drove through san salvador, which seems like a typical central american city — although the center has good street signs…so that makes it much better than others (i.e.-tegucigalpa). i also finished taking out all of the sand from my big cut on my heel (one week earlier) — it’s much easier to walk now…probably should have cleaned out my wound better the first time around. now at another little beach town (costa del sol)…although it’s pretty dead (mostly private villas…no real town center). there are so many miles of coastline, and this one is nothing special (warm water, decent beach) — i guess i’m a little jaded now. since nothing big happened today, here’s a collection of some thoughts i’ve had thus far:
+most borders require you to pay money. and so far, none accept credit/debit cards. and also, none have atm’s or banks. instead the governments depend on money-changers who screw you over. is this on purpose or just short-sighted?
+mexico is much bigger than i had originally imagined. and how is size measured? miles, travel time? either way, mexico is big…but especially in

the latter.
+throughout rural mexico one very often comes across garbage patches which smell just awful. i’m pretty convinced that swine flu originated in one of those pits. in guatemala, the practice of burning your trash is much more prevalent…the country looks cleaner, and perhaps has shorter term health benefits but longer term environmental problems?
+it’s interesting observing the relative cost of goods within a country. for instance food:housing seems much higher in guatemala than mexico or the us. in el salvador, it seems the opposite. how does this impact life? conversely, does this suggest something about the culture or politics?
+pollution and environmental destruction seem to be big issues thus far, although, until recently it seems to have been largely ignored. how much is due to lack of education and how much due to lack of feasible alternatives? (i.e.–firewood in the country, littering, no smog checks, etc.) Tradition also seems to play a role — people in eastern guatemala or more likely to use backpacks to carry firewood than people in the west.
+signs in guatemala are often non-existent or confusing. without gps, it seems like the beest strategy is to simply follow the car in front of you. it works most of the time.
+most guatemalans seem to be very nice and quite poor. i’m still not 100% sure if it’s solely because of their nature, or if they’re expecting a tip. EXAMPLE: in antigua, i paid for a hotel room….then 30min later, the kid working there told me that he accidentally overcharged me and returned 10Q, along with an apology. wow.
+in turkey, i learned to appreciate olives — they came with every meal, and being cheap, i figured i should eat them. likewise, on this trip, i’m learning to appreciate beans. +most backpackers say belize is very expensive, and look forward to leaving. they are right, belize is overpriced.
+Guatemala has an interesting relationship with tourists. it neglects to provide certain services, assuming (and depending on) local business will fill the gap. for instance, at the border, you need to pay about 50Q to get in. but there are no banks or atm’s. another example is at castillo de san felipe…which does not provide parking…but a private lot, across the street does — the government run castillo has plenty of space for parking, but chooses to leave it up to the free market.

just finished dinner with the Casey and Mica (the peace corps folks) + their host family. A really good pupusa meal + soda’s for 6/7 of us? $8. incredible. then we hung out at the host family’s house and played guitar, etc. it was a lot of fun. they also talked me out of driving up to the hills tomorrow morning. apparently a number of cars have fallen off the cliff….because their brakes fail. i just had mine changed….but figure i’ll see plenty of other cool mountain views in the weeks to come. plus, i need to pickup patrik at the airport on thursday.

after suchitoto, i drove up to la palma — which the salvadorian woman (there was only one) at border said is a really nice town. she’s right, although it is a bit quiet. it’s an artists town, with a bunch of local art and crafts….although the majority of the shops sell the same stuff. it is quaint and nice, though…and it is nice being surrounded by art. for instance, even the telephone poles are painted (see pic). wandering around, i came across a peace corps volunteer (casey) who has set up a rec club for kids in the area. we played soccer and frisbee for a while, until it began to rain. then we went to his house (along with one of the kids, bryan, and his wife, mica? mikah?) and hung out for a bit. later tonight, we’reas going to grab pupusas.
the place i’m at now, hotel la palma, is good and the people are very friendly. although, one thing which is a bit scary here (as well as much of central america), is the water heater in the showers. (see pic)

so today, i drove from san vicente to suchitoto (an old/colonial tourist city). it’s nice, but i didnt have the best time there. first of all, they have 2 atms and both are broken. how can you have a tourist town without an atm? this seems to be a recurring issue in central america (lack of access to atm’s). then, i had lunch a place that lonely planet recommended ‘la fonda del mirador’. the food was average…but the service was awful. the lake view was nice however — it’s on the crest of a hill, with a view to the lake

all around.

