Usulutan March 2008

The small town nearby the marina is called Usulutan. We went there, by minivan, along with 20 or so other cruisers. The minivan has an armed guard. Dan, our cruising buddy, says “We’re just this big jack-pot rolling down the road”, and I think he’s right!

Here Lorraine and I are sampling some kind of fruit we’ve never seen before…tasted kind of like a fig??

Party dress anyone? Seems a bit incongruous with these surroundings, doesn’t it?

The tomato and green pepper seller.

Typical market scene. All the food and people look clean, but the streets are filthy and full of garbage.

Corn anyone??

I loved this lady with the eggs on her head. They do a lot of carrying on their heads,here.

This is a corn grinder. They dump the corn in the top, add water, and out the other side comes the masa for making the tortillas.

This is a great shot…good for a painting if I ever get the time to do one.

Another great building.

We are here in El Salvador for Semana Santa (or Easter Holy week). We went into town for Good Friday, to watchthe procession. Kids are doing street art here.

They colour salt and spread it out in the drawn designs.

Here they are getting ready for the procession.

This old lady kept peeking around the corner of the building to see if the parade had begun.

What an interesting shot!

The female vendors all have these fancy aprons. This one is a little hard to see, so I’ll try to get another shot. They are all lace and trim, and are worn by everyone no matter how dirty the job ther are doing. I bought 2 for $9 as souvenirs. This lady is waiting for the procession.

The procession begins with a very heavy cross being carried down the road.

It is followed by Christ carrying his cross. This float is carried by the people below. No wheeled floats here.

Following this, is a statue of a priest. Not sure who he is. After this, all the people fall in behind and the march lasts several hours, with periodic stops at shrines representing the twelve stations of the cross.

All the people buy these coloured eggs, filled with confetti. The kids crack them on their heads, but preferably on the heads of their siblings or parents.

What would Good Friday be without a trip to Wendy’s?? What a nice change…air conditioning and food you recognize!! Never thought I’d be happy to be in a Wendy’s!!!

We are off to Guatemala, in the next couple of days. We hope to visit Antigua, Lago Atitlan, and Tikal. More photos to follow upon our return. When we get back, hopefully our new oil cooler will be here and we can install it and move on to Nicaragua and Costa Rica.