We got back to Arcata a week ago. The bus ride up from the Bay Area quickly took us out of the bustle we'd been in continuously from San Salvador to Houston to San Francisco to Oakland. Humboldt seemed almost unnaturally quiet.
Passing through Eureka, the marquee on Grocery Outlet, usually advertising this week's special, just read "free pallets great firewood see manager" as if this were the most noteworthy thing happening in the center of our county seat. Nearing Arcata, I looked out at Murray Field, where a half dozen light planes sat idle on the tarmac. Nothing taking off or landing, just one turkey vulture spinning lazy turns above the runway. This is where I live, praise be. May it ever be so.
The very next morning, Basilia and I both were back at work, me at the Schatz Lab and she helping out a family we've known for years with child care. Seems almost too easy to get back into the old routine. The challenge now will be to not let this past half-year fall behind me, to act on the opportunities that have presented themselves. As Peter L. likes to say in moments of uncertainty: stay tuned.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
El Salvador, Honduras, El Salvador...home?
Thursday morning I took a bus to San Miguel and from there caught the international bus to Marcala, Honduras. Basilia and her sister Georgina and Georgina's husband Braulio were waiting for me there and took me up to Guajiquiro. Basilia had fixed up a cozy room for the two of us in her parents' house.
I spent a mostly pretty lazy three days with Basilia's family in Guajiquiro. The first day the main event was me taking five of our nieces and nephews, ages 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9, on a three-hour hike to a place called Tres Piedras. The destination was Basilia's idea. I was a little daunted at the thought of being the only adult overseeing all these little kids on a fairly long walk in the mountains. But in typical don't-worry Guajiquiro fashion, Basilia said go for it, you'll all be fine. And we were. Honduran rural kids are amazing in their casual bravado. I think all kids are naturally this way, but in our culture we surround kids with a bubble of protection that purportedly keeps all sorts of dangers at bay. In the process, I think we kill something vital in our children. It was so refreshing to just wander the countryside with this gang of little kids and watch them push themselves to their own limits. Nothing bad happened, and no one even cried. Tres Piedras is a fantastic set of rock formations that would easily earn state or national park status in the States. So cool that it's just a day hike from Basilia's parents' front door.
Saturday was my birthday, and the family threw me a big party. There was a piñata made by our nieces Lourdes and Edy, lots of good food, a live acoustic band and DJ music for dancing courtesy of our brother-in-law Melvin. Many people I've known since my Peace Corps days in the 1990s showed up to dance and wish me well. As usual at Guajiquiro parties a few young men got obnoxiously drunk, but unlike at many other parties I've attended, there were no fights this time. We had a terrific time dancing and people-watching.
Sunday was taking care of business day. Basi and I met with the family of one of our nephews whom we've offered to help financially to go to medical school, I worked with a friend of ours to draw up a contract for a piece of land she's selling us just outside town, and we even provided some impromptu relationship counseling for a couple we're hoping to see stick together as they go through some difficult times. Even though I didn't go more than a few blocks from the house all day, I felt exhausted by nightfall.
Yesterday was a classic test of our patience in traveling around Central America. We tried to travel back to Honduras using the same Marcala-San Miguel bus line I'd used a few days earlier, but after a couple hours in Marcala it became apparent the bus was not on its normal schedule. Probably a victim of the tropical storm that had been soaking both countries the last couple days. We eventually decided to go to plan B, which was catching a bus to Tegucigalpa and spending the night there, then taking the Tegucigalpa-San Salvador direct bus this morning. Our niece Celenia has accompanied us back to El Salvador to help us pack up for our return to California day after tomorrow.
It's been fun keeping this blog as an alternative to the hand-written diaries I used to keep when traveling. I don't have specific plans about whether to continue it once back in the U.S. -- I'll get back to you on that. It may depend on how actively my working relationship with people at Universidad Don Bosco continues once I get home.
