Santa Ana

On Sunday I made the big journey into the city of Santa Ana with Edwin, one of the older kids here at the orphanage. We met at the front gate at 7:15 to get a ride up to the road to catch a bus, but there were too many older people there so we had to yield to them and walk the road instead. The bus caught up with us when we had just about reached the end of the road from the orphanage, about thirty minutes later. We rode into the city and popped into the cathedral first to get a glimpse. Mass was going on, and we stayed for a little bit. I'm still working on understanding Spanish spoken through a microphone. From how poorly I did understanding the bishop's homily, I would say that I still have some work to do.

After ducking out of the cathedral we went on a hunt for pupusas, one of the typical foods of El Salvador. Since it was Sunday most of the pupuserias (i.e. places where pupusas are sold) were closed along with almost everything else. We finally found a lady on the sidewalk making pupusas on propane fired griddle. Pupusas come in two basic styles – cheese and revuelto, which is a mix of beans, cheese, and other stuff. To make them the lady took handful of dough, flattened it, shoved some revuelto in the middle, closed it up, and then dropped in on the grill in a pile of grease. A few minutes later we were happily sitting at a table on a street in the middle of Santa Ana eating pupusas covered in spicy cole slaw and tomato sauce. I realize that it doesn't sound like the most appetizing combo, and I myself wasn't convinced at the outset. One bite was all the convincing that I required, though. ¡Qué rico! We washed it all down with some coffee that was simmering on a stove. I am going to have to learn how to make those things before I get out of this country so I can continue enjoying a piece of Salvador back in the US. (For more info on pupusas click here.  Also, pupusas shown in picture are not the actual pupusas that I consumed.  They were considerably greasier than those shown...)

Filled up and properly caffeinated we grabbed a bus to Metro Centro, which could be easily mistaken for an American mall. It's like a little taste of the suburbs. The main purpose of this visit was the movie theatre. After minimal discussion we decided on seeing “Hulk.” With only $3.00 to get in it beats the Marcus Cinemas price any day (and especially on Thursdays when it's only a buck and half!) Seeing movies in Spanish is actually a good exercise for me to practice listening and keeping up with dialogue. I think I got about 75% of Hulk, most of which was explosions and shooting anyway, so I pretty much got what was going on.

Metro Centro comes complete with a supermarket inside, so we dropped in to pick up some necessities. Ramen noodles, chips, candy, fruit, yogurt, hot sauce, you know, the usual. With a full backpack of goodies riding on my sunburnt shoulders we were ready for the journey back. Two busses later we were standing at the top of the road back to the orphanage. We walked for a while before a pickup stopped for us. We rode along for a while in the back and then we finished the last leg on foot. It was nice to get to know Edwin a little bit better and to spend a little time away from the daily routine of the orphanage. Part of coming to understand the kids here also has to do with understanding the situations from which they come. Although a few trips to Santa Ana won't do that for me, it will at least help me to form a context in which I can begin to understand the way of life here.