Quite a lot of cultural activities

Hello from Disneyland, Guatemala, (Antigua) and a bit of a catch up. Last week (15th Feb), more Salavdoran wedding preparations were afoot. Shoes and underwear were bought, (from a shop called Temptations, there's only a handful of undies shops here, so you have to try and search for something amongst the all in one synthetic lace body stockings and so on, unless youre looking for all in one lace body stockings, and youre laughing, or maybe itching. Amber has done an impressive job organising all herself for what will be a lovely small pair of weddings- here you start with the civil ceremony where a lawyer marries you, and then follow i tup some days later with the 'religious' ceremony. Amber's will be amongst the normal mass in church this Sunday. All feels very different to English weddings and their formats. Let's hope she passes Padre Gregorio's ominous test and all goes ahead!

Point number 2- I have taken up Pilates with a great teacher called Elio who is Cuban. It is definitely in my top 5 exercises. Hard work on the old muscles, with those exercise balls that look all nice and colourful at the off, which become less benign as you contort, stretch and squeeze yourself around them. Elio walks round with a stick to make sure you areadhering to Mr Pilates special angles. He is great. It is fun going with Amber, and sharing the pain. A point that I did not mention before I realise, is that Amber is pregnant. Yes, having a baby which is very exciting. Apparently pilates is good for that and Dona Elio did it til she was 7 months pregnant. Gruesome aside- Amber said she once saw Madonna in a gym in London, 8 months pregnant and doing sit ups. Made her quite queasy. I'm glad Madonna lives up to her hard bastard image and really does wear leotards off stage though.

Point number 3- Last week was a week of assorted cultural activities. 1.) A couple of exhibitons. First one by a Barcelonan guy, entitled 'rare works' although he seemed to have found plenty of them to exhibit which confused me. There was a great waiter there with a solid neck on his solid body, who Dad would have made a good drawing of (my mark of a good face), who wouldn't let people at his tray of wine til they'd been round the exhibition. Brilliant. Amber's octogenarian uncle was there. He seems a legendary character, although walking was clearly hard for him he was still there. Amber told me she was a little nervous, as he liked to joke around, and had interrupted at a past wedding, during the 'does anyone have any objections' point to tell one of these, not entirley clean, jokes, about marriage. I had a fun chat with him and talked to some of A & B's pals. The other exhibition had some interesting sculpture. Again there people asked surely I was related to the other whiteish person in the room? (Amber) which has been quite funny.

2.) Some music. First off, Thursday eve with a group who played what perhaps could be described as 'progressive rock soundscapes', and why not? although a genre that is not in my top 5. The band seemed very pleasant, but the music, which was described as 'a protest against the global system' (im not sure of the specifics) under headings such as 'The Alchemist' and 'Introspection' was a little heavy on the prog-rock soundscapes for me. I did try. Amber and i had a chat about nachos, and then realised that someone was filming the concert with us behind the singer. More music on Friday was a nice outdoor Vivaldi concert given by a youth orchestra with very young people doing impressive violining, in a small pretty town near SS called Santa Tecla. This was followed a trip to a great small local cafe, La Rayuela, where there was a compact Mexican guy, playing and singing great songs, which was fun. He was joined by a lady with a recorder who did not play London's Burning but some very good music. We were all getting into in, when a man in a suit with a pen in his top pocket decided to get up and sing his stuff. Pens in top suit pockets are never good musical omens and so it was.

End of the week on Saturday was a trip to the beach, Sunzal. Where most of the tourists to ES go. It was funny to see after being in untouristy SS. Lots of surfers. Water was quite rough and I managed to somehow be flung to my knees and dragged under about 6 inches of water. Evening was a trip to one of the very few theatres (in a mall) in SS. A man with a monologue about a daughter he lost who turned out not to be his. I kept up at the beginning, but my Spanish let me down around the time he opened up a shaft of grain from the theatre ceiling onto his head and then started hacking up raw meat and throwing it about, including dangling it in his mouth, which made us worry about him catching some e-coli.

