Ok, I’m
back. Well, I would’ve been right on schedule had I known my doctor was going
to cancel my surgery in lieu of getting my thyroid back to normal. Sheesh, this is getting to be too much
drama for me. I think what I need is some food from El Salvador.
El
Salvador is the smallest country in the Central American isthmus on the Pacific
Ocean side. In fact, it’s the only country in Central America that doesn’t
touch the Atlantic (just like how Belize is the only one that doesn’t touch the
Pacific). It’s surrounded by
Guatemala and Honduras. El
Salvador is plagued with frequent and disastrous earthquakes, along with having
over twenty volcanoes, some of which are still active – such wonderful gifts
from being on the Ring of Fire. It also has over 300 rivers, the most important
of which is the Rio Lempa. They have a definite rainy and dry season, even
though they call their rainy season winter, which is actually from May to
October. (I wish it just rained
during winter here.) Hurricanes
are also a threat to the country, as well as other extreme weather like El
Niño, La Niña and droughts. El Salvador is also a country with a rich
biodiversity because of its tropical climate. They’re known for being home to
several species of sea turtles.
The
capital city is San Salvador. It’s
not only the largest city with about 2.4 million people in the metro area, but
it’s also vital as the government, culture, educational, and economic center.
It’s been the host of several international and pan-American sports
competitions. In almost every
sense, San Salvador is a modern city and tourist attraction with museums,
parks, shopping, excellent restaurants, and cultural arts.
The
original inhabitants were the Pipil people, who spoke Nahuatl. It’s also believed
that the Mayans may have also been in the area as well, since El Salvador lies
on the edge of their civilization.
El Salvador wasn’t able to escape the same smallpox epidemic that his
other areas of the Caribbean, Central, and South America when the Spaniards
made their entrance. The Spanish
practically lost their minds over the gold found in Mexico and Guatemala, but
when they got to the Pipil lands, they were sorely dismayed at the lack of
gold. However, the area had great soil from the volcanic lands. So, they kept
it anyway. There were many battles fought between the Pipils and the Spanish,
ones in which the Pipil didn’t fare so well. Finally, Salvadorans banded
together and declared their independence from Spain. Soon after that, they joined Costa Rica, Guatemala,
Honduras, and Nicaragua to create the Federal Republic of Central America. It
only lasted 20 years until it dissolved, and El Salvador became it’s own
independent country until it joined the Greater Republic of Central America,
along with Honduras and Nicaragua. It dissolved after two years, and El
Salvador once again became it’s own independent country. The country turned its
focus on coffee production as its main means of economic growth. The 20th century brought
along a string of political uprisings and coup d’états. There have been many economic reforms
in the 1990s and other social reforms aimed at bettering the state of the
union. Crime remains a prevalent
problem throughout the country.
The
economy in this country has had its ups and downs. In fact, like Ecuador, El Salvador adapted the US Dollar as
its currency to stabilize their economy.
Natural disasters have always had a negative impact on their economy as
they struggle to rebuild. El
Salvador has often been considered a mono-export country, meaning one that
pretty much relies on one product.
It used to be indigo but later switched to coffee. Inflation is fairly
steady although still one of the lowest in the region. And even at that, it still has the
third largest economy in Central America.
They are seeing growth, and like other Central American and Caribbean
countries, ecotourism is one contribution. Remittances from abroad – when people move to another
country for employment and send part of the money home – are another
contribution, as well as free-trade agreements.
 |
| Look at the size of those baskets -- this has GOT to be back-breaking work. |
The vast
majority of Salvadorans identify themselves as Christians – Roman Catholics as
the primary denomination, followed by Protestantism. The next most common belief is non-belief: this includes
people who are atheist, agnostic, or people who believe in some sort of god but
doesn’t have a religion. There are
other religions represented in El Salvador but with much smaller followings.
Spanish
is the most widely-spoken language in El Salvador. Other indigenous languages that are spoken by a small
population are Q’eqchi’ (a language spoken by indigenous people from Guetemalan
and Belizian who were living in El Salvador), Nawat, and Maya, although these
speakers also speak Spanish as well.
Common foreign languages that are learned in school are French, Dutch,
German, and English. And since
WWII, there are also small Japanese and Taiwanese communities as well.
There
are a few famous people of Salvadoran descent. Christy Turlington, model for Calvin Klein, Maybelline, and
Versace is half-Salvadoran. Writer
and artist Consuelo de Saint Exupéry is from El Salvador; she married French
writer Antoine de Saint Exupéry, author of one of my favorite books, The Little Prince. And unfortunately, the street gang
MS-13 that is based in Los Angeles, San Francisco and many other cities across
the US, Canada, Mexico, and Central America is made up of ex-pat Salvadorans.
But on the other hand, it’s one of the few countries that is experiencing
reforestation of its tropical rain forests. It does host one UNESCO World Heritage Site. It’s a place
called Joya de Ceren. The entire site
was covered in ashes after a volcanic explosion and has been called the
“Pompeii of the Americas.” It
makes you wonder perhaps how many other things that have been buries under
volcanic ash that we haven’t discovered yet.
Up next:
holidays and celebrations
No comments:
Post a Comment