First impressions of El Salvador
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San Salvador,
El Salvador
Sunday, August 3, 2008
I was pretty excited about reaching El Salvador, especially as my fellow passengers on the bus from Mexico spent most of the journey hyping it up. This was understandable: most of them were Salvadorans who'd been living in Mexico and the US and were returning home after many years away. They were SO excited to be coming home.
"Oh, you're going to love the pupusas!"
"The beaches are great!"
"Bah! It's not really as dangerous as everyone makes out!"
San Salvador is not a pretty city. It looks like a rundown version of many US cities, with its chain stores and fast food joints. There's also A LOT of razor wire and barred windows. There is no shortage of men with guns either, which led me to imagine that there is a security issue in El Salvador. You don't go out after dark here.
OK, so having said all that, I like the place. I've always maintained that a country is made up primarily of its people, and the physical landscape is second-place to that. Physically, San Salvador is ugly, but everyone I spoke to was friendly and eager to present their homeland in a positive light. They were happy to talk about the country's past, as painful as it is, and were positive about the country's future, despite the continued presence of US meddlers in Salvadoran politics, and the problem with violent crime.
I stayed with Karla, a Salvadoran friend I had met in Chiapas. Karla had just got home too after several months in Mexico and was settling into a new job as a trade-union organizer and back into her old lifestyle. She took me out to her local bar and we danced salsa and merengue till the early hours. YES, I DANCED. I don't believe it myself...
