Intro to El Sal - parte dos

There are two Continental flights from Omaha to San Salvador every day, an early flight that arrives at noon and a late flight arriving at 8pm. The entire duration of the trip, Epply to Cumapala, is 6.5 hours. After spending approximately 8 hours in the Houston airport and 17 hours traveling I arrived in El Salvador (one of the perks of flying on employee passes). Chris was waiting at the gate for me and escorted me thru customs in the diplo. line, muy importante!


One of my first impression of San Salvador was the great condition of the roads, and the crazy painted buses packed full of people. All of the buses are privately owned and run, what seems to be, a frantically random schedule and route. There are obscure, unmarked bus stops scattered about the city and campo. I guess it is a good thing that we are not allowed, or should I say discouraged from taking the public buses by embassy security. The embassy security dispatch would spend all day trying to help lost gringos who took the wrong bus. The local maras (i.e. gangs) extort the bus owners and the buses are often “held up” by banderos who politely ask everyone to give them one dollar before they exit the autobus peacefully, bounty in hand.



Chris is naturally inclined to stay very busy, and his new position down here is a custom fit. He has been working 12 hour days, Saturdays and Sundays included. He loves the work and the people: I like to break down his job into three parts when explaining it to friends & family: Part 1. Military – i.e. coordinate sending El Sal troops to US for training, etc; Part 2. Humanitarian – i.e. coordinate free medical clinics staffed by US Military doctors, dentists and nurses; and Part 3. Party Planner – i.e. “The four star only drinks wines from the south of Spain, not the North of Spain, make it happen…”. And for someone who likes to fly by the seat of his pants, literally, this third part has proven to be a challenge. He is learning to appreciate the beauty in the details, a man after my own heart. So far we are experiencing a work/home “role” reversal. I am struggling with not working for the first time since school and always want to go and explore when Chris is done working, where he comes home tired and wants to rest on the weekend. Rest assured James; Chris is no longer soliciting Tuesday afternoon golf partners. Que lastima! And for those of you missing his semi-weekly coffee shop rants, don’t take it personally, he doesn’t have much time to hang out pondering the meaning of the universe and surfing the web for “interesting articles”. At least for another 11 months…



Needless to say Chris had my entire week scheduled prior to my plane touching down in El Salvador, not a minute to spare. After a leisurely breakfast at the embassy cafeteria (where Chris has his daily Spanish lesson, typico breakfast, and first cup of café con leche – alas, he is quite disappointed that they do not serve espresso in the cafeteria) he began to brief me on the ways of the Embassy and his take on San Salvador. Although he had some very keen observations, I’m afraid that he lost me somewhere after “You know LIsh…I’m a bit a celebrity around here”.



The first week included: a 3 hour bible study (M); a luncheon with the American Women’s Association (T); spouse luncheon hosted by the Ambassadors wife (W); volunteering in a bodega in the part of town we were clearly instructed not to go (R); and dinner every night with a different couple or group. I’ve managed to study a little Spanish in between activities, but the language differences are strikingly apparent. I often repeat myself to a very confused looking El Salvadoran until finally hitting the jackpot with a pronunciation that they understand. Who knew “la cuenta” would be my downfall.

Since tourism is not exactly booming in El Salvador, the need to speak ingles is not on the forefront. Although many Salvadorans go to school in the states, the majority of the population does not speak English. Chris has a theory that people who only speak one language do not understand how difficult it is to understand a native speaking going 100miles per hour. We both have a renewed respect and appreciation for people who are not native English speakers, what a huge accomplishment to survive and succeed in a foreign land with so many unknown words and expressions. Although right now I feel like there is no way I will be able to understand the endless streaming of gibberish on CNN espanol, Chris continues to encourage me and makes me laugh at the bold confidence he displays when communicating in Spanish. Stay tuned for future language skills updates.