I spent a mostly pretty lazy three days with Basilia's family in Guajiquiro. The first day the main event was me taking five of our nieces and nephews, ages 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9, on a three-hour hike to a place called Tres Piedras. The destination was Basilia's idea. I was a little daunted at the thought of being the only adult overseeing all these little kids on a fairly long walk in the mountains. But in typical don't-worry Guajiquiro fashion, Basilia said go for it, you'll all be fine. And we were. Honduran rural kids are amazing in their casual bravado. I think all kids are naturally this way, but in our culture we surround kids with a bubble of protection that purportedly keeps all sorts of dangers at bay. In the process, I think we kill something vital in our children. It was so refreshing to just wander the countryside with this gang of little kids and watch them push themselves to their own limits. Nothing bad happened, and no one even cried. Tres Piedras is a fantastic set of rock formations that would easily earn state or national park status in the States. So cool that it's just a day hike from Basilia's parents' front door.
Saturday was my birthday, and the family threw me a big party. There was a piñata made by our nieces Lourdes and Edy, lots of good food, a live acoustic band and DJ music for dancing courtesy of our brother-in-law Melvin. Many people I've known since my Peace Corps days in the 1990s showed up to dance and wish me well. As usual at Guajiquiro parties a few young men got obnoxiously drunk, but unlike at many other parties I've attended, there were no fights this time. We had a terrific time dancing and people-watching.
Basilia dancing with her father at my birthday party
Sunday was taking care of business day. Basi and I met with the family of one of our nephews whom we've offered to help financially to go to medical school, I worked with a friend of ours to draw up a contract for a piece of land she's selling us just outside town, and we even provided some impromptu relationship counseling for a couple we're hoping to see stick together as they go through some difficult times. Even though I didn't go more than a few blocks from the house all day, I felt exhausted by nightfall.
Yesterday was a classic test of our patience in traveling around Central America. We tried to travel back to Honduras using the same Marcala-San Miguel bus line I'd used a few days earlier, but after a couple hours in Marcala it became apparent the bus was not on its normal schedule. Probably a victim of the tropical storm that had been soaking both countries the last couple days. We eventually decided to go to plan B, which was catching a bus to Tegucigalpa and spending the night there, then taking the Tegucigalpa-San Salvador direct bus this morning. Our niece Celenia has accompanied us back to El Salvador to help us pack up for our return to California day after tomorrow.
It's been fun keeping this blog as an alternative to the hand-written diaries I used to keep when traveling. I don't have specific plans about whether to continue it once back in the U.S. -- I'll get back to you on that. It may depend on how actively my working relationship with people at Universidad Don Bosco continues once I get home.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Bye Bye Bosco
Yesterday I went to a send-off at the U.S. embassy for Salvadoran researchers and master's candidates who have been awarded Fulbright scholarships to go study or perform research in the U.S. The event was a chance to say goodbye to Carolyn and other members of the embassy staff, and my fellow U.S. Fulbrighters Anne and Rich. Afterward Rich and I went to a cafe near the embassy to talk over our experiences and Rich's idea about us collaborating on a paper that might compare/contrast/synthesize our experiences teaching about and studying renewable energy in El Salvador.
Today was my last day at Universidad Don Bosco. I spent the morning cleaning up and organizing my bookshelf, desk, and computer. Just before noon the grad campus staff threw me a farewell party with a cake from my favorite bakery, Jardin del Pan. Nice job! It was pretty sad saying goodbye to all these folks who have been so nice to me all along, some of whom I now know as good friends.
In the afternoon I went to Universidad de El Salvador for my third and final guest lecture there. This was part of a two-day forum on renewable energy organized by the student chapter of IEEE (an international electrical engineers' professional society). They gave me a three-hour slot to talk about renewable energy. I pasted together a bunch of material from my seven-week course I'd taught at Don Bosco, trying to winnow it down into a concise overview. I didn't have enough time to do a really proper job of this, and I ended up with way more material than I could fit into three hours. But it was OK; I had an enthusiastic audience of about 15 engineering students (sadly, only one woman in the group) who paid close attention and had lots of intelligent questions. I was less organized than I like to be, but I got the feeling the students came away satisfied. I had fun anyway.
