Final Time in El Salvador

So I've been a little behind updating this- we've had a few internet problems, but hopefully all is fixed now. As my title conveys, the time here in El Salvador is winding down...only 4 more days till Vicki and I head out on our travels to Guatemala & Belize. The last couple weeks have been relatively calm, but there are definitely a few events I'd like to share.

1) Thanksgiving: I'm going to be honest, I went into a little bit of a depression when I realized I would be missing thanksgiving (the turkey, mom's unbelievable stuffing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie...I'm getting hungry and sad just thinking about it again)... I missed helping my mom with the prep work (even the horrible cleaning out the turkey part- as I experienced for the first time last year), and taking breaks to go watch football with my dad. And OF COURSE, there's the night before...it hit me on Weds morning this would be the first time in 7 years I wouldn't be out with everyone (Clare thanks for picking up my call and it was so great to talk to you guys even if it was only a hot 5 min). Anyway, enough complaing....sinceVicki and I knew we couldn't even try and come close to getting a real thanksgiving dinner we decided to do something completely different- Chinese Food. Walter (another volunteer at the orphanage Vicki befriended) was nice enough to offer to take us out and celebrate. Now, if you recall from a much earlier blog I did NOT have a good history with chinese food here, and in fact, I vowed never to eat it again till I got home. However, I trusted Walter's taste in legetimate cuisine, so I agreed. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. At first I had to laugh because we always pass the chain "China Wok" on the bus, and I made a joke to Vicki thats where we were going to end up....fast fwd to Thursday and we roll up to none other than...yup-China Wok! As I said, it was surprisingly good- maybe with chains they have more quality standards of what goes into the food? I'm going to try not to over analyze that one. The main point is, while it was completely different, we still had a very nice dinner and I was "giving thanks" the chinese food exceeded my expectations! I know, i know, I should be thankful I am lucky enough to be able to even go out to dinner and have people to share it with.

2) Black Friday- this has nothing to do with shopping, but I wanted to group a few unrelated things that all happened on Friday. In the morning Vicki and I went to this educational awareness event for violence agasint women (okay it may sound random, but Vicki works teaching english at the city office for women and they were hosting and had invited her.) It was really great to see that an event like this was going on, especially given the extremely male chauvinistic culture that exists here. One item that I can't really rave about was the little theatrical performance we watched. (And to remind you, that would make it the 2nd bazaar performance Vicki and I have attended while here...you would think one would seem like a lot...I have definitely surpassed my personal quota haha.) Anyway, it was this realllly creepy modern-esque interpretive portrayal of sexual abuse in schools. Some of the highlights included a man in drag acting as the school principal, half-naked dolls hanging from jail bars, and "jesus" dancing around while holding a cloak pinned with pictures of a young girl.....I'm actually shocked I didn't have nightmares. On to the more uplifting part of the day. In the afternoon we went the orphanage as usual...only that day ended up being quite different. As we were talking with some of the girls in the main corridor a HUGE group of people in scrubs came walking through. They were clearly American so we stopped a couple of the guys and asked what was going on. Turns out (Kath I hope you're reading because I included this mainly for you) they were a group of volunteer dentists from the States. They had been here in El Salvador for the week doing volunteer cleanings, cavity removal, and wisdom teeth removal- apparently over 600 patients! They had come to hang out with the kids and brought some needed supplies (blankets, toys etc)...I also found it quite ironic that they brough 2 pinatas filled with candy....but hey, who am I to judge- the kids loved it of course and it was nice to have some americans to talk to!!! Friday night we were traveling to San Salvador to stay over at Walter's house because we were going to Carnival on Saturday (his house is on the way, and its a pretty long trip so it made more sense to go there so that we wouldn't have to wake up quite as early) I'm dragging on, but basically Walter had put together this awesome feast of typical eats- my personal fave being fried yuca- kind of like french fries, only served with more of a salsa...delicious.

3) Saturday- The Carnival in San Miguel: since Vicki and I arrived here we had been told about this carnival and how it was pretty much the biggest party in Central America. On Saturday morning we left Walter's house at 5:30 to make the trip to San Miguel. We arrived at around 10- and after the looong, hot bus ride we took a much needed nap. The real festivities didn't start till much later. After dinner (pupusas of course) we headed to one of the main sections to see the parade. I was honestly pretty impressed by all the floats. I still don't exactly get it, but most of them had a "queen" and various other things: advertisements, younger kids in costumes dancing, holiday paraphernalia...a common element was that they all threw candy which was pretty sweet (no pun intended.) The main attraction at the carnival besides the parade is the music. There were apparently about 40 bands who set up in various sections of the neighborhood playing all varieties of music (salsa, meringue, cumbia, rock) and everyone dances in the streets till all hours of the night. I'm glad I experienced it, but there were definitely parts I could have done without (such as being crushed in a massive crowd while trying to making it across the street and having to grip on to Vicki while Walter literally held my body and tried to push me through...not gonna lie...pretty scary....I thought I was going to die in a human stampede) It was an exhausting travel, but probably a good event to go out with.

Now & Beyond: I don't know how much I will be able to keep up with this when we start to travel...I will try to post if I can....otherwise, I will see you (or hopefully most of you.....if anyone actually reads this besides my mom) in less than 3 weeks!! In the meantime...I'll be dreaming of those Christmas cookies :)