So again, I have let a significant amount of time go by without making a new posting. What can I say that I have not already said? And since I cannot bear to read over my old posts and because I have no short term memory, I have no idea what sorry excuses I have given in the past. So I have no plans to make any excuses here for the untimeliness of my postings. I have just been lazy, Some writer I will turn out to be! At this rate, I can barely get a poem out.
During our last visit to San Salvador, we spent the night and stayed at a new hotel. We usually stay at the Villa Serena, which gives a nice discount to participants in the El Salvador rally. it is a nice place in a good location. The staff is pleasant to deal with, the beds are reasonably firm, and best of all, the AC is good. You can get that room really cold if you want it that way. I tend to judge all hotels by the quality of their air conditioning. All hotel rooms, in my opinion, tend to be stuffy. Even the really nice, expensive ones. I have stayed in places that seemed to have good AC, but very soon it stops working and the room is no longer cold, it is getting hot and stuffy. We stayed at a place near Carlsbad caverns, New Mexico a few years back. For those who don't know, it is really hot there, in the middle of the desert. We could get the room to cool down, but we could not get it to stay cool. I woke up many times at night, sweating, trying to get the AC to go back on. So I really appreciate the good AC at Villa Serena. The new hotel is called Hotel Hostel San Jose. (There are a lot of places down here that have "hostel" in their name but they are not hostels in the sense of youth hostels.) We found out about it because we met the owner a month or so ago here at the Bahia Del |Sol. (This is the hotel we are moored near and where we swim, get our laundry done, and eat most of our meals. We pay 14.00 per week to use their facilities. That also gives us dollar beers, and 30% off an already very reasonable menu prices.) His name is Ernesto (not to be confused with our driver Ernesto) and he was spending the weekend here with his family. This hotel gets a lot of local tourism from San Salvador residents on the weekends. Ernesto visited with us, and invited us to come see his hotel. So we did. It was just as nice as the Villa Serena, albeit a bit more expensive. But next time we get 50% off our stay. Ernesto was not there when we arrived, but called our room later to say hello and we invited him to dinner. His English is limited, but between his English and my Spanish, we had a great time, discussing El Salvador and its politics and business climate. It was really interesting and fun.
One interesting thing about being here is watching a nation sort of re-brand itself, to use a business metaphor. This is a developing country, coming out of a brutal civil war. The war really ended in the nineties, but it was very destructive and the country is still recovering from both the war and the years of being ruled by a pretty nasty dictatorship. It is still an armed camp - everywhere you go there are armed security guards and concertina wire. They do have a bad problem with gang activity, abut that does not really affect international tourists. I really have a feeling that all this security is partly due to habit. Prior to the war, there were numerous police-army-secret police-type groups all over the country, including right wig death squads. When the war ended, most of those soldiers were absorbed into one police agency, and the others abolished. I guess in some ways it was to help keep people employed. The same thing has happened in Mexico, where each time there was a revolution, the losing army was absorbed into the standing government army. As a result, they have a huge army in |Mexico that acts more as an internal police force, and Mexico has not been involved in any foreign wars in many, many years. And they are top heavy with officers.
Anyway, all this security and guns can be a bit overwhelming when you first get here, but I am used to it now. I barely notice unless I am looking for it and wondering what would happen if it were to go away. I don't think things would change much, but what do I know?
So what else do I have to say today? Things are generally good. It is really easy to be lazy in this hot, humid climate. I am drenched in sweat most of the day, even with our fans going. Except for basic boat maintenance, we don't do too much. We are getting a new dining table (the old one broke a long time ago and I didn't like it anyway) which should arrive on Sunday. Our friend and landlord (He owns the mooring field we are in) Santos is making the table for us. I have seen the progress and it is beautiful - solid teak with fabulous grain. I will take a picture of it. He also made canvas covers for our fuel jerrycans, (which degrade in the sunlight if not covered), and also made our canvas shade/water catcher. He has also become a good friend, and almost every Sunday he takes us on a panga ride through the jungle, where we stop at one restaurant for beer and crab soup (which is to die for), and another restaurant for fish and shrimp (also to die for). He brings us, some of the other cruisers, his girlfriend, and various friends of his. It has been a lot of fun. It was through Santos that we met Enrique, who owns a restaurant that also rents jet skis and kayaks, and stuff like that. Seven of us went their for breakfast this morning, and it was one of the best breakfasts any of us have had since being here. We had pupusas with two friend eggs and ranchero sauce on top. It was served with Salvadoran refried beans (red beans as opposed to pintos), fried bananas, and tortillas. I love this stuff.
I have been asked what I do all day. The answer is that of course it depends on the day. Going to the grocery store is an all day affair. We either have to get a driver to take us to San Salvador, or we can take the bus into Zacatecaluca, which takes just over an hour and two buses. usually we splurge for a cab ride home (about $30.00) because we have too many groceries to carry. We can also take our dinghies into San Luis La Herradura, but that is a tiny village with a limited selection. Also, you have to watch the tides carefully as you could get stuck in water that is too shallow even for a dinghy and outboard motor if the tide is not right. Because we are an estuary, the tides are rather dramatic and there is a current to contend with. Some cruisers have really small engines for their dinghies, and when the tide is strong they have a hard time going against the current. Our engine is 9.9 HP, which is big enough. Other things I do all day are: general housework (dishes, floors, bathroom, things like that), reading, visiting with other boats, swimming and hanging around the pool, taking dinghy rides, trying to handle my pictures on the computers (an on going project that is making me crazy as I am not good on the computer for anything except word processing), trying to figure put new ways to make the boat more livable, watching fish and sunsets and stuff like that. I guess if I were not naturally lazy, I might be going nuts with not enough to do. But as I am indolent by nature, it fits. I spend a lot of time just thinking about things. At night, there is the nightly lightning show to watch - even if it does not rain, there is lightning around us every night, 360 degrees of it. I especially enjoy it when it is close enough to watch, but not close enough to make even Mike nervous, and he hates lightning and is terrified of it. I guess that is what happens when you TWICE in your lifetime get so close to a lightning strike that it knocks you down. I love watching it and I love when it rains. Our cabin is tight as a drum with no leaks, and we can leave a couple hatches open so it stays cool but no rain comes in, or not enough to make a difference. My main concern is that the bed stays dry and the computer/nav station stays dry. Everything else can be handled if it gets wet. I have been soaked with rain tons of times and don't care - it is a warm rain. And rain water makes the clearest ice I have ever seen.
I have been thinking over my post about my rift with my friend and am feeling much better about the whole thing. I feel bad about dumping it all over my readers, but was overwhelmed with the support I got from my dear friends, who know all about me and love me anyway. I have plenty of friends here, no one has been turned against us (which I know was stupid to even worry about), and all seems to be well despite the fact I really miss her friendship. But I am okay with it, and realize that it has way more to do with her than it does with me. Again, I appreciate all of you more than you will ever know.
On that note, I will end this for today. Tomorrow we have plans to go somewhere (I am not sure where) to eat crab and fish. I am looking forward to another fabulous Salvadoran meal!!
"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." (Dr. Suess)
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