GSBS Relief and Aid Trip

Thanks for everyone who has contributed money to Good Smoke Bad Smoke!

Thank you to Darren, Brenda & Sean, Jeff & Kath, Tracy & Chris, Ian, Caroline and Mom & Dad in their and Misa's name for sending the money. And thanks to Rob, Jin, Warren, Tom, Pierre, Rey and Yung Suk for agreeing to send money which I look forward to getting soon.

That is a commitment for about USD1,150!

I heard from my friend Eric that his housekeeper’s (Maria) family’s pueblo was badly hit by the storm. I also found out that the seven homes in the little community all cooked with wood so this was a perfect opportunity to both provide a gas stove and to help in disaster relief.

My son Elliot was visiting and he wanted to help so went back to the store ACACSA (Asociacion Cooperativa de Ahorro Credito y Comercializacion Salvadoreana de R.L.) and told the cashier that I had purchased a stove there a week before and wanted to speak to the manager or owner. She had a suspicious look on her face and asked why. When I told her that I wanted to buy ten stoves for hurricane relief, her expression changed completely and she called the manager down. It took a while but he finally came down and I explained that I wanted to buy at least ten stoves and could they give me a discount or maybe a free stove or two. He said he had to ask upstairs first. I thought they might give a volume discount but didn’t think the disaster relief argument would work but ... they came back and said they would reduce the price! In the end, I saved $35 dollars and was able to get 10 stoves for $300. They also gave us some free water to drink! I got them to agree to this price if I could get the money to buy more stoves. Thank you ACACSA!

The guys at ACACSA checking and packing the stoves.

So speaking to Eric and Lizette, we agreed to head out to the pueblo on Saturday. Elliot was down for only 4 days but he thought this was something he wanted to do (instead of going to the beach to surf or to the countryside to do a zip-line trip). Lizette had a contact at Tropigas and asked for a deal for us so we looked all set.

25 lbs of Maseca, 40 lbs of beans, 40 lbs of rice, a few pounds of candy and 5 gallons of cooking oil. And garlic ... can't make beans without garlic.

Saturday morning was a little complicated since Fatima had to go to three different places for work. MJ dropped her off for her first class and then I had to run out to pick up some car parts for Cuba that were brought in the night before from Guatemala. The guy delivering them went off a highway under construction in Santa Ana and flew 25' down a ditch ripping the axles off the bottom of his newish pick-up truck. He was able to climb out of the ditch with the part in his hand and was brought to a hospital in San Salvador.

Elliot, Angel and Maria Jose loading the truck.

Then rush home to wake up Elliot and head to Pricesmart (the Costco here) to buy rice, beans, corn flour, oil and some candy for the kids. Then head over to Eric’s where we were going to leave from. Lizette went with Angel (Eric’s driver) to get her father’s pick-up. There was some debate whether I should take my Sentra or not but we decided on the two pick-ups. Then we had rush over to where Fatima was so she could take the car to her next studio class. There was a bit of a delay so we didn’t get picked up and on the road until 11:30 and the traffic was really bad. We had to head to the big Tropigas depot in Soyapango to get the tanks before they closed at noon. We didn’t make it on time but they called Lizette who told them that we were fighting traffic to get there as soon as possible.

Sara at Tropigas kept the office open late for us on Saturday.

I was in one truck with Angel, Elliot and MJ and he took a bunch of back streets to get there faster and Sara was kind enough to wait for us before she left for the day. They agreed to sell us 10 tanks, regulators, hoses and clams for $35.50 each so we saved about $8 per unit from the regular price. That’s more than I expected. One problem was they thought I was going to pay by cash or cheque on pick-up but I thought I was going to be invoiced and could pay later at a bank. A few calls were made and they agreed to wait until Monday for payment.

So we loaded up the tanks into the pick-up and then met up with Eric who was in his truck with Lizette, Maria and the two rug rats. We headed past Illopango and turned north at San Martin on the road to Suchitoto (a lovely old town on a volcanic lake that has some lovely inns and restaurants). About halfway there, we turned right at an unmarked dirt path. Then bumpy roads covered in rubble with deep ruts carved by tons of rushing water. Up and down hills and around blind corners, the occasional unpainted house made of cinder blocks showing through light forested areas on the slopes of some big hills.

No road!

Then we turned a corner and the road dropped sharply down to a sandy area and ... no road. Instead a wide shallow river where a road and a stream used to be. It was probably originally about 15' wide but now was about 60' wide. You could see where the storm tore away at its banks and made a wide flood plain. Luckily, another pick up truck was in front of us and we saw where he drove through so we knew which way to go. And very luckily, I didn’t bring the Sentra which couldn’t have made it through there.

Bus!

We crossed and started heading up and up and up. Some very sharp inclines with the mostly dirt and stone road cut through some thick rock, mostly single lane, with a lot of erosion from the rains. We were going up one of many steep sections when Eric, driving in front, came face to face with an old school bus coming down! We both had to back up until we found spots where we could safely stop to allow the bus to pass. We were on a slope with a lot of rubble and the bus came down past us and started sliding sideways towards us! Angel gave it the gun and we got past it without scratching Lizette’s Dad’s brand new turbo diesel Hilux.

Pulling up to the last of the road ... and a closed education centre.

Carrying the 50 lb propane tanks down to the pueblo

After about 15 minutes of hills, we finally got to a small settlement that looked to be abandoned. We overshot the turn but Maria backed us up and we turned left up another dirt and unmarked path. Only a few minutes and we stopped at a "Save the Children" education centre. A few minutes later, some kids showed up and I asked them if this was their school and they said no. I asked if it was still open and they said no. Too bad, the funding must have ended.

The kids bringing down the stoves!

