Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Ramshackle Point, El Salvador - part 2


             I sit here in the late morning heat of El Salvador's western flanks. chickens are doddling around in the dirt, searching for bugs I'm sure.  The waves are just about prime, needing 40 more minutes of tide.  We are still in the sleepy little town past La Libertad - in about 4 days we'll be at a much better wave and we both can barely stand ourselves in the inbetween- like children days away from christmas.  We came to el salvador in search of a certain type of wave.  We haven't found it yet.  The waves in the la libertad area are all wonderful and quite fun, but not quite the ideal for what we're currently searching for.  
    We spent the past few weeks surviving el sal, getting by just enough to eat some rice and beans, film some locals, take long hot bus rides to check out other waves, often having to go twice to get the tide or wind or swell right for them to be surfable.  In the past  month, thanks to getting sick, busting open a toe on the rocks and poor swell, we probably surfed a total of 2 weeks.  thankfully we scored some fun ones in that time.
    There are some glorious things about this place regardless of swell:  the tortilla ladies who crank out 20  thick hot corn tortillas over a scorching wood fire for $1  or the 40 cent bus rides to anywhere within 30 minutes (though people will always pull over and give you a ride in the back of their truck for free- we often didn't have to wait for the bus!)   There's also the ever grinning Salvadoran-  every local here has got a smile for you if you give them a "buenas"  and the fact that a giant basket of fresh fruit and veggies costs $5.
    Since arriving we have watched the landscape change from barren brown to lively popping green.  As we move forward into the next few weeks I expect life to take on the same vivacious coloring.....hasta luego until the coloring book fills in...