So, a few months ago a few friends of ours hiked the Colorado Trail. Most of it, anyway. When they invited us to help start off the trip we were relatively ecstatic and signed up. The trip was really tough at the time. We all started off with overly heavy packs, that we weren't used to, boots we weren't used to, and blisters all over. Add to that an unseasonable amount of rain which really helped our garden but was pretty scary to deal with on the trail and we were all grumpy puppies. Even Sultana (their dog) was a grumpy puppy.

There's Kaycie, Nikki, and Kelly on the last day of the hike.

Looking back on the hike

Why is it that looking back it's always better? Now all that I remember is the valley of wild potentilla bushes, sunsets and sunrises that kissed our shoulders with light burns, and laughing lots. It was great fun, but so painful at the time. Odd, indeed.

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Today we spent inadvertently observing how San Salvador's rich live.  Our guide mentioned that many travelers to El Salvador are surprised by San Salvador's glitzy side and I'd have to say I'm one of them.  Yesterday we spent a short time transferring busses in Guatemala City--a capital that I'm sure has its bright spots, but one that seems to me like a small piece of hell.  When we originally arrived in San Salvador at the beginning of the trip, my vision of it was the same as many Central American capitals--polluted, full of traffic, industrial, dingy, dirty, and delapidated.  Escaping the city on that first day brought on my culture shock, while now, another part of that same city is creating a new shock.  We're staying along the Boulevard de los heroes, a street full of chain restaurants and one of San Salvador's nicest malls.  This morning we watched the Argentina vs. Germany World Cup game in the bar of one of San Salvadors ritziest hotels--the Real Intercontinental, where the bathroom is nicer than any hotel room we've stayed at so far.  The hotel is full of Salvadorian and international businessmen (not so many women), and the bar is packed with suits...or at least ties since it's so hot in here.  Smoke fills the air and men are sipping tequila and whiskey at 9:00am.  Later in the day, we went to the Museo de arte (MARTE) and stopped for lunch in the art museum restaurant.  Looking like our typical unkempt travel selves, we weren't quite prepared for the poshness of the restaurant, or of the other restaurant guests.  While the men watched the morning world cup game on the big projected screens in a bar, the women of leisure watched the afternoon game between conversations on the small muted restaurant tvs.  In the morning we saw a small slice of the wealthy male elite, while in the afternoon we saw their wives.  Well-dressed and put together, these women, accustomed to air conditioning and owners of SUVs, are the inspiration for telenovela characters.  Later in the evening we paid a visit to the local mall (are we in America?) and couldn't decide if the middle class is growing with its thirst for American-style consumerism, or if this is how those lucky few live.  When we left the mall to head back to the hotel for the night, we remembered that we're still in El Salvador when we saw a young boy juggling for money in the street. 

The movies they play in the buses in Peru are the worst movies ever. Movies like Bethoven's 5th. Usually they are some horror movie or a thriller about a meteor that is going to hit the Earth in 2 days. TV movie of the weeks that never really made it. If there isn't a bad movie on sometimes they show music videos in English of some unknown star with a bad 80's hair cut. After a while I start to enjoy the music videos. Even when I have a great book to read I still stare at the music videos or watch the bad movies for hours.

Sometimes I just stare out the window the entire time. I know that I should read while there is still light because once night comes we will all be sitting in the dark with no movie and no music. But I continue to just stare and stare out the window and the most random memories come to my head.

Hola a los que amo mucho! This is going to be a long one so I´ll bold the important stuff so you can skim if you want to.

I just got back from the long revolution holiday weekend in Zitácuaro, Michoacán. I went to a rodeo and concert called a jaripeo with banda music (which is what Mexicans bump in their cars) while the cowboys rode bulls and then a concert by a singer called Paquita, la del Barrio who is an old big sassy lady who is famous because she sings songs against men and a lot of the machismos in Mexico hate her and won´t let their wives listen to her! I just loved it, it was SOOO Mexican, everyone was whistling, hollering, drinking beer, wearing cowboy hats, then even dancing right in the stands. I got asked to dance by one guy but i thought he was just putting his hand out to let me pass so i just walked on by, i only realized about 10 minutes later!