Right, am off now, but will update on Guatemala soon, where I arrived on Sunday and am staying til tomorrow. Bye bye xxxx

Boom shake the room

So hello again, firstly in response to some people asking 'what are you doing?' i should reply that I have come here to unleash my finely honed teaching skills on the people of San Salvador- i was teaching (Tefl) in London at the end of last year, but thought that it would be good to teach somewhere new and exciting, so here I am.

this last week there's been more San Salvador based fun

Wednesday 11th: Football. El Salvador vs. Trinidad & Tobago in a world cup qualifier. Firstly, is anyone else surprised to learn that Dwight Yorke is still playing for T&T? He's been playing for about a million years. We drove up to the Cuscatlan stadium full of excitement at being able to see some international footballing and parked the car, assisted by a young boy who said in not a totally convinced way 'It (the car) should be fine..I don't think any gangs will come'. I had already been advised to wear trainers (in case of tremors or a fire) so it all seemed a bit more 'edgy' than a Saturday eating soggy pies sponsored by Barclaycard in a london stadium. We sat in the 'Sol' section, which is the cheapest. Not too much sol as it was an evening game. No soggy pies either, but icecreams, burgers, nuts, pop and the world's largest hotdogs being ketchuped and mustarded up from a big cardboard box by a group of women who were selling up at the front. All seemed to be going drastically wrong for ES, the crowd were showing their detest for the 'pendejo, mexicano mierda' referee and linesmen by throwing little water pouches that they sell in the stadium, onto the pitch. We were sitting at the bottom of the sol section and just about managed to avoid being soaked as the little blue bags rained down around us. I the last 10 minutes, ES were down 2-0 and the the number of litle blue bags flying through the sky increased, and then 2 great penalties and the game had turned around, all the men were suddenly at the top of the fence shaking it and cheering and the mexican referee lived to ref another day.

Thursday 12th: Amber and I went up to a mountain town called Suchitoto, which the government promote as a tourist centre. I imagine it's like Antigua in Gautemala- all clean, cobbly, painted up and colonial. It's much much hotter there than in San Salvador for some reason. (Why is this?) When we arrived, we went for a drink at a posada that looked out onto lake Suchitlan below, just enjoying said lake, when a man and his camera came up to the table, filming some kind of publicity for the hotel or town. I was asked if I would send 'saludos' (greetings) to 'all our Salvadoran brothers and sisters in Washington' which was a touch unexpected. The man kept haranguing us and Amber advised that it's better not to be filmed as 'you never know where it'll end up', so I gave up my chance of centralamerican celebrity. Unfortunately I managed to spend the night under the only mosquito net in Salvador to be poplated entirely by mosquitos as my legs now attest (which with accompanying teeth marks are really looking lovely). I might call them itchy and scratchy.

Friday 13th: Surely far too inauspicious a day to do anything?

Saturday 14th - Sunday 15th: Woken up by a tremor which shakes the room and bed and is quite dramatic. A bit like living in Queens Park, when my bed would shake as the trains wen past, but a bit more scary. In the evening we headed off to the coast and spent a night at the sea at a place called Balsamar (not Baltasar). As we were unpacking our things, and Baltasar went off to the bathroom, a scorpion sprinted out, which he squshed with his shoe. Ye gads I thought. No one told me about them. Apparently they like dark damp places where they can go about their scorpion business. I spent much of the night in a neurotic fear, (after I'd managed to force myself to go into the bedroom) hoping that my bed was not going to be charged upon by the scorpion family avening the loss of one of their brothers. To mine and Amber's delight there was a ping pong table at the beach. Whilst we dazzled each other with our moves, i suggested we enter the 2012 Olympics as the El Salvador table tennis team, an idea I must follow up.