We had come as far as we could by truck and Maria went to tell her family that we had arrived. Oddly, I was getting great cell phone service in the middle of nowhere. About a dozen people arrived and they started carrying down the stoves, propane tanks, food, and donations of clothing, shoes and toys. The little kids picked up the stoves and some very small and slight women took the 50 lb tanks on their heads! Through a tiny gate and down a sandy path and then down a very steep dirt incline through some trees that had seen tons of water flowing down from the storm and ending at Maria’s mother’s house.

Lizette with a stove and me with rice, beans and oil heading to the pueblo

Pacita previously had a small house with a three (?) room house made of adobe. After the storm, she was down to one room which was missing one wall completely and had no door on the other wall. I touched one of the half crumpled walls and the dried mud crumbled in my fingers. They had one bed and a few plastic chairs in the one room that Pacita and her four children shared. Maria, the eldest, lived and worked at Eric’s house going home on the occasional weekend. Pacita’s husband was defending their little community from a gang and was killed for it.

What is left of Paz' adobe house ... one room and one bed for her and her four kids

I explained that I had some great friends living abroad that contributed money to help them out. I explained that the gas stoves were easier to use, would improve the air quality in their houses, reduce pollution, eliminate the need for them to cut and carry wood, and reduce deforestation. Pacita, who was speaking for her community thanked me and said that it was wonderful that people outside would help them out. She told me that two president’s ago, the government had a program where they could register for housing aid. So they paid $80 to register and never heard from anyone again! I asked her if they cut their own wood and she said that they actually bought it and spent $0.25 a day. This is more than the gas would cost. The gas costs $5.10 and will last from 5 to 8 weeks.

The rest of the food stuffs coming down the path ... most of the bags weigh 40 lbs

I also took out the rice, beans, corn flour, oil and candies and asked Pacita to distribute it evenly and fairly in her community based on need. Most people in the country are able to grow most of the food they need - beans and corn and sometimes rice. What they can’t grow they can trade for. I asked Pacita where her fields were and she said some miles away. She would grow crops and give about 20% to the landowner in rent. But this season, the entire crop was ruined. I think the 40 lbs of beans, 40 lbs of rice, 25 lbs of corn flower, and 5 gallons of oil will last the 7 households about a week (the oil longer of course), depending on the size of the households and there were a lot of kids around. I don’t know what they are going to do when this food and their savings run out but I will follow up through Angel and Maria and will bring more food out if necessary. They had almost nothing! They do have electricity but not all the time. I didn’t see any other furniture that had survived but for some homemade tables made from bamboo and an old fridge. I didn’t see any toys and or TVs. I am sure they could use everything and anything.

Eric connecting the hose ... but that's what she said

Eric suggested that I set up one tank so they would know how to do it. Pacita said Jose was handy so I showed him how to hook up the hoses and put on the clamps. I asked Pacita where she cooked and she took me to the back where there was an in-tact cooking room - tiny and dark, about 5' x 6', and despite just having some embers going, was filled with smoke! There didn’t seem to be any vents for the smoke to escape and I couldn’t imagine what it was like when she was actually cooking. We hooked up the system and using some matches, I lit all the burners as we all cheered.

Old cooking system ...

new cooking system!

They did have quite a bit construction materials purchased over the years - narrow cinder blocks and some terra cotta roof tiles. The storm scattered a lot of it but they dug it out and cleared the area. They need maybe $2,000 for the concrete, rebar (absolutely necessary in this earthquake prone country), and manpower to build the house. I think Eric is raising funds for this and his parent’s church in L.A. are taking up a special offering for the community. I don't think this pueblo is getting any aid from the government or any organization.

Maria, head sandwich maker. Her little sister, head sandwich nosher.

Lizette brought food to make sandwiches and we all had lunch together.

Group photo! Jose beside me, Maria in front of him in green, mom Paz seated beside her, Angel with the blue cap with MJ, Eric and Elliot to his left.

After a group picture, I got assurances that the stoves would be shared out and the food divided fairly and we climbed the hill for the last time. All the kids and Pacita came up with us and I asked how many times the kids climbed the hill each day and they said about 8 to 10 times. All the gringos were winded from the one trip! Pile into the trucks and back out to the main road.

The last climb for us for the day. Eric and MJ coming up.

Thanks again for all your contributions. And if you come down to visit, pack and extra bag with everything. Thanks to the guys at ACACSA and Sara and Elizabeth at Tropigas. Thanks for Angel for driving and helping with the planning. Thanks for Lizette and Eric for introducing me to these people and for arranging for the gas and the vehicles for the trip. Thanks for Elliot and MJ for helping out and taking pictures.

If anyone else wants to donate, USD65 or CAD70 will purchase one gas stove, tank and hardware and can help one family enormously. Please contact me by E-mail.

After doing this, I feel great but now I feel like I have an emotional investment in this community, Canton de San Francisco de Candelaria or the Municipality of Saint Frances of the Candelmas. Big name, tiny pueblo, big hearts.

Some videos of our trip out of the Canton.

More Hurricane Damage

Fairways at the Corinto golf club covered in mud and debris

after Hurricane Ida's rain storm

Hurricane Ida has taken around 140 lives with 60 still missing and damaged or destroyed 1,600 homes leaving about 14,000 homeless. Many of these people don’t have insurance but hopefully the socialist government will help to rebuild their homes.

Our Good Smoke Bad Smoke campaign has raised $700! Thanks to everyone who contributed and I hope we’ll be smoking a Cuban cigar soon. I am debating if I should take half the money and buy 10 stoves (with valves, hoses and clamps) to donate to a local charity collecting for disaster relief. Certainly there is a need for them but it may be as or more important to get these stoves into homes cooking with wood - you have to be pretty poor to be using wood.

I just received photos of the Club Salvadorena Corinto Golf Club. The place is in Illopango and has a few holes alongside the big volcanic lake. Not a tragedy like demolished villages but a huge amount of damages with some heavy flooding and numerous fairways being covered by tons of boulders and mud. Luckily no loss of life amongst the staff. I’ve included some pictures on the power of flash floods. I heard it may take a year to fix the course and will cost an enormous amount of money.