so, today i crossed into el salvador…and unfortunately had to give up my immigration papers….meaning i’ll have to repeat the whole process again in a few days. the problem with honduras auto immigration is that it’s in a state where some people follow the books and others don’t. in the us, i imagine it’s easy….because you basically have to follow the law, so there’s only 1 way. in guatemala, it’s pretty laid back, so that makes sense too. but here, some people will say something and others will say another thing. some people are laid back, some follow the law. and you have to adapt to both. plus, it’s a beaurocratic nightmare and is way overpriced.
el salvador, on the other hand, is cheap (i.e.-free) and is also law abiding. but everyone in immigration seems to follow the law, so it’s much easier and more fun.

right now i’m in san vicente….because i accidentally missed the turn off for alegria. how can a foreign country use the US Dollar as it’s currency? I’m surprised that El Salvador would put it’s entire economic future in the hands of another country….and i’m equally surprised the US would let another country adopt it’s currency like that. nonentheless, it’s nice to be able to think in dollars again…without having to convert. tonight, i had a chicken dinner with a fresh watermelon drink for $4.

note: gps is slightly off.
so, today, for about $30, i got my exhaust pipe patched up again ($8) and my oil/filter changed up ($25). The man who fixed my exhaust pipe (ojenio?), was really nice, and used to do this stuff for the honduras army (thus the uniform). his arc welding setup was pretty haphazard. you can see the machine in the background (middle left, behind the steel box). some of the awkwardly placed steel pipes actually serve as conductors. meaning that most thing in his shop could be part of the circuit…so when he accidentally dropped the torch on the table, it sparked.

today, i drove from siguatepeque to tegucigalpa (the capital). tegucigalpa is incredibly difficult to drive though. it’s not the driving itself (i’m used to the ‘lawless’ nature of it by now), but the navigation. without a gps or guide, it’s very hard….and i spent about 1-2 hrs driving around before finding a good hotel (a detailed map might have help). i’m also pretty sure i went into a few neighborhoods i should not have. but i also drove by some nice churches and the soccer stadium (twice).
tegucigalpa is quite large. and the people here are not as nice as they were in other part. and, unfortunately, almost everything is closed on sunday’s. also. it’s not adviseable to walk around most of the neighborhoods at night. it’s one of those places which could probably be a lot of fun if you knew somebody that lived here….but otherwise, is kind of a pain. tomorrow i’m going to try to get my car tuned up (i haven’t changed the oil in over 5k miles, plus the steering needs to be greased and my exhaust pipe might need to be patched up again….but hopefully i can do it all for under $20 US).

well, looks like peter’s out….and yush’s bet will be dropping out of contention pretty soon too. although, the sentra is starting to hurt a bit.

here are some pics from the countryside here.

i am writing this entry in siguatepeque — a high altitude city, so the climate is cooler…although still not as nice as san cristobal de las casas, mexico. the honduras vs. us world cup qualifier match is going to start soon, and many many people are wearing honduras shirts, waving flags, etc. i wonder what it’s going to be like when they lose.
before embarking on this trip, i knew little about central america, and thought of all countries as more or less the same…just at different stages of development (i.e.–costa rica is relatively wealthy and safe….and guatemala will be like costa rica in a few years).
and, for the most part, the countries are very similar. they share similar environments/climates, diets (same basic ingredients, although cuisine does change slightly), language (spanish, except for different native dialects and accents) and ethnic background (usually spanish, mixed with some native ancestry).

however, it’s also interesting how different each country can be, especially across an arbitrary border…which is relatively easy to cross. words and slang will change (tire repair stores are called llantera’s in mexico/honduras but pinchazo’s in guatemala). fashion will change (in guatemala, and a little bit of belize, corona’s — or gold framed teeth — are very popular). accents will change (in guatemala v = b….so you say bibera instead of vivera…which means greenhouse).
perhaps one of the most interesting differences is in the kindness of people. it seems that every country accuses their southern neighbors of being ruder and more dangerous than themselves. Americans say Mexico is dirty (…well, that one’s kinda true). Mexicans accuse guatemala of being unsafe, and guatemalans say that honduras is similar…but rougher. however, almost the opposite seems to be true. Thus far, the people of honduras are really nice, outgoing and helpful. this is especially true of the women here, who are by far the warmest women i’ve met on the trip thus far.

note: gps is slightly off
here at the pulhapanzak waterfalls. it’s pretty awesome…but unfortunately, my foot is still a bit cut up — it’s probably a good thing i didnt go into the beautiful pool at the base of the waterfall…because just above were hundreds of kids playing in the water, and the smell of animal waste. nonetheless, it’s a great spot to relax, and the water is, as one of the workers there said ‘a delicious temperature’.