I have been putting off writing because I wanted to add pictures. But due to a variety of technological reasons, I haven't been able to do that. So I decided to just go ahead and make a post anyway. Plus I have just been lazy.
There is a publication called Latitude 38 that you can find online. It is a sailing magazine out of the SF bay area, but in their June issue there is an article about our El Salvador rally. There are pictures of some of our friends and even a glimpse of me. Anyway, you can find it if you google Latitude 38, find the June 2012 issue, and then find the San Salvador rally story.
Since I last posted, we went to San Salvador for four days. The trip was really amazing - we saw Mayan ruins, volcanos, a big lake viewed from a volcano, a waterfall we got to swim in, a wonderful market, and what I think is the Cabo of El Salvador, the surf town of La Libertad. Best of all, we had dinner at the home of our driver and friend, Ernesto. I am going to postpone describing the trip until I have the pictures.
But what I will talk about is Salvadoran food. I really love it, especially the breakfasts. I know I already sang the praises of pupusas. I could go on and on because those lovely thick tortillas stuffed with beans and meat (and cheese for everyone except me) are absolutely to die for. And depending on what you stuff them with, they are not bad for you. They are not fried, and I make mine with soy chorizo and beans, neither of which are high fat. The dough is made from corn and does not have fat in it. Now what is fattening is the fried plantains. Absolutely delicious and I will give up pancakes and waffles for them. (Oh I forgot to mention regarding pupusas - they are served with curtido, which is made from cabbage and is like a cross between sauerkraut and kimchee.) Now if one is not in the mood for pupusas, there are Salvadoran tamales. In El Salvador, they eat tamales as a breakfast item rather than for lunch and dinner, although you do see them at other times. The only real difference is that tamales here are steamed in banana leaves rather than in corn husks. Then there are these other things that are just like tamales, except that they are thinner, not filled with anything, are just slightly sweet, and after they are steamed, are fried or at least cooked again on a grill. I forgot what their name is. And finally, there is casamiento, which I made this morning, along with our fried eggs and plantains. Casamiento is like a Salvadoran version of red beans and rice, except that the beans used are refried beans. And these beans are not the same refried beans you get in Mexico. There you either get pinto beans or black beans, depending on what part of the country you are in. The beans here are red beans, sort of like kidney beans. They are very good.
Salvadorans also like chicken. Besides having live ones running around all over the place (some of the largest, fattest chickens I have ever seen), they have several different chicken fast food chains, at least one of which is very good. They also have KFC, and they seem to love American fast food places and have them all - Burger King, Wendy's. McDonalds, Pizza Hut, and so on. There is somthing called Gallina India (Gallina means chicken, so does pollo) that I haven't tried yet and am not sure what exactly it is. But it is heavily advertised at the little roadside comedors - diners - that one passes as one drives between here and San Salvador. They are not what we think of as real restaurants - just shacks or even awnings along the side of the road with wood stoves to cook on. They also advertise their chicken soup, and I haven't had that yet, either. I did try atole, which is a hot drink made from corn. It tasted just like cream corn out of the can, but better. Mike had some that had pineapple in it. I thought mine was better. I had wanted to go to this restaurant in San Salvador that I read about that specialized in exotic stuff like lizard and goat, but unfortuately it was not there anymore. So no lizard for me! Actually I would only try the lizard as an appetizer, not am entree. I would have had the goat.
Here on the estuary where the boat is anchored, the emphasis, of course, is fish and shellfish. The most popular way to eat fish is to fry the whole thing, head and all, except for the innards. It is delicious - the fish just falls off the bones and all that is left on your plate is a skeleton with a head. It is usually served with a salad and those wonderful thick tortillas. (They eat more vegetables here than in Mexico - you almost always get some steamed veggies of some sort when you order a plate of food.)
Speaking of fish, we went to a great fish market out on a pier while we were in La Libertad and bought some filets that Mike cooked last night - marinated in something like Italian salad dressing and then cooked in olive oil with garlic. It was wonderful! We also had brown rice (the leftovers went into this morning's casamiento) and cucumber salad. Then we even shared the dish-doing - which I was grateful for, since I usually do them myself.
So if you notice when I next post pictures that I am a bit on the portly side - well, that is because I am eating very, very well. Too well. Waay too well.
Otherwise, until I report on my trip, there is not a lot of news. A new boat come in yesterday. The people on three other boats are away on roadtrips. It is pretty quiet around here, although we still meet with the other boats everyday for pool time and drinks. We did experience having to deal with customs when we needed to pay a duty on something we had sent to us, but although there was a fair amount of sitting around and waiting (next time I will bring a book), the process was actually quite smooth, the officials were pleasent to deal with, and the payment was reasonable. I had two dresses and two blouses made for me, and there is another dress waiting to be picked up. These are sundresses and the like, made by a woman who lives on the island that is directly across the estuary from the hotel. (We are anchored between the hotel side and the island.) She makes everything on an old foot pedal machine because there is no electricity on the island. She does have a fan attached to a couple of car batteries for use when it gets too hot to sew without it. I also have plans for a pair of light, drawstring pants as well. Her prices are extremely reasonable, and fabric down here is cheap and plentiful. I will have a new wardrobe custom made for me, and how amazing is that? We are really enjoying life here in this tropical paradise. Stay tuned, there really is more to come.
"All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible." (T.E. Lawrence)
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