Sunday was spent mainly in a hammock which is one of my favourite inactivities. I finished my brilliant book- 3 Cups of Tea, about an American ex-mountaineer nurse who is building schools, especially for girls, in remote parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan. I also ate a delicious ranchero breakfast- corn tortillas, eggs and fresh cheese. I have decided I can never eat another corn lead weight tortilla. There was a bit of time in the sea too on Sunday, not all hammock. I can't get over the fact that the sea is warm here. We went back in the evening stopping for a coffee at a nice beach-side place at Playa Zonte. I'm getting used to drinking black coffee, following the docs advice to avoid 'lacteos' dairy. Although he also said that 3 weeks into my recovery I might be able to eat 'safe' things like MacDonalds so I'm not sure about that.

Now back in San Salvador and I'm planning some trips out and then back here for A & B's wedding in just under 2 weeks. I'm going to be her witness which is exciting, as long as I get fearsome Padre Gregorio's seal of aproval, which considering he is, somewhat curiously, insisting Amber has her 'first communion' right before she gets married (which involves studying 30 units on God he has kindly emailed over, in the next week and a half, which he will then test her on and judge wheher she's ready to be communed and wed), it seems like it might be unlikely. We're sure that he's possibly inventing new rules as he goes along, which may involve him changing the country's constitution.

Well done if you're still here. Have god weeks. I hear the snow has gone and Israel has gone super right wing. Oh dear. Besos y un abrazo fuerte xxx

Some things about El Salvador & pictures!

Hello hello! On my left we have a wonderful tree in the mountain town of Panchimalco (maybe on my expert map) above San Salvador. The tree was massive and beautiful. It´s great here at about 5.30, 6 when the sun goes down (it stays around 30C here in the day year round), as depicted, as it gets all cool and still. Panchilmalco is one of the few places with an indigenous community left in El Salvador. Baltasar (Amber´s beau) got a haircut up there. i reckon this guy could give Hamilton a run for his money Ian. Pictures below at various stages of haircut, sensing it wasn´t quite going to plan, and realsing that the clippers only have one setting.

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Thanks for your comments and suggestions for the blog - I have added some pics to the first ever post, New York, which is a good representation of the amount of time i spent eating. In an effort to rearrange I seem to have lost the pic of the church with the stained glass and weaponry on the wall so I hope you got a good look at that.

So, now for you some things I have seen and learnt about El Salvador while I´ve been here

There are many many buses, mainly repainted US school buses. Nearly all have religious slogans laminated on, such as "In God we Trust", or other such things like inspirational quotes "It is better to live your life standing up than on your knees" (can you see it on the London buses?), and also quite often support for Barcelona (footie club). Barca and Real Madrid are big here and often get more support than the national side. The buses seem to operate with a guy hanging out the door pulling people up and on to the bus, whether it´s the right route or not, which he then makes money out of. smart. I expect I would probably end up in Mexico if I took too many.

There are many bejwelled and done up mature ladies or "doñas". Impressive characters. One of whom was working in the jewellery shop we picked up Amber´s engagement ring from. probably in her 70s, she had peroxide hair, shocks of rouge on the cheeks and looked like she was made of strong stuff. As Amber admired the ring, the lady, looking me up and down, asked Amber; "¿Esta casada?" (Is she married?). When Amber replied no, she looked puzzled and said "No es fea...es bonita" (She´s not ugly..she´s pretty). Well thank f for that i thought! Whew! And there I was thinking I was not going to get married due to my ugly mug. In the car on the way home, I saw Amber was bleeding from her ear. This turned out to be the rouge effect rubbing off on her though so all was well. The culture you could say is still macho, Amber was telling me how it´s normal for there to be an efeminate man in lots of towns that the tough guys will have sex with to prove their manliness. I wonder if it works?