With all of this news, I forgot to mention some big news. Lonely Planet has picked El Salvador as one of the top ten destinations for 2010! What, don’t believe me? Go to http://www.lonelyplanet.com/el-salvador/travel-tips-and-articles/42/15809

Ironically, LP just dropped El Salvador from their guidebook series but my friend, Paige Penland, is just finishing up one for Norton’s Great Destinations so stay tuned on that.

El Salvador will recover from this and I hope this winter is a great season for tourism. I personally am hosting 10 visitors and hope to get another 15 or so. My son is coming down on Thursday and we are hoping to do a little surfing and some golfing and lots of good eating and drinking. Maybe some zip lining or canyon jumping. Will let you know.

Hurricane Ida

It is now 48 hours after Hurricane Ida passed by Nicaragua and Honduras and managed to dump an enormous amount of rain on El Salvador. We knew that we were going to get some rain but no one had any idea of how much and this is probably why no alerts went out to vulnerable areas. This storm, at the tail end of a very quiet hurricane season, took us all by surprise.

On Saturday night we had driven out to the wedding of a friend’s daughter at their restaurant between Soyapango and Illopango. It had been raining off and on all for most of the day and there was a light drizzle on the way there. When we got there, it was raining very heavily and we debated whether to wait in the car until it had passed but after five minutes, it didn’t seem to be diminishing so we opened our umbrellas and managed to get in without getting too wet. We expected the rain to pass by but it kept raining and raining. People kept arriving and some didn’t have umbrellas and they were soaked from running the short distance from their parked cars. The music was playing quite loudly but I recall hearing the rain come down in some occasionally heavy bursts.

We left early at 11:00 and had to gingerly step to the car through water gushing down the street. MJ was driving since Fatima and I had had several drinks. The rain was continuing to come down very hard cutting down on visibility and when we got to the Carretera Panamericana there was a lot of flooding. MJ was kind of freaked out but Fatima and I have had a lot of experience driving through flooded streets after more than a decade in Havana. Fatima told her to drive down the middle of the road and I told her to keep a lot of space between us and the car in front in case we hit a deep pool and had to gun the engine through. A car can get through pretty deep water as long as the water doesn’t crest over the hood and flood the air intake and as long as you keep revving the engine so the water doesn’t go up the tailpipe.

We were making good progress and most vehicles were driving sensibly (except for the occasional idiot who was speeding and honking and passing cars). On the long hill up towards Soyapango on the opposite side of the highway, there was a lot of water coming down so cars and buses were having problems going upstream. We were heading down so it was a lot easier and no real problems until we hit the Molsa maiz plant. It is on the top of a big hill and there is a big, landscaped retaining wall about 40' high and a lot of it had come down and blocked 2-3 lanes of the road. What looked to be a small drainage pipe in the middle of the wall had become a huge hole and water was gushing through it. We were able to squeeze past the boulders and broken concrete and mounds of dirt to the other side. We drove slowly the rest of the way home and planned our route to stay on high ground. Still, you can’t avoid hills in San Salvador and there were many places where a the runoff turned roads into streams.

San Salvador and El Salvador is a country of volcanoes and valleys. The city itself is in the middle of several volcanoes and people live in the valleys, up the sides of some of the hills, and sometimes on top. Expansion is limited so some communities grow organically or planned developments are established in less than ideal areas. These would be at the bases of earth hills or near some of the streams and rivers that comprise some of the water runoffs in the city.

I think these pictures (from LA PRENSA/Salomón Vásquez) are of the

Rio Lempa that come down from San Vicente to the Costa del Sol.

Combine this with poor public announcements and tragedies like this will occur. I was watching TV on Saturday night and didn’t see any warnings of flash flooding. Mind you, in some of the poorer communities that were worst affected, they may not have had TV’s to watch.

Rio Lempa (I think) exiting into the Pacific at Costa del Sol

So far, over a hundred people have perished. Most of the deaths occurred in San Salvador and San Vicente which is east of the city. Flash flooding and mudslides took out several towns and communities, affecting both the very poor and very rich. Small huts and large weekend villas were destroyed.

Yesterday, the rains were lighter and the day was calm but for the police helicopters landing and taking off from behind our condo. And today is a beautiful sunny day.

This morning in San Salvador, beautiful and sunny

.
One of the girls working in our house lives in Illopango which is a municipality around the very large volcanic lake. Luckily she is on higher ground, like most people, and wasn’t affected except for a leaky roof. She did say that the rains flood the hills and it all pours into the lake and then the drainage stream floods out but the people living nearby know that is going to happen so they take precautions.

Those less fortunate had their houses flooded or swept away. In the ultimate definition of losing "everything", some people not only lost their homes but the land beneath them. What do you do when the pretty little stream near your house turns into a raging river that takes away your house and everything you own and when you get back, there isn’t even any land to rebuild on? Well, you get a bit of help and get on with it.

The definition of losing "everything"

I have had some great responses from my Good Smoke Bad Smoke mini-campaign. Some people with the American Legion (who will be out in full force for the Veteran’s Day celebration in El Salvador this week) are interested in the idea and may get involved. So please send those funds to me and I’ll go out and buy a bunch of stoves and we’ll get them out to some of the affected areas.

On a final note, don't think that El Salvador is a disaster ridden third world country. Sure we have the occasional natural disaster (hurricanes and earthquakes) but this is a beautiful country full of resilient people. I hope no one is dissuaded from visiting this amazing country. So far I have Elliot, Rene, Nancy, Nad, Deb, Jeff and family coming down this winter. I hope everyone else thinking about it will come down too.

Havana and Back to San Salvador

John preparing to whiff on a ball

I had my first visitor of the year! John came down from Ottawa to visit his kids in Guate and took the bus over to San Salvador. We got in two rounds of golf at Veraneras and ate some fine meals. I took him to the Mercado Antiguo Cuscutlan - the very local market/restaurant/bar that serves all the interesting local stuff. He had the seafood soup and loved it. We asked what was the base of the stock, expecting to be told that it was boiled fish heads and bones with lots of shrimp and lobster shells ... but sadly, my favourite waitress brought out a package of Knorr Mariscada soup base!

