That is exactly the way to describe my life these days. I get up, have breakfast, do some minor chores, read, sit in the pool and visit, eat some more, and that is about it. Sounds boring, but it isn't.
Yesterday we took two girls who were guests at the hotel on a dinghy ride through the mangroves. It was great - cattle egrets, four eyed fish, different kinds of crabs, some yellow bird I have yet to identify, and a lizard swimming his way across the estuary. Mike told me that when he and another friend went on a mangrove trip with our Salvadorian friend Rogelio, Rogelio netted a lizard and threatened to eat it. They do eat lizard down here - it is called Garrabo and there are restaurants in San Salvador that have it on the menu. I just might try some if I get my courage up.
The four eyed fish have two sets of eyes - one set is on top of the water and the other is below the water. They sort of swim on the surface. I had never heard of such a thing, but there they are. I heard that there are caymen (alligator type things) around the estuary but I don't believe it - maybe at one time, but they would all be eaten by now. Mike and his friend and Rogelio often take the dinghy and spend an afternoon in the mangroves, catching fish and fixing it over an open fire. They use whatever they can find on the beach to make the fire, which means using trash that has washed up to get the fire going if the wood is wet, which it often is because it rains all the time. They have a great time doing this, and because Rogelio speaks little to no English, Mike is getting better at understanding Spanish.
We went into the town of Zacatecaluca the other day because we though there was mail for us at the post office. Here, even though the mail is addressed to us at the hotel, it only goes as far as the PO. This is because mail for the hotel is brought in by a motorcycle courier, who can only carry letter sized things. So any packages have to be picked up at the PO, which is an hour and forty-five minute bus ride from here. When we got there, we found out we did not have a package, rather, the last time we were there (about four days prior) the PO employee did not full out the paperwork correctly and needed us to come back and give some information. Apparently he was in trouble with his boss for doing it wrong, and because we were so prompt in answering his summons, we are now very popular with the staff at the PO. Truthfully, if we had known what is was about we would likely have just waited until we needed to go to town again, rather than make a special trip. But all in all it was a good decision, because now they know us and they will take special care with our mail. Here is what they say about Salvadorian buses: How many people can you fit on a Salvadorian bus? One more!
I will leave you with a quote from Che Guevara - a very big hero throughout Latin America, there are pictures of him everywhere. I did some research, saw The Motorcyle Diaries, and have decided he was a complicated figure in many ways, defying any particular label.
"Man truly achieves his full human condition when he produces without being compelled by the physical necessity of selling himself as a commodity." Ernesto "Che" Guevara
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