! After our our stop there we went on to the town. The highlight for me there would probably be vendors that had tables lined with rows and rows of homemade candy :) Joaquin bought me a bunch to try. Then on the way back we got to ride standing up in the back of the pick-up! Saturday night Vicki and I decided to be independant and go on our own to a play that was nearby...we figured we could catch the gist of it- WRONG. It was a one act play called "La Secreta Mas Terrible" and we still have no idea what the terrible secret was...all i know is this guy seems to go crazy holding a chair over his head, putting raw meat over his face to represent blood and in the end keeps yelling what I think was "preguntas nunca!!!" questions never? We'll never know...



That brings me to Sunday...Joaquin is in school for Marketing/Tourism and his class was taking a trip to see some of the Mayan ruins. We went with the class on the tour bus (watching He's Just Not That Into You with spanish subtitles). It was cool to see the ruins- the class went on a tour that Vicki and I started with, but I couldn't catch a wooorrrd of what he was saying, and Vicki made the diagnosis that he was an alcoholic sooo we decided to just go explore on our own. We also visited another site called Casa Blanca- my favorite part here (I'm not so much the history type into seeinng the grass mounds that used to be structures) is that they had a room where they took a blue dye that comes from 2 plants indigenous to El Salvdor and make these beauiful tye-dye designs on shirts, bags. dresses etc. It was really cool to see the process and I of course had to get a souvenir tee! After our cultural lesson we went to Joaquin's friend's house for a typical El Salvadorian lunch. He had been talking it up a lot-so I was psyched...until I saw what came out first. I'm not even going to attempt to spell it, but the appetizer reminded me of of jerky, only its pork- the really fatty part, that is then fried (I felt my arteries clogging just looking at it) I didn't want to be rude since we were guest, so I managed to get down one piece...but Vicki and I were honest and said we weren't fans- they all just laughed. Main course: this soup that basically has a chicken carcass floating in it (later found out it was a rooster) along with some vegetables and these little pieces that resembled hot dogs. I don't even eat hot dogs in the US so there was no way I was eating that here. It was definitely a new culinary experience.



Monday we kind of layed low and Tuesday was Le Dia De Independencia! We woke up early to walk to the parade in Santa Tecla. Pretty much every school in the city marches...some were really great- nice bands, cute costumes....others...I don't really know how to react. Example: 3 girls carry a sign reading "Las Diosas de la Fantasia" aka Goddesses of Fantasy- behind them follow about 5 girls each in a different revealing get-up (pretty much glorfied bras and half see-through skirts). To Joaquin I ask "And they are representing their school like that???" ...seemed kind of crazy to me. Anyway - during the parade the other volunteers who normally live on the island came! Joaquin rented us a "micro-bus" to take us to the beach. This one was not at all like the beach on the island. El Salvador is known for some of the best surfing around- the waves definitely lived up to that. There was also this huuge jagged rock structure maybe 50 ft high that some crazees were jumping off into the rocks/waves below. You had to fight the boulders covering the black sand(black because of previous volcanoes), and the water seems uncommonly warm for the pacific, but it was still nice to enjoy some time out in the sun. After the beach we decided to stop in Comasagua so everyone else could see the amazing view at sunset! MAJOR dissapointment- it was soo crowded, we were all in half wet clothes shivering since its much cooler in the mountains, a fog had come in so you could barely see next to you, and perhaps worst of alll while we waited about 30 min for the check the owner sat playing his guitar butchering classic soft rock such as "Leaving on a Jet Plane" and "Hotel California." Its funny how different an expereince you can have at the same place at different times. After that we came home and hit up "Taco Loco" for some cheap eats and then went to bed shortly after. The islanders were exahsusted since they had had to wake up at 3:30 am to travel. Now time to go enjoy the last day of vacation before back to school tomorrow!