.

Then off to Cuba for a business for a week and had a pretty good time. Havana is a great place for tourists to visit but not as nice if you have to live there. That goes for both the Cubans and the foreigners living there. Two of my friends lost the plates for their car when their companies weren’t renewed (this happened to two cars of mine a few years ago). There is also a lot of nervousness verging on panic due to the new restrictions of the repatriation of funds. The Government is doing it because they have no money but this has also meant that there is very little new money coming into the country ... except for American companies who were in town for the Havana International Fair. It boggles the mind that some companies still think that they can come to Cuba with deep pockets, sell products to Cuba with very thin margins, develop good relations, and then sell long term. If you are one of these companies, good luck!

Outdoor dining area at the Club Habana - see the container ship and

the Cuban National Sailing Team on the horizon

Highlights of the trip would be going to El Aljibe and being driven by a beautiful diplomat in her beautiful 2009 Jeep Grand Cherokee which is like being in a Rolls in any other country. Then meeting a friend at the Jazz Café on Paseo and being allowed in without paying the cover and seeing Irakere playing with a visiting Japanese kick ass percussionist. Then knocking back Glenfiddich at $2.50 for a long pour until the bottle was empty. Walking home along the Malecon at 3:00 in the morning with beers in hand.

Rene and me enjoying single malts and cigars while the Grammy winning jazz group Irakere plays 30 feet away.

My Cuban friend from Toronto was down visiting his sister who had just had a baby so I met him in Havana with 400 diapers bought at the Costco in San Salvador. Handily, he had rented a car (a tiny little Hyundai that looked like a toy. It was so narrow that our elbows were touching) so he helped out with some party purchases. We went to a store around Calzada and D and I asked for 60 cans of beers. There was one woman at the cooler cashier and she, and a 7 year old girl, loaded the beers into some empty cases. You can imagine how long this took and the lineup that developed behind us. A woman waiting started chatting with us and tried to get us to buy some nice yucca she had. Another woman, who I think worked at the store, came over to see what was going on and asked if we were having a party and if she could come. As pretty as she was, I didn’t think that that was a good idea.

Poaching lobster in butter. Actually, more like deep frying.

Then served in a delicious taco.

I was able to get 40 lobster tails but no cabbage. Grilled some tails with some red snappers on a charcoal bbq on my terrace. Delish. Then did butter poached lobster with homemade refried beans on a flour tortilla with fresh pico de gallo with cilantro. Double delish. Dominoes and salsa to round out the night. The partying got a bit away from us since I went over around 1:00 pm and we started drinking beer and Don Julio tequila and we didn’t stop until 1:00 am.

A light dinner in Havana

Coming back was a bit hectic as I had to fly through San Jose and Guatemala City on the way home to El Salvador. I did this to avoid a long stop over in SJO and also because Guate has a great duty-free store. They always have a buy one and the second one is half price deal going on. I have seen this for tequillas and champagnes and this time it was for whiskey and perfume.

A whack of Johnny Blue and stuff for only $210 in Guatemala.

Hope it isn't all Chinese knock-offs!

Arriving in San Salvador, it was hot and humid but great to be home. I told the guy at immigration that my residency card was still pending an investigation (of exactly what the heck I actually do in this country ... which is mostly cook and play golf) and I didn’t know the status. He was kind enough to leave his desk to go to an office to find out and found out that my card was ready for pick up so I saved the $10 for the tourist card. I had called about 7 times previously and there was either no answer or was transferred and put on ignore. I went to the office a few days later, paid fee on top of fee on top of fee (is this a new Funes thing?), and then was told to come back the next week to get the card. I told the officer that I was told the card was ready but it turns out that either the system or the card making machine was down. Oh well, trip 4 coming up.

So back at home I asked the caregiver for my Mother-in-law how she was and she tells me "mal". I ask her why and she said that her 4 year old son has bronchial asthma and she couldn’t take him to the hospital because she was working. I said fine but why didn’t his caregiver take him in and she said she left money to do so but it didn’t happen. I asked how he was now and she said better and that he only needs some pills that always help. I asked her what they were and she mentioned ampicillin - and I asked how many pills she buys and she said 2 or 3! So I explained how dangerous that was and how that it could make her son more ill by only partially taking out whatever bacterial infection he had while leaving the stronger ones to keep on growing. So I told her that she had to listen to the doctor or ask the pharmacist what was the minimum dosage she had to follow. I am thinking about her son’s asthma and asked her if she cooks with gas or wood in her house - and she says wood! Gas is heavily subsidized here so it will only cost about $5 a month ... but then again, wood is free and if you don’t have the $5, you are going to use wood even though everyone, from a recent University of Berkeley report to illiterate countryfolk, know that it is bad for their children’s health. So I spoke to Fatima and we are going to give her a countertop gas range and her first tank as part of her Christmas bonus.

After this conversation, I am feeling a little better and head off to they gym. Fatima drops me off and I work out and then walk back. One of the two regular guards lets me in and I ask, again "como estas?" He says fine and asks how I am and I say "bien" and he answers "como siempre." That means "like always" and obviously, there are a few ways of taking that. I take it to mean that I am a foreigner with money and don’t have a care in the world.

So the caregiver brought her son to the local public hospital and he was admitted and they gave him a 7 day cycle of antibiotics and she knows to use all 7 pills. Fatima and I went shopping and got a 4 burner gas cooker, tubing, clamps and a valve for about $40 in total. The first tank will cost about $25 so for $65, we just drastically improved the air quality of a family of 6. I am going to send this E-mail out to everyone who regularly gets cigars from me and, if they ever want to see another free cigar, they will donate US$65.00 to my new "Good smoke, bad smoke" campaign. How ironic that one good Cuban cigar can cost $75 while $65 can improve a family’s life.

