Suchitoto, El Salvador - October / November, 2015

Anyone who has read the few, but universally grim stories in the U.S. or Canadian press about El Salvador is probably wondering why we choose to travel in such a violent place. In other posts we've shared our personal "lightening strike" theory of life and travel in statistically dangerous countries, so we won't repeat that here. In this and our next post we'll just share our experiences traveling inland in Salvador -- and perhaps show you a bit about the everyday story which doesn't make good newspaper copy.  

[As an aside we can't help noting that, according to Facebook there are thousands of armed people wandering through Walmart stores in the U.S. every day . . . you're on your own if you want to brave Walmart.]

Around Town

The town of Suchitoto bills itself as the cultural center of El Salvador. And while it's not exactly London or Paris it has a nice art center; lovely, human-scale 19th-century architecture; 

Sleepy Suchitoto Above Lago Sucitlan

a couple of nice restaurants; a good coffee bar (Casa de la Abuela); a funky Marxist-themed bar; a good climate; cool-ish weather; a theater (nothing showing during our visit); and at least one very nice hotel (the Los Almendros de San Lorenzo - we neglected to take pictures, but the hotel's website is very nice).

The central plaza is sweet and the church that occupies one side has a beautiful, wooden interior (unusual to those familiar with Mexican churches).

Iglesia Santa Lucia

Wooden Interior 

Walking around town one can see other evidence that faith plays an important part in the life of the community . .. . 

A Plaque Honoring the Recently Canonized
Archbishop Oscar Romero

Abigail's God Bless You Store

. . . people living their everyday lives . . . 

Grocery Shopping In The Newly Renovated Market 
(Gotta Love The Market Ladies' Cute Apron Frills)

Commercial Tortilla Factory (Tortillaria)

. . . and signs that many people are committed to addressing the community's domestic violence problems which we were told stem in part from the separation of families and the general culture of violence resulting from the civil war. 

"In This House We Want a Life
Free of Violence Against Women" -
This Stencil is On Many Houses In Town

Suchitoto is the home of the Center of Art For Peace, opened in 2005 for the expressed purpose of supporting peace through the arts. What's not to like about that?

We Were There

A Wood Screen Detail - The Center Is Housed In A
Beautiful Ex-Convent Building

An Oral History Interview Took Place 
While We Were Visiting

Art Lessons Are Available -
Differing Views of the Oral History Interview Space

On a less elevated plain, Suchitoto is also home to the Museum of a Thousand Plates.  For only $1 one can see over 1,000 . . . plates. It's very kitschy -- but the operator is nice and he gave Molly the best tourist road map of Salvador that we've found yet. The map was worth the price of admission. The plates - not so much.

)

One Of The More Than 1,000 Plates

Another visit that most tourists make is to the El Necio bar, decorated with Che and FMLN posters. 

[Side note: The Frente Farabundo Marti Para La Liberacion Nacional (the Farabundo Marti Front For National Liberation) was named to honor Farabundo Marti, the leader of an ill-fated 1932 peasant revolution. The FMLN was the leftist guerrilla umbrella organization during the country's civil war and now, as a result of democratic elections, the country's ruling party.]

We appreciated the bar's theme and enjoyed the breeze in the upstairs seating area but were thoroughly confused when the bartender couldn't make a rum and tonic. The menu listed gin and tonic, vodka and tonic and Cuba libre but we couldn't communicate to the bartender (despite Bryce's relatively good Spanish skills) how to take the rum (Cuba libre) and the tonic (gin/vodka and) and make . . . a rum and tonic. Perhaps our comrade needs some bartender 're-education' . . . 

A Fair!

A little fair was going on, which enlivened our walks around town.

Preparing the Ferris Wheel (Look Bottom Right)

A Kite Flying Event In The Plaza

Night-time Merry-Go-Round
Complete With Watchful Moms

Beauty Contestants In Training

Church Fundraiser

Out of Town

We hired a guide through the hotel to take us to a couple of the "must see" places outside of town. He arranged a boat ride on Lago Suchitlan. The lake is covered with water hyacinths (though this picture doesn't show them) which we thought might be an invasive species problem, but our guide assured us they act to purify the water in the lake. 

Lago Suchitlan

We also visited the Los Tercios waterfall which is quite beautiful, even in a relatively dry year. 

