San Salvador A Day in the Life

After accidentally getting to see a new side of El Salvador, we decided that we would check out what else the city has to offer. We did a little research and found a free walking tour being offered everyday of the week in San Salvador, it got great reviews so we signed up for the next morning.

Making sure to get on the right bus going the right way, we left the house at 8:30am and waved it down. The people on the bus were so packed full that they all shook their heads no, as to say there is no way you are getting on this bus. Along came another bus, almost equally as full, but we knew if we don’t catch this one we would miss the tour, so we waved the bus down and squished in as best we could. I was scrunched in the middle of bags, businessmen, a couple nurses and an old lady and Mark was hanging onto the doorway with half of his body outside of the bus; but we were on! Mark had to get off every stop to let people off and slowly the bus lightened its load enough that he could actually come inside fully. Surviving the trip, we got off the bus promptly when a lady - whom I had asked for a little help from - waved at us and told us to exit the bus. Quickly jumping off the still-moving vehicle, we were back safely on solid ground (it’s quite common for buses to not fully stop, we aren’t sure why, but believe it’s in an effort to conserve fuel).

Meeting the guide and other travelers at the gas station across the street from the park, we were ready to walk. The guide brought us to all the main churches and cathedrals, passed monuments and newly-opened gathering squares downtown and through a busy market; the whole time explaining the tumultuous past of the country and the current hopeful progress. The tour was very informative and lasted roughly two hours - a perfect amount of time as the scorching midday sun was beginning to overwhelm. We got some great pictures of churches and parliament buildings and learned that San Salvador is not as dangerous as people say it is.

During the whole time spent in San Salvador, random strangers kept stopping us and saying ‘Thank you for coming to my country’ with a big smile on their face; they are so proud of what they have now from all the awful times they went through. #Don’tSkipElSalvador is the hashtag they told us to put on all of our El Salvador pictures on Instagram, which we promptly did when we got home out of the strong heat.

That evening, Iris, the girl we were living with ordered a huge spread of typical Salvadorian food and we had a family night feast with her and her friend. There were pupusas of all kinds, three types of tamales; all served with cordita (a pickled cabbage - carrot slaw) and tomato sauce. Afterwards we enjoyed a traditional dessert of corn dough, plantains, cheese, sugar, and refried beans. Quite literally, nearly every dish in this country is made up of those three ingredients: Re-fried beans, corn of some type and cheese. It was a great way to end our time in San Salvador, we will definitely come back!