Road Trip, El Salvador!
Written by Bessie on Saturday, May 17, 2008 in El Salvador
Feelin' excited
Feelin' excited
We haven't driven in 3 months
+ We rented a crap-tastic car
+ We're in a country with crazy drivers and crazy roads.
= A Recipe for Adventure!
After two weeks of working in San Salvador, and get our bearings around the country, it was time to rent a car. We sought out death-defying thrills! Adventures! Races for our lives! So where'd we go? The Flower Route. Ok, ok, La Ruta de las Flores may not sound super adrenaline-filled, but it was an adventure.
They call it the flower route for the white flowers that bloom on the coffee plants, but the other 51 weeks out of the year, the only flowers are the ones at the hotels and painted on the telephone poles.
It's a beautiful drive, I just think I'd call it something more like the Mountain View, Curvy Road with Painted Poles Route.
We've got a great video for you. Our video making skills have continued advancing, and this one has some nice music added:
Driving here can get a little wild and crazy: buses stopping and going, cars in super hurries, your occasional chicken or cow in road to dodge. It's definitely a place to keep your hands on 10 and 2 and keep your eyes on the road. We drove out of the city and into the mountains passing oodles of food stands and towns big and small. We found two great, small towns that we're sure to get back to at some point:
1. Ataco: A small charming colonial town with a few great murals. Also had a great dinner at a place called Metzli, where we made friends. Yep, we've got friends now in El Salvador, and we made them all ourselves.
2. Juayua: First it's just fun to say, pronounced why-U-uh. But this great town is town to a Gastronomic Festival, La Feria Gastronomica! It's every weekend and has really delicious food. I'm going to go so far as to say it's got some of the yummiest authentic food in Central America. Here's some pics and a short video.
Horchata that's like drinking peanut butter w/ bread thick tortillas & yummy fried chicken : slow-cooked beef with yummy sauce and deliciousness on the side
Gastronomic Video and more about Juayua:
Comments on "Road Trip, El Salvador!"
so maybe if we need some side income we could make commercials??? Sweet!
BESSIE & KYLE...I'm proud of the two videos...Wow what a treat...The travel one was over 5 minutes long...Loved the red pine air freshener...Truck and bus montages set to the perfect music- - - sooo creative...Great cow navigation, murals, decorative floral poles... I love the way you were reading all the signs in Spanish, but when you reached the cows you were talking to THEM in English... I know I have never heard of a bilingual COW, no wonder they never spoke back to you or even winked their displeasure at your passing and harrassing...The flowers in coffee bean country were similar to Hawaii...Then on to the short "Taste of El" food fest video...powerful audio at the church...Then sheer delight with so much foooooood... All that driving and watching you eat my favorite cooked soft plantain in sauce........TOO MUCH FOR ME TO RESIST...I'm leaving you now to go get MYSELF some food.......Thanks so much for sharing this side trip with us...It was a delight right down to the red air freshener swinging happily as you drove...Love you both!!!
hee heee glad you liked it. Next time I see cows, I'll be sure to speak spanish to them. It's actually true here that dogs don't really get what you're saying unless you speak spanish to them. If you're trying to chase them away, "Shoo, shoo" or "get away" doesn't work you have to make this CH sort of sound, like a match lighting and say "va" or "vaya" to mean go away.
All these little interesting things we learn... :)
You know, I've been loving reading your posts! These videos were great. And I must say, the montages - with music - inspired some quite lovely booty shaking dances from my 2 year old son. SO, not only enjoyed by me, but fun for the whole family!
Well, our writing is usually written with 2 year olds in mind, so I'm glad we are hitting our demographic!
Kyle was SOOOOO excited to use that montage music in the video. It's from Team America movie in case anyone is wondering...
Somehow I think Kyle might dance around about the same way your 2 year old does when he hears the music. ;)
I think you are hitting the 5-year-old demographic too. Ben has asked to see the "cows on the road" video everyday this weekend at least twice a day. He thinks it's really funny to hear Kyle say "Moo" to the cows..... Ok, I think it's really funny too. I don't know what that says about my mentality, but I laugh every time. :)
I wasn't mooing at them, per se, I was more dubbing the mooing into the video from Spanish moo to English moo. It's better than subtitles...
Wow...... cross out Wish You Were Here..... I'm hopping on the next Cow to Juayua: Please have my plate ready at La Feria G upon my arrival.....
haa haaaa! Those cows might be a pretty good mode of transport! I don't know how they'd feel about leading you to the Feria Gastronomica, something tells me they might end up on the menu... ;)
I like murals. The one on the right reminds me of psychedelic-Beatles-Magical-Mystery-Tour-era-acid-trippy-Mahareeshi Mahesh Yogi stuff. Muy frio.
pretty crazy, huh? Haa haa - muy frio. That's one of those english expressions I hope not to have to explain to a spanish speaker. Why is cool, well cool?
It made me smile when you were shooing the cows in English! No wonder they didn't move! Of course, one needs to know...were they "wild cows" or simply on their way home via the most convenient route? They certainly didn't flinch as you drove by. Also, loved the trucks! They make the old Sanford and Son or Beverly Hillbillies sitcoms a reality.
It looks good and makes us want to go to a good Mexican type restaurant.
by Den Sue Czurylo at May 23, 2008 05:27 PM