Yes, MJ is that skinny - size 0 dress.

And yes, I am that fat - tipping over 190.

My stepdaughter MJ recently graduated from law school and we attended the ceremony. She is at the Jesuit run University of Central America. I have always said that El Salvador has a very interesting and very long national anthem. Now I have proof!

The proof!

What official choir anywhere in the world needs to have the words to their anthem in front of them? Only El Salvador! Anyways, the ceremony was interesting and she looked great. Several months ago, she entrusted me with the task of buying her graduation dress in Canada. Now this is a pretty big deal so I ended up buying four different dresses to give her a pick.

MJ shaking hands with some important dude.

I think she wore the right one - she ended up on the cover of the UCA supplement in the Prensa Grafica today. She was nervous because she was the first one on the stage to accept her degree. She did a great job, didn't fall off her 4 inch heels, and looked very confident and composed. Afterwards, we went home and cooked for a cocktail party for all her friends. We had Mojitos and Cosmos, champagne, veggie dips with hummus and babaganoush, bacon wrapped chicken in a sweet chilli glaze, twice baked potatoes with bacon, cheese, and sour cream, chicken wings, and little salmon mousse and cucumber sandwiches. Later, they all headed off to a club called Envy.

We are in the midst of a lot of rain due to Tropical Storm Ida blowing past neighbouring Nicaragua and Honduras. Ironically, we are at the end of the hurricane season and Cuba has escaped clean this year ... but Ida may yet turn into a hurricane and hit Pinar del Rio. We should be having sunny dry days but we seem to be getting more rain now than we had in normally wet October.

Off to a wedding this evening. It is my good friend’s daughter who has decided, at the age of 21, that it would be a good idea to get married. She hasn’t finished school yet and her boyfriend is working but they will have to live with his parents until she starts working and they can afford to rent their own place. Naturally, my friend is not overjoyed with this decision. We bought a nice crystal vase at Portico and then thought a bunch of gift certificates to local restaurants would be a good idea (to give the couple the chance to get out of the house for some dinners). Sushi Ito didn’t have them but Chiles, Bennigans and Los Cebollines (Mexican) did. But get this, while all of them had gift certificates, none of the restaurants actually had any on site. They all said I had to drive to their main offices to get them. W T F. I spoke to the Chiles manager and asked him if thought it was reasonable to have me drive across town in bad traffic and in the rain to give him $60. He didn’t think so and disappeared and came back with some certificates! Bennigans basically blew me off and said I could go to the office or not get them. The Los Cebollines guy said that I could order them and come back to pick them up but this wouldn’t work for us so we got him to make the request to his office to have them delivered to another restaurant nearer to us ... so hopefully we will be able to get them en route to the wedding. It is being held in the bride’s mom’s cantina bar! Specializing in cheap cold beer and boquitas - small snacks such as fried tortillas with fresh cheese and avocado and deep fried chunks of pork! Now that’s wedding food.

A bit about El Salvador ... big news is that 12 Arena (right wing) Assemblymen have gone "independent" which means they can and probably will vote for the FMLN (left wing former guerillas in the civil war). Now why would they cross the floor and give the Frente a majority in the Assembly allowing them to pass a lot more initiatives? Word on the street is that the former president, Tony Saca, is being investigated for corruption and this deal will guarantee that he won’t be prosecuted. Hmm, maybe that is why Tony’s cousin led this little rebellion.

Buying a Car and Roasting a Turkey

El Salvador's National Flower - Flor de Izote

(really, a big ass tree)

I think it may be time for some practical information on life in El Salvador.

After tooling around town in my 1998 Nissan Sentra for the past several years, I decided to buy a new car. We got it at a time when it was dangerous (potential robberies and carjacks) to have a nice car so all you saw were cheap compacts or Mitsubishi Monteros followed by bodyguards in pick up trucks. The Sentra was the most common and innocuous car in the city. It has served us very well and is good on gas, very cheap to fix ($130 to replace a front bumper), and has very inexpensive insurance (about 10% of the value of the car - but with a very low third person liability payout - which seems to be okay in this non-litigious society). Then, nicer cars started to appear, first Mercedes and then BMW’s and now you see everything here including Ferrari’s, Range Rovers, Maseratis and Porsches.

We looked at some new cars but a small group of people seem to own all the dealerships and have an oligopoly over the market resulting in very high prices. Bizarrely, with the entire world’s car industries on the brink of collapse, there are no sales in this country on new vehicles.

So how to buy a used car in El Salvador?

There are four different places to find a used car - the newspaper classifieds, areas where people bring cars for sale (there is a popular area in Merliot), large lots belonging to the major dealers, and garages that fix up smashed cars from the U.S.

And there are two kinds of used cars - either originally purchased here new from one of the dealerships and maintained by them (called "agencias") or brought in from the U.S. and repaired. There are many garages that buy damaged cars from the States at auction, truck them back, pay a lower rate of duty, and then fix them up for sale taking advantage of low overhead and low labour costs. These cars usually don’t have driver-side airbags and sometimes have scuffed up parts (like dashboards that were scratched or cut up by broken windshields). Some people say you should not buy one of these in case the frame is bent or the crumple zones are compromised but other people say that if it drives okay, it will be fine. I kind of like the thought of saving money while creating local jobs (for the mechanics) and some wealth (for the business owners) in this country. I have also been told to Carfax the history of the vehicle but Consumer Reports says that they miss a lot of accidents and I don’t know if it would be helpful. You may be spending $50 to find out that your car was in an accident ... something that you can already assume. On the other hand, it would be helpful to know if your car was in a flood.