This evening Kyle and Francisco took me out to dinner. We went to Yemaya, which was nice since they'd had to miss out on going there Friday when Kyle got sick. The food was good as always, especially when accompanied by some Garífuna guífiti (still haven't finished the damn bottle!). The owners of Yemaya, Kristina and Fernando, are such fine people. I learned tonight that Kristina lived in San Francisco, Oakland, and Guerneville (the tiny Sonoma County town where my sister Genny lived for many years!) during four years that she lived in California not long ago. I feel so at home in their restaurant -- my family and friends from back home would all love this place. It's Central American to be sure, but has so many touches that feel like my native turf -- the lo-fi artwork, the mostly vegetarian menu, and the stereo playing Billy Bragg, the Pogues, Madness, and jazz from the likes of Coltrane and Miles Davis. ¡Viva Yemaya!
Today was my last day at Universidad Don Bosco. I spent the morning cleaning up and organizing my bookshelf, desk, and computer. Just before noon the grad campus staff threw me a farewell party with a cake from my favorite bakery, Jardin del Pan. Nice job! It was pretty sad saying goodbye to all these folks who have been so nice to me all along, some of whom I now know as good friends.
In the afternoon I went to Universidad de El Salvador for my third and final guest lecture there. This was part of a two-day forum on renewable energy organized by the student chapter of IEEE (an international electrical engineers' professional society). They gave me a three-hour slot to talk about renewable energy. I pasted together a bunch of material from my seven-week course I'd taught at Don Bosco, trying to winnow it down into a concise overview. I didn't have enough time to do a really proper job of this, and I ended up with way more material than I could fit into three hours. But it was OK; I had an enthusiastic audience of about 15 engineering students (sadly, only one woman in the group) who paid close attention and had lots of intelligent questions. I was less organized than I like to be, but I got the feeling the students came away satisfied. I had fun anyway.
This evening Kyle and Francisco took me out to dinner. We went to Yemaya, which was nice since they'd had to miss out on going there Friday when Kyle got sick. The food was good as always, especially when accompanied by some Garífuna guífiti (still haven't finished the damn bottle!). The owners of Yemaya, Kristina and Fernando, are such fine people. I learned tonight that Kristina lived in San Francisco, Oakland, and Guerneville (the tiny Sonoma County town where my sister Genny lived for many years!) during four years that she lived in California not long ago. I feel so at home in their restaurant -- my family and friends from back home would all love this place. It's Central American to be sure, but has so many touches that feel like my native turf -- the lo-fi artwork, the mostly vegetarian menu, and the stereo playing Billy Bragg, the Pogues, Madness, and jazz from the likes of Coltrane and Miles Davis. ¡Viva Yemaya!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Micro Buses from Hell
I've had a love-hate relationship with San Salvador's urban micro-buses ever since arriving here. These feelings echo my feelings about the city as a whole. On the one hand, the cheapskate in me loves a system that lets you cross the whole city for 25 cents. And of course those low fares are essential to the workers of the city, many of whom have to take two or more buses (no transfers offered on this system) to get to work and only earn $300 or less a month. Also, the drivers and their privately operated buses have a certain bad-boy coolness about them that you'll never see in a municipally operated transit agency in the U.S. Many of the buses have names painted across the windshield -- in most cases the name of a loved one or family member (see Emmy below), but some of the tough-guy names you gotta love: "Apocalipsis," "Taliban," and Basilia's and my favorite, "Corrupción Total."
On the other hand, these buses are among the worst polluters in the city, their drivers are frighteningly reckless, and they have a reputation for being crime magnets. The crime of course includes pickpocketing and holdups of passengers, but also gangs demand regular "protection" payments from the drivers. The horrific massacre and burning of 14 passengers on board one of these buses in the Mejicanos district of the capital the night before last may have been a gang's revenge against a driver who refused to pay up...though I hear other explanations floating around.
