Sunday, February 2, 2014

Last night Omar asked if we wanted to be ready to go out by 8:00 a.m. Marcia said "Oh my goodness that sounds very early."  Well it turns out that we had such a good night's sleep.that we were awake and ready to go by 6:30 a.m.  We got into the shower, got dressed, and rearranged our luggage that we had kind of just rummaged through the evening before.

While I was up early, I heard some noise outside. I knew it was election day so I thought maybe people were chanting and excited about the election. But I found out that it was the birds (pajaros) who were singing. Also the other noise I heard was a Klaxon horn. That was a man on a bicycle who was going by selling pan Frances or French bread. I went outside to see him and then another man came by, selling fresh quesadillas. These are not like quesadillas at the Mexican restaurant. It is like warm cornbread with cheese. I brought it in the house and Magdalena made me coffee to have with my quesadilla. It was very good.

Then the newspaper came with the news about the election today. Three men are running and whoever wins has to win by 51%.  If they don't win by that majority, there will be a runoff election.

After everybody was dressed, we all went out to breakfast.  On the way we drove by the outdoor market in Santa Tecla.  I tried to capture it from the car, but you can't really see it.  We never did get back there, so something else for next time.

Our breakfast (desayuno) was at Pizza Hut. Yes, Pizza Hut. We had to wait 30 minutes to get seated!  I say that not as a complaint, but to show how popular it is.  Many of the fast-food American restaurants serve a full breakfast. We ordered the same thing that Steve Crommett had when he visited.  Marcia wanted to pay the bill so she went to the cash register by herself. She did not speak Spanish and the clerk did not speak English but they communicated and she was successful. She is trying very hard to use her Spanish. She is doing great.

Pizza Hut breakfast; notice the bottled water! (Botello de agua)

Laura, Marcia, and Magdalena

After we left Pizza Hut, we went to the grocery store in Santa Teresa to buy some bottled water to take with us to our hotel. We have been advised to not drink the tap water, so we are stocking up on bottled water.   On the way we drove by the American Embassy.  You can see the flag.

Eggs on the shelf, not in dairy case.  This photo was taken for Brenda.  It was the same in London.

Some things are universal, like candy & gum by the checkout counter!

The Spanish magazines

Before leaving Santa Tecla, Omar invited us to his office.  He works for ETESAL, Empresa Transmisora de El Salvador, which, if I understand it correctly is a government-owned company, which is responsible for the maintenance and expansion of the electrical transmission system. El Salvador is the largest producer of geothermal energy in Central America.  Omar works for the Department of Operations and Engineering as an electrical engineer.

After spending some time at Omar's office, we then drove toward the ocean where we would be staying at a hotel for three days.  Our check-in time wasn't until 3:00 p.m., so we first went to the town of La Libertad.  As we were driving to the ocean, we could begin to see blue in front of us, and it was hard to tell where the sky ended and sea began.  Omar began to sing this song about when the cielo (sky) meets the mar (sea).  I found it on You Tube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWa6ohpXgXk

The chorus is the part about the sea and the sky. "El mar y el cielo se ven igual de azules y en la distancia parece que se unen. Mejor es que recuerdes que el cielo es siempre cielo que nunca nunca nunca el mar lo alcanzará."

"The ocean and sky are equally blue and in the distance they seem to come together.  You're better off remembering that the sky will always be the sky that never never never will the ocean reach it."

La Libertad is where Magdalena grew up.  It is right on the ocean. Normally, the fishermen bring their catch right up to the dock and you can see all the vendors buying the fish right off the boats.  However, the pier was very quiet this day  We believe it was because it was Election Day.  (Yes Election Day is on a Sunday.)  At the pier, I was able to buy some gifts,  and then we just stood on the pier and stared at the Pacific Ocean.  Que hermosa! (How beautiful.)

Next we went to a restaurant called Beto's to eat lunch. This was our first introduction to the long, leisurely lunches of El Salvador.  Beto's is a beautiful terraced restaurant on the ocean.  Though it has no beach access, the views are spectacular.  Of course, we had to have fresh fish! And these prices will never be seen in California or Ohio (meaning they were very reasonable).

Marcia's

Mine (Pictures of food are especially for my son-in-law Karl who loves to posts photos of his meals!)

The view from Beto's

After leaving Beto's, we drove only a few minutes down the road to our hotel, Casa de Mar.  The office was near the road, but the hotel is built on a cliff and so there were many stairs down to the ocean.  But it was worth it!  Our room was right overlooking the ocean.  There is a beautiful pool a few steps away from our door and a few steps further, a pool bar a, which doubles as the restaurant for lunch and breakfast.  Our room is gorgeous.  A gentleman from the office helped us with our bags as did Omar.  We bid Omar and Magdalena goodbye for a few days and settled in to our new place.

I meant to say that when we were at the grocery store in Santa Teresa, we noticed that the liquor area was blocked off, Marcia says by "crime scene tape."  Omar told us that they sell no liquor the day of the election and a couple days before and perhaps afterwards.  We tried to see if they could serve us a cerveza at Beto's but no go.  Then when we arrived at Casa de Mar, we thought perhaps a hotel could serve us a cerveza so we could have one as we watched the Super Bowl, but once again, "No senora because of the votacion (voting)."

So we went swimming for a while, watched the Super Bowl in Spanish, and just generally were amazed by being two inches from the mar (the sea).  I guess I didn't take any pictures that night.