On the Road towards a New Country...
0 Comments Posted by Alex Guerrero on Sunday, March 15, 2009 at 12:22 AM.
This morning, I was having an inexpensive but delicious breakfast ($0.50) in a very modest place. The "señora" cooked and prepared the meals for everybody, and when I went to pay, she smiled and asked for feedback. "It was delicious" I said, and she smiled in satisfaction.
Later that day, I was visiting the National Anthropological Museum. Lonely Planet praised the place so much, that I couldn't leave San Salvador without paying a visit to the institution. And the experience was quite rewarding, even if I was the ONLY visitor of the huge museum that day. It was a bizarre privilege.
After that, I sat in a Taiwanese veggie place for a quick lunch. I noticed that, like in San Francisco, there are huge Chinese communities in several Latin American countries in the Pacific: Peru, Ecuador or some Mexican cities come to my mind. It was also the case in San Salvador. Here, like in Madrid, the owner, who was having dinner with his family in one of the tables and didn't speak Spanish at all, said "Hola" with difficulties and he called the Salvadoran girl to take my order. Later, after a banana milkshake and some curry rice, I was ready to leave the country.
Once I was at bus station, the only available ticket to Tegucigalpa was first class. I bought it. The bus was just impressive. We had a huge sofa -not seat, a sofa- for us, a complimentary champagne glass and newspaper before the departure, and several ammenities in between. It was like the first class in a transatlantic flight. The waitress offered another lunch right after the departure. This was happening while we were driving by San Salvador outskirts, with all the slums, brick and concrete "houses", watermelon and coconut stands and children playing soccer in the streets. And dogs. Here, the left party electoral signs, even if more rudimentary (just paintings in walls), were more common than the conservative party's propaganda. Just the opposite to what happened in the affluent area were this upscale bus line departs from. It was a huge contrast, again the phantom of inequality, to see the things we, white skinned people, could enjoy inside that mobile bubble of luxury, crossing through a world of scarcity and needs. Again, that phantom everywhere.
Soon enough, we left behind San Salvador, and the green hills and coffee fields and volcanoes filled the scene. After two hours, El Salvador, its people and the future to be written tomorrow in the election day, were already behind. Thanks for everything, El Salvador. I am leaving richer than I came.
PS. After two flat wheels and more than 8 hours to cover 133 miles between both cities, I arrived to Tegucigalpa at 10pm. The hotel looks like an awesome colonial palace (6 rooms) overlooking the river, and the hills of Tegus, packed with lights and little houses, look like a Van Gogh starred night. Just impressive...
Later that day, I was visiting the National Anthropological Museum. Lonely Planet praised the place so much, that I couldn't leave San Salvador without paying a visit to the institution. And the experience was quite rewarding, even if I was the ONLY visitor of the huge museum that day. It was a bizarre privilege.
After that, I sat in a Taiwanese veggie place for a quick lunch. I noticed that, like in San Francisco, there are huge Chinese communities in several Latin American countries in the Pacific: Peru, Ecuador or some Mexican cities come to my mind. It was also the case in San Salvador. Here, like in Madrid, the owner, who was having dinner with his family in one of the tables and didn't speak Spanish at all, said "Hola" with difficulties and he called the Salvadoran girl to take my order. Later, after a banana milkshake and some curry rice, I was ready to leave the country.
Once I was at bus station, the only available ticket to Tegucigalpa was first class. I bought it. The bus was just impressive. We had a huge sofa -not seat, a sofa- for us, a complimentary champagne glass and newspaper before the departure, and several ammenities in between. It was like the first class in a transatlantic flight. The waitress offered another lunch right after the departure. This was happening while we were driving by San Salvador outskirts, with all the slums, brick and concrete "houses", watermelon and coconut stands and children playing soccer in the streets. And dogs. Here, the left party electoral signs, even if more rudimentary (just paintings in walls), were more common than the conservative party's propaganda. Just the opposite to what happened in the affluent area were this upscale bus line departs from. It was a huge contrast, again the phantom of inequality, to see the things we, white skinned people, could enjoy inside that mobile bubble of luxury, crossing through a world of scarcity and needs. Again, that phantom everywhere.
Soon enough, we left behind San Salvador, and the green hills and coffee fields and volcanoes filled the scene. After two hours, El Salvador, its people and the future to be written tomorrow in the election day, were already behind. Thanks for everything, El Salvador. I am leaving richer than I came.
PS. After two flat wheels and more than 8 hours to cover 133 miles between both cities, I arrived to Tegucigalpa at 10pm. The hotel looks like an awesome colonial palace (6 rooms) overlooking the river, and the hills of Tegus, packed with lights and little houses, look like a Van Gogh starred night. Just impressive...
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