Yesterday morning other UDB staff and I got to meet with staff from FOMILENIO and the country director of Millennium Challenge Corporation. I had asked for this meeting in order to explore possibilities for UDB to get involved in a research role in FOMILENIO's program in which they are in the process of installing nearly 2,000 off-grid solar electric systems in rural households. There seems to be genuine interest in working together on both sides, so hopefully this could turn into one of the first major projects for UDB's new energy institute. Reina from UDB says she will work on a formal proposal to do this. I'm glad to see other UDB people picking up the energy institute ball and running with it as I leave the playing field (for now).
On the other hand, these buses are among the worst polluters in the city, their drivers are frighteningly reckless, and they have a reputation for being crime magnets. The crime of course includes pickpocketing and holdups of passengers, but also gangs demand regular "protection" payments from the drivers. The horrific massacre and burning of 14 passengers on board one of these buses in the Mejicanos district of the capital the night before last may have been a gang's revenge against a driver who refused to pay up...though I hear other explanations floating around.
Yesterday morning other UDB staff and I got to meet with staff from FOMILENIO and the country director of Millennium Challenge Corporation. I had asked for this meeting in order to explore possibilities for UDB to get involved in a research role in FOMILENIO's program in which they are in the process of installing nearly 2,000 off-grid solar electric systems in rural households. There seems to be genuine interest in working together on both sides, so hopefully this could turn into one of the first major projects for UDB's new energy institute. Reina from UDB says she will work on a formal proposal to do this. I'm glad to see other UDB people picking up the energy institute ball and running with it as I leave the playing field (for now).
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Father's Day
Today could have been a really melancholy day, considering it's my first Father's Day since my father died. But I got to have a great day, thanks to my friend Victor Paula, who happens to be a great dad himself. Victor was one of the students in the renewable energy class I taught. He's stayed in touch since the class ended, and we'd been talking about going out to do something together.
Today we made good on it, and he brought his family along, his wife Telma and their two little boys Victor Alejandro (three and a half) and Ernesto (six months). You can tell by how cheerful and trusting the two boys are that these must be great parents. I spent much of the day carrying Ernesto around and playing with Victor Alejandro, and they both acted very comfortable with me from first sight. This made me feel like a little bit of a dad myself (with no diaper changing required!).
The family picked me up at 10:00 am in their car, and we headed out to the coast. We took the coast road west from La Libertad, which I had not traveled before further than El Tunco beach. It's a winding road with many ocean overlooks, somewhat like Highway 1 on the Mendocino and Sonoma County coasts, but with lusher vegetation. There are five tunnels along the way, one a half kilometer long, which was exciting for Victor Alejandro.
We had lunch at a restaurant in Acajutla with an ocean view, followed by a quick car tour of the industrial facilities at the port. Victor used to work at the oil refinery, so he knows this area well. Then we headed inland to the Ruta de las Flores, a mountain road Basilia and I had previously explored by bus. Of course in the car we had the luxury of stopping where we liked to see the views. We made stops in Nahuizalco, Salcoatitán (where we went to the Pan Nuestro bakery where the owner's husband has a beautiful bonsai garden out back), Apaneca, and Ataco, plus a few fancy/rustic restaurant-lodges along the road that Victor and Telma were familiar with -- all very cute with relaxing atmospheres and beautiful landscaping.
Victor and I had a great time talking along the way about life in his country and mine. He was an exchange student in Kansas on the same CASS program in 1991-93 that allowed Basilia to go to the U.S. for the first time a few years later, so we had a lot of notes to compare. Telma was pretty quiet, but I did get her to tell me that she also has an engineering degree, and she's from Izalco, a town that Basi and I enjoyed visiting a few weeks ago. We saw a good chunk of western El Salvador today and didn't get back to San Salvador until 8:00 pm.
Thanks Victor and family for making this a happy father's day!
Today we made good on it, and he brought his family along, his wife Telma and their two little boys Victor Alejandro (three and a half) and Ernesto (six months). You can tell by how cheerful and trusting the two boys are that these must be great parents. I spent much of the day carrying Ernesto around and playing with Victor Alejandro, and they both acted very comfortable with me from first sight. This made me feel like a little bit of a dad myself (with no diaper changing required!).
