Wednesday, December 14, 2011

December 12 or 13 - The Green Bottle Lady

December 12, 2011

Sterling just keeps saying, Can you believe we’re in Hondorus? Well it is kind of difficult to believe we’re here in our Toyota RV in a bus-stop parking lot on CA-1. We were both quite impressed with El Salvador. It was the cleanest and most friendly of the 5 countries we’ve been through. We did make it through the border into Hondorus almost by mistake.

We started our day fairly early in the morning although we were driving through El Salvador on CA-1 which is both the Central American Highway 1, but also known as the Pan-American Highway and is really awful in some sections with wicked bad pot-holes. Anyways, so we’re cruising along with a little green house catches my eye. I slam on the brakes and just run back to catch one picture but as I capture one shot, the owner comes to the door and waves her hand to me “entrada”.

Well, I don’t know much Spanish but my heart skipped a beat when she welcomed me into her home built of soda bottles she had painted green with white dots. AMAZING! As I stepped in I couldn’t believe the soda bottle tops decorating the floor in a floral motif or the hand made hammock. I loved it! This was the most primitive and pure folk art I’ve had the pleasure to see in situ.

So I looked out her side door and spyed a pile of corn-cobs the family was using for fuel. Her daughter and grand-daughter were in the kitchen and they invited me right in. It was about 9:30 am and already at least 80 degrees and 90 in the kitchen building made of tin cans with a good size fire burning in the corner.

The owner and artist was 78 year old women named Maria ????????? . It took her 3 years to build this house which doesn’t surprise me one bit. Such ecological thought, creativity and perseverance in her execution doesn’t come together in many folks but she definitely had it going on! Her daughter kneaded the batter and prepared it for the grill, using her hand to flip these flat bread tortias until done. I so wanted to grab one hot off the grill but I thought I might be pushing me luck.

We went on our way.

Several people in El Salvador have gone out of their way to talk to us in English. I feel like Meryl Streep in Out of America. The people point and stare, wave, flash peace signs and several people have just stopped us to tell us we would be safe, El Salvador welcomed us.

Last night I was invited to a Sweet 15 Party which nearly blew my mind. I was just hanging around outside this church when it came upon me. It was an amazing show of wealth, family, community, traditions, rituals. They thought we were from the press. I captured the church scene and then Edwardo, the truck driver cousin from South Carolina invited me to the Party of more then 200 people. Check out these photos - it’s hard from me to believe!

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