So we are looking for a SUV with three rows of seats to accommodate all the visitors that we are expecting this winter. That would mean a Honda Pilot, Nissan Pathfinder, Mazda CX-9 or a Hyundai Veracruz. Found some in the newspaper and drove out to a few places. One place was a bit far but consisted of a big garage wedged into a very small property off a busy street but with no sign and only a tiny street number. We risked getting T-boned by buses trying to get into the driveway and when we were leaving. They strip cars down to the chassis, do the welding and bondo, do a very good paint job and reassemble. Douglas, the owner, seemed honest and forthcoming with all of his answers. He had a 2008 Pathfinder S with 8,000 miles going for $21,500. Very nice car but it was really basic. He only had three cars ready for sale but he had a bunch of them being fixed including a 2008 Honda Pilot EX for $19,000 and a 2007 CX-9 with 22,000 going for $29,000. All pretty nice vehicles that come with a 3 month warranty and negotiable down by maybe $1,000. I think it was telling that he had a lot of cars being worked on but few for sale - he doesn’t seem greedy and he is moving them at those prices.

We then went to a big dealerships lot and they had a very luxurious 2009 Veracruz with 32,000 miles going for $37,000 and a 2005 Cayenne with 55,000 miles going for $42,000. Hmm, those are both very nice cars but since I don’t have a job in this country and no credit, it would be a bit difficult to get financing (plus at 15% interest, it’s a rip off).

So we followed up some newspaper ads and met a woman at a gas station just outside the city on the highway to the airport. She told us that she has a small shop that fixes up smashed cars and she brought us a 2005 Honda Pilot with 75,000 miles. She was asking $14,000 but the car had a terrible interior and all the plastic trim on the outside looked really old. The trim stood out since the body had recently been nicely painted but the plastic was scuffed, faded and peeling in some areas. I wonder now if it was a flooded out car. If a car sits in water (especially salt water) for a few days, it’s a write-off and the insurance company will sell it for salvage. The car will have a funny smell and you run the risk of stuff rusting or breaking down faster, especially the electrics. Anyways, I didn’t like the car although she kept asking me to make her an offer.

Then we went to another big repair shop but this place was the opposite of the other place. They had a huge lot with a big sign and the lot was full of high end cars - Mercedes, BMWs, Land Rovers, Infinities, and Lexuses. They seemed to have a tiny shop but they had probably 40 finished cars packed so tight that they had to turn in the rear view mirrors and most cars were touching bumper to bumper. You couldn’t fit one more car into the entire lot. Mario had 3 Pathfinders and the Infinity QX 4 version as well. He had a 2008 Pathfinder S with 24,000 miles and was asking $28,000! This was the same car (but with more mileage) than Douglas was asking $21,500 for! I knew that I’d have to be careful with this guy. The SUV I liked the most was a 2006 Pathfinder SE with 24,000 miles asking $18,000 with a 3 month warranty. Looked pretty good with running boards, sun roof, upgraded interior, motorized drivers seat, Bose speakers, and rear AC.

The 2006 Pathfinder SE for $16,500

I also asked around amongst my acquaintances and came up with two cars. Test drove a 2006 Pathfinder LE with 45,000 miles asking $26,000. Getting an North American loaded vehicle isn’t that value added down here - who needs heated seats or heated mirrors? The GPS won’t work unless you can insert an El Salvador SD map chip that they are going to charge you $200 for. Not sure if satellite radio will work down here as well. So why bother paying all that extra? This car is about $8,000 more than the SE I saw and has more miles although it has never been in an accident. Is it worth that kind of premium? I don’t think so.

Another friend has a 2006 Honda Pilot with 44,000 miles, repaired from crash, asking $14,500. If the car is in good condition, I’ll probably get this one but it is out of town for a few weeks.

Went back to test drive the 2006 SE and it drove very well. Mario was in the back seat with an armed security guard in case I tried something funny. The Pathfinders are much more powerful than the Pilots and use a lot more gas. Since I have nothing to tow, the Pilot would be better. Mario wanted $18,000 with no airbag and 3 months warranty. I countered with $16,000 with a year warranty and I’d pay for the drivers airbag (about $500). They agreed on the $16,000 but said no way to the year warranty. I may counter with $16,000 with airbag and 3 month warranty. I also asked them to clean up the interior (the dashboard was scuffed up), fix the radio controls on the steering feel, and fix the weak AC. Mario said that they would want a $500 refundable deposit before they did the work and I said no way to that.

So for now, I am going to wait on my friend’s 2006 Pilot and will offer between $13,000 and $13,500 depending on the condition of the car and tires. I may put an offer in on Douglas’ 2008 Honda Pilot EX with leather.

It’s been interesting to see who you can trust, how much you can trust, and who will negotiate. Clearly Mario is in a weak position since he has so many cars - he must really need cash flow for the garage’s overhead and payroll so it may be a good idea to make a low ball offer at the end of the month. In fact he’s called us twice asking us if we were going to buy the Pathfinder. Douglas has much fewer cars and may have people waiting to buy his vehicles in progress. He may move a bit on his prices - I’m sure he’s built in a extra thousand for negotiation purposes.

In the interim, it was Canadian Thanksgiving! My friend went to Pricesmart (our local version of Costco) to buy a turkey and they didn’t have any! Won’t have them until November when the ‘mericans have their Thanksgiving.

Luckily, there is a good local provider that sells in all the regular grocery stores. The smallest I could find was 18 lbs but it looked like a good bird. Brined it in a gallon of water with ½ a cup of salt and ½ a cup of sugar (just regular, can’t find kosher salt here and only had white sugar in the house), some fresh rosemary from our giant plant, bay leaves and crushed peppercorns. Put it in a big food safe bag with the turkey for 18 hours in the fridge.

The Flor de Izote, before and after. Tastes good with butter and maple syrup.

