Suchitoto

The bus ride to Suchitoto, about 47km from San Salvador, took an hour and a half. Lots of stops and driving through narrow, congested streets of small towns. We learned a new word: cora (quarter), for a 25 cents US. They use US dollars as the currency here. We bought two little bags of sweet peanuts por una corita.

Armed guard at a shop

We arrived with the idea of staying in Villa Balanza. We asked a few people and dragged our broken-wheeled suitcase there. Rooms are $20 instead of the $11 it says in the book, but they are quite nice, although with a shared bath. The other people in the hotel have been really nice too-- An older American couple and young British couple. We had to carry our poor suitcase down a very steep hill with cobblestones to get to the actual rooms. I don't know if we'll make it back up. We have a beautiful view of Lake Suchitlan.

View from our hotel

After settling in we took a walk back up the hill, which was hard even without the suitcase, and wandered into town. We had pupusas for dinner. Several people had told us about a Canadian Classical guitarist, Ed Honeywell, who was playing as part of the February Arts and Culture Festival of Suchitoto. We stopped in and heard him play a few songs. It was excellent. I was feeling a little ill from the pollution in San Salvador so we left early from that event, went home and played a game of Skip-Bo (I beat Alaine), took a shower and went to bed.

Today we slept in a bit; well, I woke up at 6:30 and got Alaine up at 7:45 because we were wasting the day. We went to a little cafe and had coffee and bagels with scrambled eggs, plus wireless internet, which is where I posted the last entry and where I am again now, drinking beer.

Havin' a beer

The American couple from our hotel had recommended we walk down to the lake by a back road. It was quite interesting. There were a lot of pigs and ducks in the road. We didn't see a single car. There was quite a lot of trash. It was a steep walk down, but we took a bus back. At the lake there is a Turicentro. A bit disappointing, but we bought some chicha and some sweets. We shopped a little in the square by the church. Alaine bought a cool tank-top and scarf dyed with indigo, and I bought an FMLN headband and bracelet.

Tomorrow we are headed to Antigua.

Expenses:

	Since last entry	Total
Transportation	$1	$129
Food	$21	$54
Lodging	$40	$64
Beer (and other spirits)	$14	$47
Activities	$6	$6
Souvenirs/Gifts	$19	$55
Misc.	$2	$12
Total	$103	$367

Not all Costa Ricans Speak English

I've noticed lately that U.S. and Canadian visitors to Costa Rica, even long term residents of the Puerto Viejo area, are actually getting angry at Ticos for not speaking their language—English. It's true that many people speak a little English and it is easy to live here for years and not learn much Spanish, especially in this area with its many speakers of patois; but the very least a person can do is recognize that they are the ones speaking a foreign language, not the Ticos. I can only presume that these are the same people who want English to be the official language of the U.S.

A few examples:

Recently I was in ATEC, in my office in the back, and I overheard someone talking to one of the cashiers about coming back tomorrow to pick up a job she needed done. This person was speaking in English to the Spanish-speaking cashier and I could hear that she was very upset that she wasn't being understood. This is a person who has lived here for years. She hasn't learned the word mañana? She then came to me to explain what she needed done and something to the effect of, "I don't know why she doesn't understand me!"

Another person recently moved here and owns a business. This well-intentioned person wants ATEC to provide a translator for community meetings, such as the upcoming meeting about the marina. This is already a sore subject with the local government because they think it is a bunch of foreign activists who want to stop the marina project.

A tourist recently told me about watching another Canadian tourist get angry at a guy selling snacks on the bus because he couldn't understand that the guy didn't have change for the large bill he was giving him. The first tourist, who spoke some Spanish, had to ask him to "simmer down" and realize where he was.

I'm not saying don't come to Costa Rica if you don't speak Spanish. My own Spanish still needs a lot of work. All I'm saying is be aware that Spanish is the language of Costa Rica. It seems obvious, but apparently it is not for some people.

Pura vida.