Saturday, April 21, 2012

Leaping Lizards!


“By trying often the monkey learns to jump from the tree”
African Proverb



It's time to jump out of the hotel beach bubble and go and interact in the capital, San Salvador. A chance meeting with a wonderful surfing couple and we were soon headed off for exploration and dinner an hour down the road in the big smoke.

"We got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses!....................HIT IT!!!"
Blues Brothers

San Salvador is a crazy mix of old and new, poor and rich, all balanced on the side of the San Salvador volcano. The volcano not only dominates the city skyline but would wipe out the city in the event of an eruption. As the last eruption was in 1917, I figured we were good for the time being.  It would seem the crime statistics are not in my favor as massive amounts of gang activity occur, some homegrown and some imported from Los Angeles. The police report stats don't do the city any favors.  Looking out from my well massaged hotel bubble, it was hard to believe we were supposedly in one of the top ten most dangerous countries in the world.  However, our new friends Dee and Sean steered us safely in the right direction to the gringo mall.


“The child-soul is an ever-bubbling fountain in the world of humanity”
Friedrich Froebel


I quickly went into action to get my touristo family shots - scowling at the kids to get them to smile in unison and trying to crop out the obligatory newly installed Starbucks in the background. As I shoved the camera into my bag, a gun toting security guard reprimanded Dee for using her cell phone to take photos. Seems like folks are a little paranoid of being held up? Smiling sweetly at the 5ft. nothing guard I decided not to argue as he was the one with a holster and automatic. We scooted off in the direction of Nine West and a plan to shop for Josh's birthday presents. Prices were, of course, gringocentric so the whole shiny place was pretty deserted.


"One time I was riding the escalator and I tripped.
I fell down the stairs for an hour and a half."
Demetri Martin


I realized how long it was since we had been in a westernized mall complete with escalators and several levels. Happily the kids wanted to ride up and down the moving staircase and not fill our suitcases with needless junk. After coffee and lemon bars we continued the carnival theme with some fairground fun and euro bungee.



“The world is like a ride in an amusement park. And when you choose to go on it you think it's real because that's how powerful our minds are. And the ride goes up and down and round and round. It has thrills and chills and it's very brightly coloured and it's very loud and it's fun, for a while. Some people have been on the ride for a long time and they begin to question: "Is this real, or is this just a ride?" And other people have remembered, and they come back to us, they say, "Hey, don't worry, don't be afraid, ever, because this is just a ride." And we kill those people.” Bill Hicks. 










I thought it an amazing coincidence that after all the fun of the fair it turns out Dee and Sean actually used to run a theme park back in the Midwest, an odd twist. It would seem amusement parks are a new novelty for this country which is still scarred in so many ways from the civil war. El Salvador gained wealth through coffee in the 1880's but the wealth was held by only 2% of the population. In 1932 a socialist uprising led to La Matanza (the massacre) with 30,000 Indians and supporters killed. With the uprising quashed, several decades of peace followed. Then, in the 1970's, the tensions rose again culminating in 1980 when the guerilla groups formed the FMLN. The government forces began killing guerillas and anyone thought to be supporting the rebels. Death squads would wipe out entire villages believed to be assisting the FMLN. The U.S. money supporting the El Salvadorian government probably prolonged the war which lasted from 1980 to 1992. Perhaps the justification to fight against the FMLN as a communist entity seemed relevant in a cold war era, however the death toll of 75,000 El Salvadorians seems hard to justify in any context.

"It has too often been too easy for rulers and governments to incite man to war." Lester B. Pearson





Time for a lighter mood with food at an Argentinian restaurant in another part of town. Chewing tasty beef watching tortillas made by hand in comfy surrounds was the perfect way to thank Sean and Dee for a interesting time.



“If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, 
on where you stop your story.”
 Orson Welles