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Guatemala City through El Salvador


Photos 1 - 41 out of 41 | Back to Albums
A fransican friar, walks through the streets of Antigua as I make my way out of town Walking down the hill from Antigua to Guatemala City. First impression, "it looks so green!" couchsurfing.org friends Teresa, Addis, and Tyler, the later two who would join me for a few day jont.
Addis...yes I am blowin your cover...she posed for the shot :) Well, officer...we are walking... Bye fantastic, wonderful, green, cultured, religiously evolving, struggling, thriving, Guatemala!
and hello El Salvador! Any day of the week, you can see people in churches across Central America. It seems to be much more religiously centered than even Mexico, with Protestant Evangelicals making big gains in recent years.
Amaranth grain cultivated in the shadow of a volcano. I have seen this grain often as I walk, from Mexico, through Guatemala, to El Salvador. Interesting thing is this looks a lot like the sorghum I saw in Ethiopia, which I was told originated from there...I could be wrong...anyone have any info on this? The relation between the two? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amaranth_grain Roadsigns :)
Many of the stores and companies are named after random religious sayings and expressions. Walking into San Salvador at night was an interesting experience in its own right. I wish I could have captured this beautiful church, and the town in its proper light. An interesting sociological phenomenon...there are about 4 brand new malls in San Salvador, all some of the nicest malls I have ever seen, designed by European architects, Porsche stores, Mazarati, etc...inside the malls...quite a contrast to the downtown area, where I dared not take out my camera.
My good friends Tony and Pablo. Really good good people, I am so glad I had the opportunity to stay with them and their family in San Salvador and in San Miguel. Thank you Tony, Pablo, Nelson, and Bira! A beautiful day and scene off of the side of the road, reveals a horror. I am not sure if you can see it well in the shot, but to the bottom right, there is a grey area, where rocks and mud slid to burry a good size portion of the town in early November. The slides were caused by a tropical depressions that led up to Hurricane Ida. Many people died (138 in total). Clean up crews clear the highway, temporary closed by mud.
Farmers take advantage of the cleared roadway to dry out crops like rice, corn, and beans.
Just outside the clean up zone, I stop for breakfast at an outdoor restaurant selling Papussas, the defacto national food of El Salvador. Papussas are a thick tortilla with cheese and/or refried beans, and sometimes other things, baked inside, kind of like a pizza pocket. For $1(plus/minus) you can get 4 pupussas loaded with a type of cabbage (a little like sauerkraut) a cup of coffee, and as many yummie cookies as you can eat. This has been a large part of my diet here, for obvious reasons. :) The power of water. The river bed shows the recent effects of the storm.
An Evangelical Church. More on these comming soon!
These churches are incredibly popular here, I havent seen them since northern Mexico. The denomination is called "Light of the World" A very interesting story about this church and its beliefs on wikipedia... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Luz_del_Mundo
Brazilian flags are everywhere in Central America. Antecdotally, it seems like the country is reaching a fame and status on par with the United States. This store is a pharmacy chain called Farmacia Brasil. Jesus Cristo Redentor!
Lay devotees of Mary attend a class on the Sacred Heart of Christ. I am still finding out more about this particular church and statue of mary. It is a place of pilgrimage and popular devotion throughout El Salvador.
 
Photos 1 - 41 out of 41 | Back to Albums

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