We Were There

We were fascinated by the geographic formation of the falls - Bryce's comment was that it was like walking through the beginning of time.

An Great Upheaval Took Place Here

The best part of our guide experience was our conversation over coffee about his family's life during the war. Both of his parents worked for the FMLN as educators and traveled the country explaining the FMLN's political and strategic positions. He gave us an interesting perspective on the effect this disruption had on his family and told us a bit abut his parents' lives since the end of the war.

Dia de Muertos

Our last day in Suchitoto was Dia De Muertos in Salvador (November 2). We stopped by the local cemetery on our drive out of town and were interested to see the public celebration of the day. The streets around the panteón (cemetery) were choked with traffic. The road leading into the panteón was lined with stalls of plastic flower vendors calling out "Ooon doh-lahr! Ooon doh-lahr poor flohress!" (Un dolar por flores - One dollar for flowers!) [Reminder: El Salvador's currency is the U.S. dollar.]

Un Dolar!

The panteón was absolutely jammed with people of all ages. Those entering the cemetery were carrying several dolars worth of plastic flowers. 

El Panteón

The atmosphere was energetic. Friends and family greeted each other with hugs and handshakes; there was live entertainment; it was not at all a solemn occasion.

Not Exactly Funereal Music

We had to laugh at ourselves. For years we had avoided going to cemeteries for Dia de Muertos thinking we might intrude on solemn family events. We knew that in some towns in Mexico the community is used to seeing outsiders in their midst - Oaxaca and Pátzcuaro are famous for accepting visitors at their celebrations. But we were never in those places, so we didn't know how our presence would be received. But clearly, unless Salvadoreños and Mexicanos celebrate very differently, we would not have been intruding on anything solemn! 

Travel Tips

Suchitoto is located in the northern part of El Salvador, about 60 kilometers (but at least a 1.5 hour drive) north-east of San Salvador. Driving in Salvador has its challenges but you shouldn't miss a trip to Suchitoto or a stay at Los Almendros. That said, having made the drive from San Salvador to Suchitoto in the dark (due to a very long day at the customs office at the airport) our recommendation is to make the trip in daylight hours. The roads are sketchy, the signage even more so, the country doesn't seem to have real road maps (see above re: tourist map) and Mapquest directions are not terribly helpful. When the nice man at the gas station gives you directions - tip him. 

Another related driving tip: the market area of San Salvador is vibrant, crowded and exciting. But don't try driving through there at 5 p.m. on a Friday. Unless you have a fully insured rental car.

Next?

A drive along the Ruta de Las Flores.

Dia de Muertos, Mazatlan Style -- November 1, 2013

First, the Weather

As we write (mid-afternoon, November 3) eastern Pacific Depression Eighteen-E has been named Tropical Storm Sonia and NOAA projects that she will be coming to visit a coastal area near us some time early tomorrow morning.  The current model anticipates landfall north of Mazatlan at about 4 a.m. tomorrow, winds up to 45 miles per hour and 2-6 inches of rain (localized amounts up to 10 inches). 

At the moment it's raining steadily and the skies and occasional rolls of thunder are a bit ominous.  El Capitan has been out to check on Abracadabra to see if anything had changed since he checked on her last night. 

El Capitan Departing the Marina Gate of the Apartment Complex.
First Mate Photographer is Snuggly Indoors

Bryce reports that Abracadabra is still tied to the dock, her hatches and ports are still closed and El Capitan is soaking wet, but feeling confident that she will weather the storm.  Molly has declared the coming storm a sign that it's a day for a big breakfast, drinking a lot of coffee and reading our electronic New York Times. 

More on Sonia when we know how tough a broad she is. 

Dia de Muertos -- Estilo Mazatlan

Last year we wrote a lot about Dia de Muertos, it's significance and how it is celebrated here in Mexico (see our November 5, 2012 post if you're interested in that) so we won't go through all of that again.  This posting is about the public celebration here in Mazatlan. 

As background, it's important to know that Mazatlan is the home of Cerveza Pacifico Clara - the beer of Mexico's Pacific Coast.  This beer is one of the cultural impacts of the wave of German immigrants to Mazatlan in the mid 19th Century.  [Another is an annoying screeching clarinet sound that can often be heard in Mexican banda music . . . ].  Thus it shouldn't be surprising that the public Dia de Muertos celebration in Mazatlan involves a big parade featuring donkey carts filled with barriles (beer kegs) from which beer is dispensed for free.  What better way to honor the departed?  