There are many many malls here. Lots of empty shops at the moment. We went last night to one for cinema purposes to see Benjamin Button. It gets very quiet at night here generally and no one is out on the streets really when it´s dark. In the day the informal sector is crazy, shopwize. In downtown San Salvador the street vendors eclipse the actual shops that are paying the rent for the shop space, which adds to the squeezed feeling in bits of the city

Globalisation is alive and well, whether it is in support for Real or Barca, the music on the radio, much of which is the same as home, or in the gossip section of the papers- while Ive been here I´ve been cheered to see the exportation of Great British culture in the paper here- pictures of WAG Abby Clancy, an admission by Victoria Beckham that she ´likes women but is not a lesbian´and news of Robbie Wiliam´s return to Take That. NUTS.

On a positive note, because Salvador is so dinky, you can get around it and see lots of different things quite easily. It´s not far from the beach (where you can search out pretty empty ones, Ive only seen a handful of tourists so far) or from the mountains and hill towns like Panchimalco or Boqueron. We went up to a coffee plantation in one of these which was beautiful and a bit wild and nice and high up to see everything and see the city down below.

Below are some pictures of A & B, and me here. love to you all xx
Note for Pippa- films Ive seen while I´ve been here-
Zohan, Australia and Benjamin Button. Have you seen them? Hugh Jackman is in Australia! I am retrospectively excited that I saw him now.

First week in San Salvador

Hello again if anyone´s still at the other end,
Hmmm... rough few days that saw me go into hospital again with a sudden bacterial stomach infection. I felt really bad. I went in last Tuesday night and stayed in til Thursday avo during which time the nice Panamanian Dr. and the nurses looked after me and pumped me full of antibiotics and painkillers on a drip. Amber looked after me very well too and staying in on the first night which was very nice and good as i was pretty incapable and could hardly move. On Wednesday we enjoyed the plethora of cable channels, watching some American trash tv and a programme about armadillos. They are pretty good on the animal scale. Thursday I had 2 mega doses of antibioics so felt pretty wiped out. Also, it´s quite sore having a drip in at times as your veins feel the strain of it and so the nurses have to find you a new one (vein). It´s a pretty good transportation system for medication though I have to say. I´ve been getting better day by day, the antibiotics are strong and I´ve had a couple of antibiotic íntramuscular injections´(shots in the arse) since coming out of hospital. I´m feeling less blue now which is good and am getting some food down me, although I have to be really careful what I eat and prepare everything at home which will be interesting. Any simple recipes you could send would be great! I´m grateful to still be here after the last week and am feeling a bit more respectful of life and all in it I have to say. Hope you all are well? I hear there´s more snow on the way in the UK, am sad not to see it! Look after yourselves and send your news and recipe ideas xxx

First few days in San Salvador - Part One

Hello all, how´s things? Thanks again everyone for comments and reading. I apologise for incoherence in last blog. I hear there´s a winter wonderland over the south east at the mo which sounds fun. If only those budget Lapland themeparks had got a few more reindeer in they´d probably be raking it in now.

So, I am in San Salvador as above, a little bruised and tired but ok. I got off the plane into the 32 degree heat fairly exhilarated to be alive and walked out to spot Amber in the arrivals bit which was fun. Also a bit of a relief considering the lack of Plan B preparations we had made in case this did not happen (like exchanging adresses or phone numbers). Amber is an old pal from school who lives out here and works as an artist. We haven´t seen each other that much since school so it´s very lovely to be here with her. We go to meet her man Baltasar (why cant English men have epic names like this?) for some food and in between my chatting, Amber reveals that her and B are to tie the knot which is blimmin exciting! This is followed by a further announcement at lunch and the excitement levels are almost too much for my little brain. After a nice bit of nourishment (steak sanger) we go back to Amber and B´wicked flat (all artistic and everything) to inform Emsy and Pippa (friends from this same heady era of wine swigging in school toilets) of the exciting news that has just been shared.Goodness some of us are getting grown up. That´s 3 of my nearest pals that are getting wed this year, a little earlier than the Office of National Statistics records for women of the UK I see. I have a lovely little area in their flat made up and from the window I can see a volcano which makes a change from the car park out the back in Willy G. There´s also a man with a gun, lots of trees, a beautiful breeze in the evening and some street dogs.