Happy Father's Day Victor, Victor Alejandro, Ernesto and Telma!
The family picked me up at 10:00 am in their car, and we headed out to the coast. We took the coast road west from La Libertad, which I had not traveled before further than El Tunco beach. It's a winding road with many ocean overlooks, somewhat like Highway 1 on the Mendocino and Sonoma County coasts, but with lusher vegetation. There are five tunnels along the way, one a half kilometer long, which was exciting for Victor Alejandro.
We had lunch at a restaurant in Acajutla with an ocean view, followed by a quick car tour of the industrial facilities at the port. Victor used to work at the oil refinery, so he knows this area well. Then we headed inland to the Ruta de las Flores, a mountain road Basilia and I had previously explored by bus. Of course in the car we had the luxury of stopping where we liked to see the views. We made stops in Nahuizalco, Salcoatitán (where we went to the Pan Nuestro bakery where the owner's husband has a beautiful bonsai garden out back), Apaneca, and Ataco, plus a few fancy/rustic restaurant-lodges along the road that Victor and Telma were familiar with -- all very cute with relaxing atmospheres and beautiful landscaping.
Victor and I had a great time talking along the way about life in his country and mine. He was an exchange student in Kansas on the same CASS program in 1991-93 that allowed Basilia to go to the U.S. for the first time a few years later, so we had a lot of notes to compare. Telma was pretty quiet, but I did get her to tell me that she also has an engineering degree, and she's from Izalco, a town that Basi and I enjoyed visiting a few weeks ago. We saw a good chunk of western El Salvador today and didn't get back to San Salvador until 8:00 pm.
Thanks Victor and family for making this a happy father's day!
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Indigo
This morning Nelson and Norma came to pick me up for one last weekend outing. We headed west in their car to Chalchuapa, a town in the department of Santa Ana that is surrounded by Pre-Columbian ruins, mostly unexcavated. There are two developed sites right in the vicinity of the town, Casa Blanca and Tazumal. We went first to Casa Blanca. The ruins consist of several small to medium sized pyramids, some of which have been partially restored. More interesting was the museum, where a very well-informed guide showed us around, explaining nearly every piece in the collection.
He also showed us an indigo workshop in a space adjoining the museum. Indigo is an intense blue dye derived from several related plants native to El Salvador. Indigo dye production for export to Europe became a mainstay of the Central American economy during the colonial period, but the development of cheaper artificial dyes in the 1860s wiped the industry out almost overnight. Only recently is natural indigo being revived as a cottage industry, and the workshop at Casa Blanca has a beautiful display of natural fabrics dyed using indigo and tie-dye, batik, and other techniques.
The grounds of Casa Blanca were also beautiful, including a botanical garden with some large and interesting specimens of matapalo, or strangler fig, a parasitic vining plant that grows up the trunks of large trees and eventually kills the host, becoming free-standing in the process. The strangler fig's growth habit results in a bizarre, twisted and braided trunk.
Next we got some lunch in town: mashed yuca (cassava or manioc), a local specialty. From there we went to see Tazumal. Here the pyramids are larger and more fully restored. You're even allowed to climb up on one of them. Our guide was an small, wiry older guy with a ponytail who I initially mistook for a fellow gringo sightseer. He was very animated, a classic civil war-era radical who lost no opportunity to denounce yankee imperialism (in a friendly way that made me feel like a comrade, not the enemy!) and to declare his enthusiasm for "his" president. On this latter point I got the same feeling from him that I got from many people, particularly African-Americans, about President Obama, at least when he first took office. Keep that feeling alive, Barack! It must be hard to fight the power and be the power all at the same time.