Donkey Standing Patiently, Screen Left

Gracias, Camarero!

Una Mas, Por Favor!

Not wanting to miss out on the fun, we went downtown with the plan of sitting at a table at a restaurant on Plazuela Machado -- the starting and ending point for the parade.  It became clear that all the good restaurants around the plazuela had been booked for some time, but we knew we were too old and agoraphobic to join the parade and try for free beer, so we took an available table. 

As we waited for our first round of sad adult beverages (possibly the worse margarita in Mexico) to be delivered, sailors from Calliope and Grasshopper walked by.  They were looking (in vain) for a place to sit so we invited them to join us.  Six of us crowded around our little table and made it a party. 

The Crews of Abracadabra, Caliope and Grasshopper
(Photo by El Capitan)

Our little party was only one of many taking place along the edges of the parade route.  It was a night of excellent people watching.  Many were painted up to honor the presence of death in every day life and, as a result, to celebrate life itself. 

There's Death Within Love . . .

Within Youth . . .

Within Beauty. . .



And Within Those Too Young To Truly Understand.

A Favorite Mask -- Life and Death Together.

With our compadres we celebrated life and enjoyed the sights and sounds of the evening.  As is often the case when talking with other sailors in Mexico, we marveled how a mob scene with free beer still managed to seem a joyful, family friendly event.  Noisy and chaotic, yes -- but not a single staggering drunk or fist fight was observed.  And this is in Sinaloa, which is deemed to be such a dangerous state.  Close your eyes and imagine a free beer parade in a large city in the US or Canada . . . .

We left the scene early, and our table was avidly snatched up by a Mexican family way too large for a table for four.  We decided not to try warning them about the bad food and drink they were going to be subjected to -- the seating and dining choices were even slim

We took a "red truck taxi" (exactly what it sounds like: a communal taxi that is a bright red truck with some benches built into the back) home, happy to be alive - and not just because we'd ridden in the back of a pick-up truck!

La Paused in La Paz

Life is easy in a nice marina – and Marina Palmira is a very nice marina: sturdy docks; water; power; clean showers laundry facilities; shuttle to town; small tienda/chandlery;  two dock-side restaurants and . . . . drum roll please: access to the nearby hotel’s swimming pool! 

La Paz itself is very easy to adapt to (see prior posts about its charms).  And now that we have a car, we find that we are less efficient – if we don’t remember to get X at the store – we can just go back tomorrow.  Thus we have succumbed to the local cruiser condition of being “La Paused”.

 

Not that we have been completely idle! Oh, no:

WE VOTED – AND WE HOPE YOU HAVE TOO:  And an expensive proposition it was.  Our mail-in ballots arrived at our San Francisco address after we departed for Mexico.  So, we had them forwarded, along with other mail, to us in La Paz via Federal Express.  Realizing that our ballots had to be received by November 6 to be counted (we had somehow thought they only needed to be mailed by November 6) we paid to have them sent by UPS to Sacramento where friends Ken and Claudia Carlson have placed them into the US Mail in a timely fashion.  Ken tells us that our package was apparently reviewed by the Office of Homeland Security – but that they didn’t open our ballots! 

We were willing to pay $35 dollars to get our ballots in on time (even though they will have little effect on California’s Electoral College vote) because this was Bryce’s first vote for President (he became a nuevo Americano in 2011)!  And there’s the psychological comfort of knowing that however tomorrow’s election and the subsequent litigation turns out – WE voted for the best candidates and the “right” policies.  Obama/Biden 2012! 

WE ARE PUTTING ABRACADABRA BACK INTO CRUISING FORM: We pulled the items

 stored in the salon and the V-berth (for non-sailors: the “living room” and the “bedroom”) and have been putting them back on.  On went the sails, the dingy hoist, the outboard motor for the dingy, the cockpit table (aka the breakfast nook), the safety equipment, the bar-b-que, the new anchor chain and the anchor.  Into little storage places went the new salt, sugar, paper towels and rice.  We installed the bimini (the shade at the stern) and, with the help of our neighbor Robert, the solar panels.  It had been a year since Bryce and Frank designed and built the solar panel braces. . . so it took a bit of head scratching to figure out how to put them back together.   

 Hmmmm - now how was it this thing worked?

