Like I mentioned in the past blog, Salvadorians love their famous pupusas. There are pupuserias all over the city and usually their goodness can be found in each and one of them. For the first two weeks all I did was eat pupusas, by now I feel like I have them coming out of my ears...so I decided to switch it up a bit. In North America, our fruits, vegetables, and other "natural" foods are often sprayed or grown with some weird chemical. In El Sal, however, fruits and vegetables are quite delicious and full of flavour.
Making my way around San Salvador has been quite the difficult task. As opposed to Toronto, here people do not use N/S/W/E directions to find their way. Instead, everything is followed by land marks. This means that when you ask for directions or you are trying to tell a cab driver where you are headed you will be directed by this: "I need to go a house near the other side of the university, close to the street vendor with the umbrella full of colour's, and just past the park with the blue swings"...it is quite hilarious but at the same time it is also the most practical way.
Salvadorians are extremely nice and attentive. In the mornings when I make my walk towards the bus I am greeted by 40'000 strangers..."buenos dias don", they say...I love this because I was born in a country where everybody starts up conversations and greets the person walking beside or in the opposite direction. It is quite unfortunate that in Toronto people can be as cold as the weather. In El Sal, it really does make a difference when someone gives you a wink, a wave, or a big great smile. Culturally it real does make a huge difference...
I kept saying buenos dias for a month after coming back. I still find it odd in Toronto when I pass by someone and they try their hardest to avoid eye contact. It makes me wonder why ppl in Toronto are so afraid to interact.
ReplyDeleteI love the landmark thing...I still use it lol. I am awful with directions and I use to find it frustrating not knowing the street names in El Sal most often they are written on the curb but most of the time the name has been washed out.
I'm glad you are enjoying your time in San Sally
:)
Yenny
Hola Juan!
ReplyDeleteA blog about food, music, culture...I love it! :) I totally agree with you about the greetings on the street - here in Buenos Aires, as it is a huge metropolitan city, you hear Buenos dias less than you would in the smaller cities of Argentina, but still, far more frequent, and far more welcomed, than it would be in Canada.
Like Yenny, when I returned from South America for the first time, I was also smiling and nodding, saying good morning to strangers when I may not have before. lol. The response was, well, disappointing to say the least. Many people (not all) wonder what's wrong with you! They give you a look like they're wondering why you're smiling at them or just saying a simple 'good morning' to a stranger. Even worse, they don't smile back and just keep going in their usual rush! A very different sentiment than in much of Latin America..
Well, enjoy San Salvador, enjoy reminiscing about Columbia too and HAVE FUN!
Aliza
ayy big typo. COLOMBIA!!! perdon! :)
ReplyDeleteahh again. I'm sorry, I think I need some sleep. It's also El Salvador. okay, nap time.
ReplyDelete