Day 7: Very Quiet Day

Friday September 4, 2009

Vocabulary

enchilada: toasted tortilla (like a tortilla chip but larger) with a chicken, shredded cabbage, and mayonnaise topping


quesadilla: rich, dense yellow cake (see photo below)


empanada: sweet cream in a fried plantain wrapping

Photos


Friends
La Hacienda

Today's vocabulary focuses on some food names that mean different things here than they do elsewhere.  You're probably all familiar with traditional enchiladas and quesadillas, and maybe even empanadas (they're little half-moon shaped savory pastries filled with meat or cheese).  But in El Salvador, these words are used to described completely different foods (see above).  Of course all of this food (and all the other food I've had here) is delicious.

Unfortunately, apparently some of the delicious food, or perhaps water, was harboring something unfriendly, and I woke up today with a touch of stomach trouble.  So today ended up being even quieter than yesterday.  I wasn't that sick, but it was good to be close to a bathroom and just take it easy for a day.  I read all of The Mouse and the Motorcycle (in Spanish), one of the books I gave Luis for his birthday.  I need to read more in Spanish.  Even though it's a kids book, I learned lots and lots of new words.  I was planning to visit Luis' English class today but didn't feel up to it.  Hopefully there will be another day when I can go (he doesn't have English everyday).  Manuel was terribly concerned that I was sick (plus he just misses me in general).  He called at least three times with specific suggestions of things they should give me to eat and drink.  It was sweet.


I don't think I took a single photo today (shocking, I know), so today's photos are an introduction to the non-family people I've met here and also the village itself, called Hacienda la Carrera.  In case anyone's interested, the friend photos are labeled with names.  


One of the very biggest cultural differences I have noticed thus far is that everyone here litters all the time, even at home.  Although there is often a bucket used as a garbage can (though not always, leading me to accumulate things in my room and pockets that I need to throw away because I just can't bring myself to litter), it's just as likely that when someone has something that is trash, they'll just throw it into the yard.  This gives the chickens a chance to eat any parts they're interested in, and then at least once a day, Doña Hilda sweeps the whole yard to clean it.  Collected household trash is then thrown into the gutters or streets.  The streets and the banks of the river have quite a bit of accumulated litter.

Both in the Hacienda and driving around other places, I've seen a lot of really nice looking houses that seem to be boarded up and abandoned.  This house is by far the largest and nicest in the village, and no one lives there (the owner is in the US).  There's also a really nice looking, though smaller house right next to ours that also seems abandoned, though Ester tells me the owners work in the city and come home on weekends.  I guess it makes some sort of sense that the nicest houses are owned by people who are earning money elsewhere (there aren't any jobs to speak of in the immediate area), but it seems like such a waste.

I've been in a lot of places where I stand out from the general population (most dramatically in Japan and Dominica).  I thought it might be less here than other places since there are some Hispanics with blue eyes and blond hair, and 90% of people in El Salvador have some European ancestry (and I have seen six blue eyes, besides mine, since I've been here).  But honestly I stick out here more than ever, I think because I'm the only American for miles around (I have yet to see a tourist).  Everywhere I go I get blatant stares and comments, usually about how pretty I am, which I don't mind at all.