Besides myself, our group today consisted of Gaby, two of her older brothers, her younger sister, her parents, and a former karate mentor. We ultimately all met up at her brother's house after her parents came to help us jump start the vehicle we were in (yes, MORE car problems). From there, we went to what I assume was downtown Santa Ana. There were hundreds of people out and about, arguing with merchants and greedily eyeing food purveyors. The gathering point was at a beautiful cathedral, which can be seen on the left. Despite the back being "unfinished," the entire building was pretty remarkable...
We walked around the cathedral for a little while, noticing tourists darting in and out of the mass. Very few people in the building came off feeling like regulars, though there were quite a few devout Christians of admirable faith, lighting candles and praying before statues of Anne and Jesus. We paid a moment of respect before leaving and walking around town for a bit. It was only after witnessing the religious activity indoors that I noticed how much religious paraphernalia was being sold outdoors. There was food and clothes of a less pious nature of course, but the majority of the merchandise was focused on the religious celebration at hand. Pretty interesting stuff...
After we left the cathedral, we drove to what a gringo can only describe as a fairground. It largely felt like a farmers' showcasing, and I was instantly reminded of Arkansas fairs as we petted our way through horses, cows, and bulls. Gaby's brother Alejandro seemed particularly enthusiastic with this, and went after every horse that had not secluded itself in a corner to munch on straw. There was also a horse named James Blond...turns out Salvadorians have a sense of humor that even gringos can appreciate!
The petting zoo (if you want to call it that) was not all that reminded me of Arkansas. There were grills with meat smoking on top, beer advertisements everywhere, and a potential rodeo that ended up getting cancelled due to the later rain we experienced. We sought protection from the hot sun in a very red tent; that was probably a bad idea, but everyone was psyched to watch El Salvador play football against the United States (lost 5-1). The entire tent was enthusiastic, echoing with the beloved sense of Salvadorian hospitality and nationalism that I have come to enjoy. Strangers were swapping cigarettes and eagerly discussing the game in which everyone simultaneously cheered on a good play by El Salvador and groaned on the States' success (and being the sir I am, I dissented).
In actuality, I guess not a lot happened today, but I had another slice of this culture I have thrown myself into, and I always consider that a good thing. After eating, we went to check out the rodeo, but when it began thundering, we got stepping pretty quickly. I got to spend time with Gaby and the people who influenced her, which was pretty cool. Juan (the karate mentor) reminds me a lot of Mario; both have a certain charisma and project a feeling of hospitality that is fun to be around. Alejandro was a very surprising character; he spent most of his life in the States (Reno and somewhere in Georgia) so he spoke even better English than many of the internationals, contrary to my expectations of being able to communicate solely with Gaby today. He wants to hang out more while I am around, so hopefully we will get to play tennis or basketball in the near future. I am making every effort to avoid wasting my time, and I like to think that Gaby is doing a pretty good job with that. Next time I go to her house, I think Juan wants to take me and her to downtown San Salvador which has a notorious reputation but he claims is quite tame. Regardless of what holds true, I am looking forward to it!One.