On the way back to San Salvador we made a short detour to see downtown Santa Ana, which I had not yet visited. Santa Ana in the west and San Miguel in the east are the other two large cities in the country besides San Salvador, though neither of them comes close to the size or intensity of the capital. The main square in Santa Ana is surrounded by a large gothic cathedral (looking more northern European than the usual Spanish look of Central American churches), a beautifully restored theater, a grand municipal palace, and a cultural center that was bustling on this Saturday afternoon with an art exhibition, ballet class, and several classrooms with music lessons in piano, violin, and guitar all going on at once. In the hour or so we spent exploring these buildings and the park, I got a much nicer first impression of Santa Ana than I got seeing San Salvador and San Miguel for the first time.
Funny, Nelson and I were just talking this morning about wind energy in El Salvador, and I noted that aside from the day when tropical storm Agatha hit San Salvador, I've hardly experienced any wind in six months in the country, reinforcing my impression that wind technology has little to offer this country. So right now it's ripping down rain outside, and there's actually quite a bit of wind blowing. Based on the rains we've had the last couple weeks, this will probably only last a couple hours.
Yesterday was the official end of my six-week Fulbright extension, so I guess I'm now a Fulbright alum. I still have a few days of work to finish up. Monday I and a couple other UDB people are meeting with staff of FOMILENIO, an organization supported by the U.S. government-run Millennium Challenge Corporation. Among other projects, FOMILENIO is installing small off-grid solar electric systems in rural homes in the impoverished northern part of the country. We want to talk with them about possibilities for FOMILENIO and UDB to collaborate. Then on Tuesday there's a send-off event for Salvadoran students with Fulbright awards headed off to study in the U.S. And on Wednesday I'm teaching a three-hour overview workshop on renewable energy for IEEE. So it ain't over yet. Thursday I head for Honduras to spend my birthday with Basilia and her family. Basi, I miss you!
He also showed us an indigo workshop in a space adjoining the museum. Indigo is an intense blue dye derived from several related plants native to El Salvador. Indigo dye production for export to Europe became a mainstay of the Central American economy during the colonial period, but the development of cheaper artificial dyes in the 1860s wiped the industry out almost overnight. Only recently is natural indigo being revived as a cottage industry, and the workshop at Casa Blanca has a beautiful display of natural fabrics dyed using indigo and tie-dye, batik, and other techniques.
Indigo-dyed fabrics
Next we got some lunch in town: mashed yuca (cassava or manioc), a local specialty. From there we went to see Tazumal. Here the pyramids are larger and more fully restored. You're even allowed to climb up on one of them. Our guide was an small, wiry older guy with a ponytail who I initially mistook for a fellow gringo sightseer. He was very animated, a classic civil war-era radical who lost no opportunity to denounce yankee imperialism (in a friendly way that made me feel like a comrade, not the enemy!) and to declare his enthusiasm for "his" president. On this latter point I got the same feeling from him that I got from many people, particularly African-Americans, about President Obama, at least when he first took office. Keep that feeling alive, Barack! It must be hard to fight the power and be the power all at the same time.
Norma and Nelson at the Tazumal pyramids
On the way back to San Salvador we made a short detour to see downtown Santa Ana, which I had not yet visited. Santa Ana in the west and San Miguel in the east are the other two large cities in the country besides San Salvador, though neither of them comes close to the size or intensity of the capital. The main square in Santa Ana is surrounded by a large gothic cathedral (looking more northern European than the usual Spanish look of Central American churches), a beautifully restored theater, a grand municipal palace, and a cultural center that was bustling on this Saturday afternoon with an art exhibition, ballet class, and several classrooms with music lessons in piano, violin, and guitar all going on at once. In the hour or so we spent exploring these buildings and the park, I got a much nicer first impression of Santa Ana than I got seeing San Salvador and San Miguel for the first time.
Funny, Nelson and I were just talking this morning about wind energy in El Salvador, and I noted that aside from the day when tropical storm Agatha hit San Salvador, I've hardly experienced any wind in six months in the country, reinforcing my impression that wind technology has little to offer this country. So right now it's ripping down rain outside, and there's actually quite a bit of wind blowing. Based on the rains we've had the last couple weeks, this will probably only last a couple hours.