On Friday and the weekend, we spent time visiting places around San Salvador which has been fun and lots to take in. One of the first things you notice here is the high level of security. Guys with guns seem to guard most of the establishments here. A little unnerving to have these instruments of death casually dangling at their sides like extra limbs which are sometimes cocked at unnerving angles. You hope they´re wearing sensible footwear. I looked as we drove through the city and saw them not just outside banks but places like the Palacio de Postres (Pudding Palace). This is taking the biscuit I thought! A trifle uneccesary surely? On Friday Amber and I head off to Illopango, a lake near the city. We drive through an area called Soyapango, on of the poorer neighbourhoods and home to some of the ´mara´gangs. There´s 2 major gangs out here- 18th St. and Mara Salvatrucha. Lots of them are comprised of guys who were sent back to Salvador fromthe US- predominantly from LA. There´s a film being released about them called ´La Vida Loca´- we watched a trailor of it and it looks horrendous. Part of the marking of gang territory seems to involve tatooing gang names and symbols onto members´(including womens´) faces.

The lake was very peaceful. There was a woman washing in the lake (herself and her clothes). It is also home to the San Salvador diving club. Maybe I should give it a go? We drive over to see Amber´s mum who is from here. It´s nice to see her after a long time. We chat about things, drink frescas (fruit drinks), eat a corn-based snack (cbs´s are a staple here) and have a look around the house which is fun. Amber´s Mum has 2 dogs and I see the first one who seems pretty chilled. I´m warned about the other one, a 60 lb Doberman who is very protective of Amber´s mum. Can you guess what´s going to happen next readers? So yes on the way out to the car it becomes clear that this dog is out. When I say becomes clear, I mean one moment he is in bark range, the next we are looking at each other, I then think oh shit and make for the car. And doggy takes a big bite of my leg from behind. This is rather painful and a bit of a shock. And so it transpires that just when I thought I´d had enough excitement for 48 hours I am in hospital in San Salvador getting the aforementioned wound seen to. The doctor was very nice, checked that the dog had been vaccinated, dressed me up and prescribed me antibiotics and made me feel better, along with Amber who was great. Thankyou. Let´s move on.

Amber took good care of me at home and made me ice the leg up to stop bruising and we had a chilled evening, followed by a restless night with me feeling a bit freaked out by things and a very windy wind going on outside. On Saturday we went to check out the dramatic but simple church, Iglesia del Rosario, in downtown San Salvador where the knot will be tied in a month. (Picture top left hopefully). El Salavdor is still a very Catholic country (you can see religious slogans on most of the many buses) and most get married in church, which may also include the couple attending marital workshops led by, in A&B´s case, an old-school priest, Padre Gregorio. The architect who designed the church, Ruben Latinez, has incoporated eye catching pieces made from salavaged arms from the civil war which ended officially in 1992. Downtown San Salavdor is at the bottom of a valley so can get very badly polluted. We had a wander round the markets including a whole row of hairdressers inviting us in ´Pasen..Adelante..Pase!´Lots and lots to see. We bought some delicious snacks from outside the church- Pupusas- like corn pancakes (cbs) stuffed with things like frijoles and cheese, pork and ayote (green squash like veg). These were followed by a great lunch of ceviche- a fresh pickled fish affair. I learnt more about Baltasar and the interesting places he´s lived and jobs he´s done which was fun. More on this later... Time for a blog break. Apologies for incoherence in last blog, was a bit frazzled. I note it is full of poor grammar.

Hattie- those lushious NY foods were macaroni cheese and frankfurters
Pippy- the film I watched was the atrocious ´How to lose friends and alienate people´ with the guy from Spaced. Last night I watched ´thankyou for smoking´also not great but a bit interesting seeing the main character of the tobacco lobbyist in action. Amber and I were confused by the casting of Katie Holmes. We may watch another movie tonight. I will of course keep you posted.

Love to you all. Will post some pics if can manage the technology
xxx