Wanted to do a smaller and simpler meal - normally we have so much food and so many sides that you can’t enjoy just having a nice turkey. So I just made a zucchini, mushroom, and onion sage dressing with about 4 different kinds of bread I found, some mashed potatoes with lots of butter and whole milk, some roast baby ayotes (a baby version of what grows into a hard orange fleshed squash) that I steamed, tossed with olive oil and salt and pepper, then roasted and finished with truffle oil, and some sweet corn out of a can. I wanted to try another localish food and finally found some Flor de Izote - the national flower of El Salvador. The Izote is a type of a giant yucca tree but instead of eating the root, you eat the flowers or the base of where the leaves come out. The latter part is usually peeled, boiled and eaten with salt and lime (like a lot of the more unusual foods here - like baby green mangos). Since it can be quite bitter, I steamed it until soft and then mixed it with a candied carrot dish I make with lots of butter and maple syrup (and salt and sugar). It was quite nice and the bitterness was almost all gone. The taste was like a mild squash but it was quite juicy while still being firm. If you ever had yucca, "juicy" isn’t a term you would normally associate with it.

Roasted Ayote with Truffle Oil and Cranberry Sauce!

I was using a new recipe where you roast at 350 uncovered with breast side down for the first 2.5 hours and then flip it over and finish it breast up for about another 1.5 hours until the thigh measures at 180 degrees. Well, it went pretty well and we recorded the flipping of the turkey - my friend Rene wanted to see me try to flip over a very hot 18 lb bird without dropping it on the floor. We got it done but the roasting tray kind of left indentations and discolouration on the breast which wasn’t cool - but then it roasted very dark mahogany so it wasn’t noticeable. The brining made the breast very juicy although it took longer to cook because of that (or it could have been because the turkey was in the fridge until I put it in the over).

We invited a few friends over and had a very nice meal with lots of Chilean wine. Happy Thanksgiving!

Zakuski III in Toronto

My short break in Toronto ended up being stretched to three months. Needless to say, it is difficult to write a blog entry on El Salvador when I am stuck in Canada so as to not further disappoint the 13 (yes, count them, 13!) people who are following me, I am going to throw something at my blog and sees if it sticks.

. Cooking potato latkes on Jeff's 6 burner Viking

This summer, we managed to execute Zakuski II and Zakuski III. Happily, we are getting quite good at it and we assembled a fine collection of booze, food, and people.

Zakuski II was held in Owen Sound and featured four bottles of vodka and a fine selection of food. We had borscht with sour cream and potato latkes with sour cream and apple sauce. A large selection of meats and smoked and pickled fish were put on the table. One thing though ... perhaps we had too much food? Zakuski, from what I have learned, isn't so much about the food - it is about the vodka. Just like Dim Sum is supposed to be about the tea ... with the food being merely an accompaniment. A fine selection of vodkas

For Zakuski III, we wanted to concentrate on the libations. The booze consisted of five bottles of vodka and a bunch of tall cans of Boris Organic Beer from France. Chosen for the name and certainly not for any belief that the French can make decent beer or that we support this ridiculous organic movement. It was just a big can to help wash down the vodka.

Note the cod liver bottom left and the salo above the caviar

The food was again obtained at the Russian deli at Bathurst and Sheppard. My favourite counter woman was not there and none of the three ladies could understand my English (must have been my very heavy Canadian accent). Luckily my friend Rene was there to assist me. Rene is a black Cuban and now Canadian who studied in Moscow for a few years and speaks quite good Russian. Between him and a fellow customer (apparently a Russian ex-supermodel), we were able to purchase a fine selection of meats, pickles, and fish products. Some notable finds: actual cod liver in cod liver oil that tastes like foie gras, a giant pink dish (which the ex-supermodel was purchasing for herself and who said was essential for zakuski) made up of fish, potato, beets and

Big pink Russian WTF

a pink "dressing", three kinds of salamis from Moscow, salo (which is a very white, very salty piece of pork fat that is sliced, not too thin, and eaten with the vodka - like prosciuto if it was all fat), smoked mackerel from Mendel’s cheese shop in Kensington Market, jellied tongue roll, grilled mushrooms, and pickles out of a bucket.

As for the people, we were originally at 12 but we had various persons pull out for medical reasons. We did have Jeff and Kathleen visiting from Owen Sound, our Cuban Russian crew of party mafiosas, and two journalists to whom I forgot to mention that the evening was "off the record." Egle is an old friend from Havana who works for the Globe and the zakuski was really for her (nice Lithuanian roots and all). She invited Stephen who is the spokesman for white guys everywhere (see his book "The White Guy - A Field Guide") who was at TIFF and writing dispatches to the Calgary Herald. I would like to congratulate (1) Calgary for having enough literate people to support a newspaper (Yeah, Calgary!) and (2) Stephen for getting about half the details right for his story (Yeah, Stephen!). After the quantity of vodka that was consumed, half right is astounding. See half the correct details at http://communities.canada.com/calgaryherald/blogs/bladerunner/archive/2009/09/19/tiff-dispatch-zakuski.aspx

We started off with a bottle of Stoli Elit, a bottle shaped like a Russian tank shell with an extremely heavy cap which we think is made from depleted uranium (we hear Russia has a lot of that lying around). Before opening, we had the obligatory singing of the Russian National Anthem - led by Ariana (our actual Muscovite) and Rene. The vodka was poured and enjoyed. Elit is extremely smooth with a soft finish and only a mild sense of foreboding that the evening was going to end up very badly.

Made it through that bottle, a Slava (an excellent Ukranian premium vodka available at the LCBO), an Igor Dogburoski (sp?), a Stoli regular, and then another half a bottle of Slava.

Some highlights of the evening - me warning a diner that the Russian hot mustard (made in Canada like much of the mustard in the world) was the hottest mustard I had ever tried ... and not being believed and watching a very pretty woman having a wasabigasm from a piece of salami on black bread.