Yesterday was the official end of my six-week Fulbright extension, so I guess I'm now a Fulbright alum. I still have a few days of work to finish up. Monday I and a couple other UDB people are meeting with staff of FOMILENIO, an organization supported by the U.S. government-run Millennium Challenge Corporation. Among other projects, FOMILENIO is installing small off-grid solar electric systems in rural homes in the impoverished northern part of the country. We want to talk with them about possibilities for FOMILENIO and UDB to collaborate. Then on Tuesday there's a send-off event for Salvadoran students with Fulbright awards headed off to study in the U.S. And on Wednesday I'm teaching a three-hour overview workshop on renewable energy for IEEE. So it ain't over yet. Thursday I head for Honduras to spend my birthday with Basilia and her family. Basi, I miss you!
Friday, June 18, 2010
Guífiti Time
The signing ceremony went fine this morning. Tim DeVoogd from the State Department showed up as planned, and Reina and I got to have a short but fruitful talk with him about opportunities to fund the exchange between UDB and HSU.
In the evening I went out with René, Kiriam, Eduardo, and Claudia. Francisco and Kyle were going to join us as well, but Kyle got sick. We went to Yemaya, the restaurant that used to be in our neighborhood. They had to move because the security gates that went up on their street made it impossible to do business. The move to Santa Tecla seems to have played out really well -- the new location is much bigger but was packed with people, mostly a hip young crowd. Kristina the owner seems very happy with the outcome. René says this neighborhood is getting really trendy lately.
A shame Francisco didn't make it, because the origin of this outing was a conversation we had about guífiti, the Garífuna liquor/medicine. I told him about this and promised to bring back a bottle from Triunfo de la Cruz. So this was meant to be our night to party it. It wasn't a total loss -- we enjoyed sharing it at our table, and Fulbrighters Chris, Anne and Beth were at a nearby table along with Teresa and Lorenzo, a pair of visiting medical researchers from Marquette University and Beth's novio Jonathan. So the guífiti found many willing tasters.
There was a jazz fusion group called Brujo that rocked the house starting around eight. It wasn't til I'd been watching them play for a few minutes that I realized I know the guitarist -- José Luis Flores from Unidad Nacional Ecológica Salvadoreña. He´s quite a good guitarist. The bassist also really impressed me. The hip atmosphere of the restaurant and the music made me feel far away from the San Salvador I know. I'm sure this sort of thing is happening every night somewhere in this big city; I just haven't been getting out enough to find it.
In the evening I went out with René, Kiriam, Eduardo, and Claudia. Francisco and Kyle were going to join us as well, but Kyle got sick. We went to Yemaya, the restaurant that used to be in our neighborhood. They had to move because the security gates that went up on their street made it impossible to do business. The move to Santa Tecla seems to have played out really well -- the new location is much bigger but was packed with people, mostly a hip young crowd. Kristina the owner seems very happy with the outcome. René says this neighborhood is getting really trendy lately.
A shame Francisco didn't make it, because the origin of this outing was a conversation we had about guífiti, the Garífuna liquor/medicine. I told him about this and promised to bring back a bottle from Triunfo de la Cruz. So this was meant to be our night to party it. It wasn't a total loss -- we enjoyed sharing it at our table, and Fulbrighters Chris, Anne and Beth were at a nearby table along with Teresa and Lorenzo, a pair of visiting medical researchers from Marquette University and Beth's novio Jonathan. So the guífiti found many willing tasters.
There was a jazz fusion group called Brujo that rocked the house starting around eight. It wasn't til I'd been watching them play for a few minutes that I realized I know the guitarist -- José Luis Flores from Unidad Nacional Ecológica Salvadoreña. He´s quite a good guitarist. The bassist also really impressed me. The hip atmosphere of the restaurant and the music made me feel far away from the San Salvador I know. I'm sure this sort of thing is happening every night somewhere in this big city; I just haven't been getting out enough to find it.
Brujo at Yemaya, with Eduardo and Claudia at far left
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