El Salvador - El Pulgarcito de Centroamerica

El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America, how small? It has almost the same size as the state of Massachusetts. I could go on and start talking about the statistics, why there was a civil war, and why today the official currency is the American dollar, but I’ll save from those details, instead I’ll tell a bit about my trip to this tiny country back in December 2006.

Started to write about El Salvador last January, then a computer crash erased everything I had written, and here I’m a couple of months later trying to give you some words about this little place one day I called home.

If you want to go to a place where you want to have a rough adventure, where you want to climb a volcano - 25 of them - or swim in one of the few lakes, or walk around beaches which I consider to be the most beautiful in the region (don’t all countries claim the same thing?), then El Salvador is the place to go.

Said that, don’t expect to find tourist information booths everywhere you go, or the majestic all inclusive resorts as they have in the Caribbean, Mexico and other places.

Between you and me, I believe El Salvador should invest money and promote this type of tourism, the savage and wild one. I would hate to see 5 star hotels and resorts popping out everywhere along the Pacific Coast, as the Japanese had planed back in the 70’s.

Instead, the country should develop more areas such as the one I visited, located very close to where the Lempa river and the Pacific Ocean meet, called la Pita. Until then I had no idea El Salvador had such a magnificent display of wild life so close to the major urban centers.

Remember, El Salvador has a population almost as the same size as the Province of Quebec. Imagine hosting close to 7 million people in such a small area? No wonder why it is believed almost 20% of the Salvadoran population lives abroad.

You can easily go from one side of the country to the other in less than 4 hours, nevertheless I guarantee you this is not going to be enough to appreciate all the beautiful things this country has to offer.

Surfers were the first to start arriving after the end of the civil war in 1991, then probably by word of mouth, more and more people had started to arrive searching for this wild place they heard about.

Personally I don’t like the beaches from the Easter side of the country, perhaps I’m bias because my parents own a small rancho in the beach of El Espino, located in the Western side. I find those beaches to be more calm compared to the other side of the country.

The majority of travelers to El Salvador are Salvadorans living abroad, and it doesn’t matter you are flying from, the flights are always full. What makes me mad is that even though San Salvador is only 5 hours flight away from Montreal, it costs me almost the same as if I were traveling to São Paulo, which is almost 12 hours flight away.

If someone tells you San Salvador is a must in your traveling itinerary, I would think twice about that statement. Unless you want to see another big city with horrible traffic and pollution, I would search for the small cities around the country, and the beaches as soon as you land at the Comalapa airport.

Actually, San Salvador is a super Americanized city, full of shopping centers, super markets, and fast food restaurants. You can have a lot of fun if you want to, but if you came all the way to El Salvador to see that, then why not just stay home eh?

I could keep writing for hours about El Salvador, and I might add more details later on, but until then, if you are one of those explorer travelers, looking for a challenge, and ready for something new, I would recommend this country.

If you are one of those that expects everything to be perfect and neat, please do yourself a favour and pick one of those fabulous resorts in Cuba or somewhere else. El Salvador will be good for you if you want to have adventures in a not so tourist crowded place.

Although I was born in El Salvador, most of my time was spent in other countries. Nevertheless, I feel equally Salvadoran as I feel Brazilian and Canadian.

The most important part of my trip was to see my family again, it is not very often we have the chance to gather all together in one place, such a logistic nightmare when your family is spread out around the globe.

It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been away from home, there is no volcano in the world that will make me feel as I do when I go the chance to hug and kiss my mother again.

The country can be small, but it feels really big having my father beside me, the person that protected me while growing up, and sometimes he almost forget I'm no longer a child.

The sunrise and sunset are wonderful, but nothing like being able to sit down in a table and laugh with your brothers and cousins.

Pupusas are the most popular dish in this country, but its taste pale by comparison when you feel the love of your family.

Enough about my trip, have many more pictures to post, but with the few you have seen, it gives you a small taste of what the country looks like.

El Salvador, el pulgarcito de Centroamerica.

Pictures by myself, my brother from Los Angeles, my brother from San Salvador, my cousin from Guatemala City and my extended family from the Czech Republic.

Danny Tenaglia @ Stereo - November 10, 2007

Disclaimer: Please remember this is my personal view of the night, and although I will not compare Tenaglia to any other DJ, I will allow myself to search moments from his previous appearances at the Black & Blue, Stereo and Parking in Montreal.

