Festival Day!

Sunday, Apr. 17, 2011—Concepcion de Ataco to Juayua

My room last night was damp. I can’t figure out why. This is the dry season. I noticed, however, that it smelled musty and felt damp when I checked in. I didn't worry about it, because it was the last available room in the town. It was more evident when I went to bed, though. Even the sheets felt damp. When I awoke this morning, there was a thick layer of moisture on the inside of the window. Strange. I didn't sleep as well as I would have without that moisture.

I also had a mosquito problem last night. That’s because the hotel has a fountain which is being installed. Mosquitoes are probably coming from the stale water standing in it. I noticed the one I had fly into my room when the door was open. Then, while I as trying to go to sleep, I heard the buzzing. I batted at it trying to kill it against my head, but that didn't work. I then turned on the light and searched for it on the wall. When I found it, I slapped it with my hand. Then I slept well the rest of the night other than feeling strange in a damp bed.

Before leaving, I took a final stroll around Ataco. The town was alive with people who had come from the countryside for Palm Sunday services and for the market. It is such a peaceful, beautiful place. It would be easy to be lost here for a while. I thought I might have breakfast, but the only place I saw serving it was an expensive restaurant that cost more than I pay in San Antonio to eat. Therefore, I headed back to my hotel and checked out for the trip to Juayua knowing there would be a food festival there.

Fortunately, a bus was leaving just as I got to the station. The route through the mountains was beautiful—lined with many resorts and maybe second homes. Flowers were blooming everywhere. They seem to have ideal weather for growing just about anything—cool nights and warm, but not hot, days. This, as well as the area where I was in Guatemala, is a prime coffee bean growing region. So far, however, I don’t think I’ve seen Juan Valdez!

The hotel had no record of my reservation. Fortunately, however, they were not completely booked. I had reserved a private room, so they put me in a dormitory with 3 beds and a bath all by myself. After straightening all that out, I headed out to explore the city.

Juayua (pronounced why-ooh-ah), is not as pretty as Ataco. However, it is the scene of a weekend gourmet food festival each week. There are rows of tents set up down the centers of streets with cooking stations and tables for eating. Each cooking station has 3-4 specialties, and most of them have plates already prepared and on display so you can see what you will get. Supposedly, the stalls are operated by some of the top chefs in El Salvador. It was 11:30, and I was hungry, so I wandered through the tents trying to decide what to eat. There were places with beef, with various styles of chicken, with various kinds of sausages, with seafood, etc. I decided to pick something special that I have never tried before. With that criterion in mind, I settled on a plate called pechuga rellena de queso y loroco which included a special sauce, rice, salad, and tortillas. It was far more food than I have been used to eating, and it was delicious. It consisted of boneless chicken breast which had been pounded flat and rolled with cheese and a special Central American herb inside. It had a green sauce on the outside when cooked, and another orange sauce over it on the plate. The tortillas in El Salvador are smaller and thicker than those at home or in Mexico—about 10 cm (4 inches) in diameter and about 1 cm (3/8 inch) thick. It was all very delicious. The price was $6. Afterwards, I had a glass of fruit-flavored water that was filled with small pieces of chopped fruits and herbs. It was good, too, but a little too sweet for me.

I took my book with me and read in the main plaza. Occasionally I would look up and watch the people. The town was really alive because of the combination of the usual weekend food festival and Palm Sunday. Most of the tourists were El Salvadoran families. Many may have been here just for the day, since it is not a long drive to other cities including the capital. Scattered among them were a few foreigners. Essentially, these families were just having a great time. Besides all the food, there was a street train, carriage rides, pony rides, a giant boa constrictor to handle while having one’s picture made, blaring music from all directions (both live and via disk jockey), an Easter processional through the streets, etc. It was truly a festive day.

By 17:00, however, things were winding down. They were closing the kitchens and families were leaving by car, bus, and pickup trucks (which serve as a form of public transportation). The church had another full house for its last service of the day. By 19:00 when I went out to find some dinner, the town was left only with the local people and had become rather quiet. After wandering the streets and going through a supermarket, I decided to buy a foot-long chicken torta for $2 (bun, avocado, chicken, cheese, mayonnaise, ketchup, and lettuce which was toasted after being prepared) at a street corner stall with more activity than anywhere else.

There is a young Swedish man at my hotel who lives in the Malmoe area (just across from Copenhagen). We talked briefly. He has been traveling in Central America for two months. He started 7 months ago in Boston and has made his way down to here so far. He wants to try to go to Asia after he gets through South America. I gave him the book I had finished reading that is set in Lapland.

In the evening, I studied my materials and made a decision to try to adjust my travel plans in Honduras. I re-read the information about the capital of Honduras and realized it would have no more to offer than my poor experience in Guatemala City. Therefore, I reassigned the days I would have been in the capital to a couple of extra mountain towns which are associated with a particular tribal people. The new plan will depend on my ability to get through a border area that has not been an official crossing but supposedly now has a Salvadoran official.