so my top culinary goal on my trip around the latin american world was to taste some authentic salvadorean pupusas IN EL SALVADOR. the only problem being that el salvador is one of the most violent places on earth with even the cops terrified of the mara salvatrucha gangs which control most of the streets in the country. but pupusas are the truth and worth taking on considerable risk in order to find them....i hopped on the bus and went into el salvador... the bus trip from nicaragua to guatemala by bus requires an overnight stay in el salvador at the hotel next to the bus station in el salvador. as soon as the border is crossed into el salvador the vibe shift is deeply felt. our bus pulled into a gas station after crossing the border and there were several gas station employees casually carrying multiple shotguns while the passengers got food and drinks. i remember thinking to myself that in other countries the only places with an armed guard are banks and high end stores. but here in el salvador the freakin gas station has not one but several shotguns casually being bandied about. these salvadoreans were not messing around and were ready for anything...it felt nuts.... after a few more hours on the bus we make it to the capital city and drive through the city on our way to the bus station. it was already dark out and drizzling and i could see shotguns and or machine guns at every single business on every block. everybody was strapped and packing serious heat. it´s simply an entirely different reality down in the deep south. after getting to the bus station i get a room at the hotel and try to relax. fail. there is no way to relax when authentic pupusas must be found in such a place but what am i going to do a goal is a goal and the pupusas have to be found at any cost.... i ask the hotel employees where i can get some pupusas and they give me a worried look and say half a block down the street from the hotel. i take a deep breath and decide if this is how i go out then at least it´s for a good cause...my epitaph would say - he went out hunting the pupusas - i could live with that ending... i step out of the hotel into the drizzling rain and head down the street to the pupuseria....i am scared shitless but the smell of frying pupusas is wafting in the air and giving me courage to walk the salvatrucha streets. i make it to the pupuseria and walk inside. everyone looks at me and knows i´m not from around those parts....i silently hope the people are good to me and don´t rob or kidknap me. i walk up to the counter and order 4 cheese pupusas and a plate of rice, mashed black beans, beef stew, and hard boiled eggs. the food is so good i instantly forget that i am surrounded by the bloodiest gang bangers in the world. with each bite it is painfully obvious that the pupusas were more than worth the risk. the cheese oozes from them as they burn my mouth and all is right in the world. mission accomplished. i walk back to my hotel without a care in the world and with the satisfaction of having completed one of my main goals....life is good....
Posted on: Fri, 24 Oct 2014 22:47:19 +0000