First time was gigantic and innovating, second time was phenomenal and explosive, and third time was dirty and techno-heaven. Therefore this was my fourth time seeing the master of the music, a legend in his own time. My first thought was I should wait until 5:00am to arrive at Stereo. Tenaglia all night long means a long warm up set, but then again this is when he plays the funky and cool stuff nobody else plays. Lets just say I was in line while he walked by and shook hands of the people waiting to get in - he look very happy. “Is it going to be a good night?” - someone asked, - “just give me 5 minutes okay?” he answered with a big smile.

Once inside, the first I noticed was how big Stereo looks now with the removal of the round shaped wall located in the mezzanine bar area - loved this change, only if they could do the same to the dance floor bar.

Tenaglia treated us with happy funky cool music during the next 2 hours, time which I thought was going to be enough to fill up the place. It was a slow warm up as I had imagined it would be, but the interesting part is how progressively the music starts to change. Sometimes you don’t even know and you are already somewhere else. Probably it was 4:00am when Tenaglia felt it was time to start changing the mood of the room, too bad there was not enough people to make this transition, the place was half full, nothing compared to the last time he was at Stereo. The funky music moved to more techy tunes, and the vibe got more intense.

5:00am and this is when people started to arrive from I don’t know where, and probably this is when I started to sweat from dancing. Tenaglia never really got into the hard techno tunes he dropped so intensively back in May at Parking, instead he went exploring the House Progressive side of the music, and I just felt in heaven while he stayed in this wave of music. There were moments in which I was hoping his music was more intense, and then you are dancing to this amazing music and you are left wondering what a hell just happened? One moment I’m kind of disappointed because I want more, and next I’m just in total nirvana because the music is just fantastic. How did he do that? Don’t know, but let me tell you how big the smile I had in my face was- big.

The comments were all positive, some more than others. Most of first timers were super impressed by Tenaglia performance so far, and my clock is set at 8:00am at this time. Others were a little bit temporarily disappointed because perhaps they were expecting a little bit more - including me. Others were just too happy to give me thumbs up.

I would say one third of Stereo people were from New York, including one of my friends that fracture his elbow after falling from one of the speakers. Nothing serious may I add, the doctor said there was no need of cast, just a sling would do the job. Someone even mentioned Tenaglia had traveled to Montreal with those New Yorker fans. Some people from Ottawa and Toronto, and of course some of the die hard regulars of the place. Beautiful people, but the most incredible was the intense vibe of the place. Stereo magic at its best, too bad the ticket price left many people out of temple, even if the at door price (CND 85.00) was lower than his last appearance in 2006 (CND 100.00). Nevertheless, it was great to have comfortable room to dance, and it never got too hot as in other nights.

Tenaglia then moved into more tribal tech territories, with vocal, lots of vocals, which once again was different to his last performance at Stereo or Parking, reminding me more his style at the Black & Blue 2005, wait, his performance then was way more tribal.

Looking around the dance floor, and you could see some personalities of the Montreal music scene, dancing like the rest of us. Tenaglia kept playing with his lights, music, crowd and the vibe of the place. There was never a speech - at least not during my time at the temple - as he has done in the past, but he kept using his little child impersonating voice during the night. Tenaglia has told us in the past what he does in order to get ready for a long night of dancing: “My recipe is good rest, water, a good meal before I get to the club, and to prepare myself mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually and musically.”

My problem with this night was one thing and one thing only. I had super high expectation of the night, and even if Tenaglia gave us 200% of himself, I was probably expecting 1000% more. Have enjoyed all his previous performances, including this last one at my beloved Stereo, nevertheless this time I set the bar too high, which probably is why I was left with this feeling of mild disappointment.

The party was great, the vibe was super intense, the crowd was just amazing, the music fantastic. Nice build up, with magic moments. Last time he didn’t give us vocals, the ones I love and didn’t miss them. Now he gave us vocal, the ones I love and wish they had been left out. Don’t tell me, I’m weird.

Will I go see him again? What kind of question is that guys? Obviously I won’t miss his next performance in Montreal, just make sure tickets are not so expensive okay? It was around 11:30am when I left the magic premises of Stereo.