Our petite Russian girl shooting back glass after glass of vodka - I asked her why she didn’t just sip it and she told me that she didn’t know how. Eating the Salo, salt cured pork fat, and enjoying the delicious salty taste and the interesting crunchy consistency. Testing Rene’s knowledge of every Beatles song ever recorded and bootlegged, at risk of imprisonment, onto cassettes for distribution in Cuba. Finishing off the meal with some nice Cuban cigars on the patio ... with Russian chocolates, more vodka, more beers, and whiskey. Having two women pass out on the bed in the spare room with one of them, how to say it delicately ... puking all over everything.

So note to self ... next time, less salami, more smoked mackerel, more pickles, maybe some smoked white fish, and six bottles of vodka next time!

Zakuski IV, coming to Toronto in the spring of 2010.

A Short Break in Toronto

After my trip to Havana, I had about three weeks in El Salvador before I had to fly up to Toronto. I’m here for six weeks and am enjoying the summer (although I was freezing last night smoking a cigar on a patio on Yonge Street) but I was quite sad to leave San Salvador. It’s funny how that has become my home and the more I travel, the more I just want to sleep in my own bed.

Eating well including this hamburger I saw on Diners Driveins and Dives that has a piece of grilled Keilbasa on top of a half pound beef patty. My family accused me of being a gorger. Also apparently am eating a lot of Korean food although I was trying to go for sushi last night! Here I am doing the Ddong Jjim salute with one group of friends and the sam gyup sal with the boys after 4 pints of beer. Hmm, and lots of those little green bottles.

I have been in touch with Jane from http://pishposhohmygosh.blogspot.com/ and have been reading Aighmeigh’s http://mividasalvadorena.blogspot.com/ two very different stories about how life is progressing with El Salvador. I think both of them, as well as myself and most of my Canadian and American friends in El Salvador, are non-Salvadorans who were lucky enough to be in relationships with Salvadorans and have decided to try life there for a while. It ended in tragedy for Aighmeigh (whose husband was killed either in a robbery or an extortion retaliation) but has been wonderful for myself and most of my friends here.

With the election of Funes, there is some hope that he is going to do something about the crime in El Salvador. We don’t know what he can do but so long as he tries something! This is such a huge issue and affects so many people. In creates a lot of insecurity for everyone, brings tragedy to too many families, hurts foreign investment, and is the main obstacle to increasing tourism.

At the same time, I don’t want to overstate the problem of crime here. Of course the numbers look terrible but you could say that about a lot of major cities in North America. Unfortunately, El Salvador has this bad reputation which is only exacerbated by the global media. I just saw a show called Ross Kemp on Gangs - a British show that shot a ridiculously one sided episode in El Salvador. Every shot showed this wonderful country as poor, dangerous, f**cked up place where the police are useless and the gangs have all the power. And they gave this clown a Bafta award! So for the sake of good TV (sensationalism and violence) they continue to reinforce the image that El Salvador is dangerous and shouldn’t be visited.

I have lived in El Salvador for two years and have been visiting for a dozen and never had any problems. My friend Ian lived here for 8 years with no problems. Many other friends have lived happily and safely as well. But other friends have been victims of crime. You have to be careful and you have to honour the potential threat. My girlfriend has been incredibly protective of me and I suggest it is better to be overly safe than to ignore the dangers and hope you get lucky. I have two friends that have told me that they have walked great distances at night after leaving bars but I don’t see this as a sign of bravery or intelligence or safety but of luck.

So what happened to my other friends? One was leaving his business around 6:00 p.m. in a good area and a kid came up to him and demanded his cell phone. He ignored the kid and turned to get something and the kid shot him and ran away. Fortunately, it was a very small calibre gun so my friend was able to drive himself to the hospital where they dressed the abdominal wound and he was fine and recovered fully. But a lot of trauma for a $40 phone. When someone is mugging you, hand it over and fast. My other friend was driving his work pick-up, a shiny new vehicle. He got carjacked and was held for several hours before they released him out in the distant burbs. He’s fine though - oh, and he also got his phone stolen in front of his house. Moral of the story? Be careful what, where and when you drive. At night or iffy areas of town, windows up and doors locked. Situational awareness is very important - watch around your car and if someone bad looking approaches at night, back up or drive away (you can go through red lights at night in El Salvador). We drive an old Sentra with very darkly tinted windows so no-one can see inside. Also, if you get bumped or into a fender bender in an isolated area - don’t stop. Drive away and if the other driver follows, go to a gas station or well lit area to trade information.

Another problem that is becoming increasingly common are the telephone extortion attempts. Many people with businesses or are otherwise prominent get phone calls from supposed gang members demanding money or face retribution. Two friends were recently targeted and I mentioned this to other people and was told about several other cases. If the call is real, it could end up badly - a friend of mine from Mexico had to move to Canada for safety. But from what I can tell, the vast majority of the calls are not real but are from people looking to make a fast buck. One friend has been called many many times and he just hangs up on them (mind you, he always carries at least one gun and has a giant German Shepard). Others say to change your telephone numbers and nothing will happen.

The vast majority of murders and a lot of the crime is gang on gang and only in certain areas. Be careful of Soyapango, Apopa, San Marco and maybe Libertad. If you don’t have to go there, then don’t. My girlfriend has family in one of those areas and I used to sleep there until the gang problem got too bad. I still occasionally go but in our darkly tinted car and I am out of there by nightfall. Her nephew who lives there was hit by a richocheting bullet fired by a gang member trying to kill a local drug dealer. Her neice’s boyfriend was in a gang and tried to leave and was killed in front of her.

We hope that Funes and his initiative to put more police on the street will have an affect. There are also a lot of other programs - job creation and bringing organized soccer to communities. My friend Pierre has become head coach of an American football team whose roster is made up of a lot of ex-gang members from the U.S.

El Salvador is a great country. It has wonderful people, most very friendly and kind. My friend Paige was here for a month and traveled on her own through the entire country to research a travel book she is writing (Norton’s Great Destinations) and she didn’t have a single problem. She met many other tourists and didn’t hear of any problems from them either. There are gang issues and there is crime but just be careful, use common sense, err on the side of caution, and listen to well-meaning advice!