Note to selves: don’t throw away installation instructions, and if it’s something self-manufactured . . . make a note – a year is a long time between installations!

WE CELEBRATED DIA DE MUERTOS:  Molly attended a lecture at a Spanish language school about the Day of the Dead and learned that, though the celebration has its roots in pre-Hispanic tradition, the current form of the celebration dates from the 18^th century.  There are actually two days during which the dead are honored – the first day (November 1 – Todos los Santos) is for those that died in childhood or in youth, and the next day (November 2 – Fieles Difuntos) is for those that died after attaining adulthood.  Much like American or Canadian Thanksgiving or Christmas, the holiday includes a few common elements, but the celebration is primarily a reflection of each family’s separate “culture”.

The common theme is an altar honoring the departed, erected for the purpose of inviting them to return to their home and family for the day.  Sometimes this alter is in the home, and sometimes at the cemetery.  Altars usually include an image of a religious figure that was important to the deceased (Christo, la Virgin de Guadalupe, or a patron saint), marigolds, candles and offerings of favorite foods or drink.  As the lecturer mentioned tequila and cigarettes, Molly envisioned an altar including Diet Dr. Pepper and mini-Snickers bars. . . the ambrosia of her teenage years.  The altar also includes pictures of the deceased, at least one of which is placed facing a mirror.  Though the lecture was in Spanish, and she understood only about seventy percent of it (and pretty proud of that, actually!) Molly thinks that the point of the mirror is for the deceased to see him- or her-self reflected in the mirror along with the surrounding family. 

The more commercial aspects of the day include a sweet-bread flavored with anise seed that is topped with dough formed in the shape of crossed bones.  These pan de muertos are sold at all the grocery stores either as large loaves or packages of many small loaves.  It’s clearly a celebration for large families, not two people living on a small boat.  Fortunately, Molly got a chance to try the bread at the lecture, and figure out it apparently is an acquired taste, so we were spared the purchase of a large loaf of something we didn’t really love.

What we did purchase was a calavera – a skull made of sugar.  They’re everywhere.  There must be a giant plant extruding sugar skulls at a ferocious rate all through October somewhere in Mexico – note the UPC bar code! 

Indigenous Art . . . With Bar Code.

We placed our sugar skull in our altar place (next to the St. Christopher and the Buddha friends have provided us) to honor our departed family members.  On November 2, we unwrapped it and took a small bite.  Hmmm – it tasted as you might imagine: a tablespoon of sugar with that funky chemically flavor of colored icing.  We (reverently) sent it off to the great trash bin on the dock before it attracted any bugs.  We hope Howard (Bryce’s father) and Bob and Patti (Molly’s parents) came to visit us, and if they did, that they did not try the calavera, but that they enjoyed the thought that their crazy old children were living on a little boat in Mexico.  Molly is concerned that her mother is now worried that her daughter is living without air conditioning . . . something she often said was mankind’s greatest invention after indoor plumbing. 

The important take-away for us is that it’s nice to have a particular day set aside to invite those 

that we have loved to return to us for a party.  We’re planning on making this a part of our annual celebration ritual -- though we think we’ll keep the sugar skull inside its wrapper for direct deposit into the landfill next year. 

WE DID A GOOD DEED:  We joined fellow boaters in participating in the clean-up of nearby Balandra Beach one Sunday.  We were hot and sweaty by the end of our efforts – and had a huge Costco bag of trash to add to the pile being hauled off the beach. 

Litter Patrol

We picked up enough cigarette butts to atone for our former lives as smokers, and we learned that styrofoam lives longer in the blazing Baja sun than does the thin plastic used to make drinking cups (those would literally disintegrate in our hands as we tried to pick them up).   Longer lived still are chip packages.  We felt very virtuous about our efforts, and more importantly, were reminded not to purchase things in styrofoam and to keep our (oft forgotten) pledge to take reusable plastic with us to dinner to use as our take-home box! 

WE WILL OVERCOME THE INDOLENCE OF BEING LA PAUSED!  We are planning to depart La Paz on Thursday the 8^th.  We need to buy propane and some food (we hear re-provisioning in the little villages in the Gulfo de California is limited), and get the dingy inflated and strapped onto the deck.  But there’s no need to rush anything really.  We’re retired you know.  Once we depart we’ll travel north to – well, however far we get.  We will write as we away.