¡¡¡¡Arriba con la Selección!!!!

A few days ago it was my birthday, and to celebrate the day I suggested going to an upcoming soccer game at Estadio Cuscatlan in San Salvador – the biggest soccer stadium in Central America and home to ``la Selección´´, El Salvador´s national team. The game turned out to be so incredible that I decided that a blow by blow was in order.
The game was a World Cup qualifying match – underdog El Salvador playing against Panama, to whom they had lost 1-0 in Panama the week before. We knew that in order to advance to the next round, not only did El Sal have to win, but they had to win with a total number of points overall for both games. Clearly they had a minimal chance, but we weren’t going just for the soccer – it was all about the cultural experience. Everyone and their father were at the game. It was packed, with what seemed like a ratio of 20 guys to 1 girl! Latin American soccer games are crazy, as I have experienced before in Ecuador. El Sal was no different - everybody there was wearing blue or white (Salvadoran colors) and waving flags, signs, showing off painted faces, throwing paper and water balloons onto the field and at Panama fans. We quickly learned Salvadoran cheers as well as swear words and homophobic slurs to yell at the referees and Panama players. We had decided to pay for more expensive tickets to avoid seats in the really rowdy areas – everyone warned beforehand about drunken men throwing cups of urine and pulling peoples´ clothing off and a general reign of chaos. Along with me were my roommates, and a random group of friends – going in a big group was a great choice. We found ourselves a place high up and in the shade to watch the sideshow.
The beginning of the game was mediocre, neither side playing well and Panama scoring very early on. About 30 minutes into the game it started to rain, and by rain I mean it POURED. The water fell so hard that everyone started crowding upwards to the roofed areas (we stayed dry!) or huddled miserably in the non-roofed areas. Despite this, the game continued but things were looking very bad for El Salvador. When the rain finally lets up, the puddles make play difficult. By halftime, the crowd is looking depressed. In the second half El Salvador comes back with some offensive energy, but Panama holds onto the lead for the first 3/4 of total game time. Then, with about 20 minutes left to go El Salvador scores the equilizer on a free kick. The crowd goes wild. Absolutely wild. Everyone is singing and screaming and dancing and cheering and yelling and banging on drums. The speakers start blasting the most famous Salvadoran soccer song ``Arriba con la Selección´´ and everyone joins in. The game is getting increasingly more heated, with El Salvador keeping the ball on Panama's side of the field and repeatedly taking shots. Soon enough, a close bout erupts near the Panamanian goal that ends with players on the ground injured. The referee awards a red card to Panama and a penalty to El Sal. At this point the crowd's mind is collectively being blown. Our ears are ringing with the noise of everyone yelling ''SI SE PUEDE'' (yes, you can) over and over. No silence can be heard as the player shoots... and scores. Now everyone is just going ballistic - with confetti in the air, blue smoke rising in the distance and the Panama supporters getting bombarded with water balloons (adding insult to the injury of getting soaked in the rain). El Salvador, against all odds, is now ahead and the energy is pulsating all around us. Everyone is standing up and yelling with everything they have... and then... with only 5 minutes left to go, the crowd gasps at a long curving beautiful shot... El Salvador scores their third goal and advances to glory, clinching a placement in the next round. When the game ends moments later, it's like a group orgasm. By this time, my head is pounding and my voice is hoarse from screaming, Denis has taken his shirt off and is waving it in the air happily, Chloe is videotaping everyone, people are hugging left and right, and suddenly the speakers start playing ''we are the champions''. Watching a team turn a game around and win is definitely one of the most amazing things to see in any sports match. The moment is EPIC!

Click for more info on the game and its repercussions!

Natural Disasters

There's one thing that I still cant get my mind around - the regular occurrence of natural disasters here in Central America. They seem to have it all: earthquakes, volcanos, hurricanes...
I've learned about how the formation of the Central American isthmus was prompted by tectonic plate movements, volcanic activity and accompanying large-scale lava emissions. According to my current nerdy science book, Anthony G. Coates' (Ed) Central America: a Natural and Cultural History, ''the formation of the Central American Isthmus was the pivotal event in the past 10 million years of earth history." I think my mind was blown while trying to comprehend the long-term effects of the closure of the isthmus - the separation of two oceans and connection of two land masses, thus dictating the course of american evolution. The two oceans evolved completely differently - paving the way for the reefs and mangroves of the enclosed Caribbean, whereas the Pacific coast demonstrates a completely different life cycle dependent on plankton and cold ocean currents that lift nutrients from the ocean floor. Evolution was also irreversibly altered when North and South America were connected, causing the ''Great American Interchange'' where terrestrial organisms migrated in both directions across the newly formed land bridge. Ultimately, North American flora and fauna caused the extinction of many of their South American counterparts.
But despite all of the scientific explanations of the evolutionary and geological upheaval that went on here, and that still goes on to this day, somehow, I still cant fathom the natural disasters. Recently we experienced our very first ''torrmenton'' of the hurricane season. Tropical Storm Alma, began somewhere near Nicaragua and advanced North West over the course of a few days, covering practically every Central American country. Tropical storms aren't quite as aggressive as hurricanes but they are known to cause dangerous flash-floods and mudslides. Luckily, El Salvador wasn't straight in the line of storm-fire, meaning, plenty of rain for a few days but not much more than that. Soon it weakened to the level of ''Tropical Depression.'' Nevertheless, it made me contemplate the day to day mindset - it feels as though at any moment a volcano could errupt or an earthquake could occur... with destructive consequences. My (false?) sense of control over my life has been roughed up a bit with the knowledge that a disaster could be around the next corner.

Mom's Visit

I am certainly the luckiest daughter out there: my mother came to visit me in El Salvador all the way from Namibia. It was a great couple of days with her - I showed off my house (she got to sleep in my tiny room), my work (we did a site visit in Ahuachapan, later visited my office, and my coworkers took her out for breakfast), and San Salvador (we had a tourist day of museums, cafes and Friday night synagogue services.)




Over the weekend, we headed to the gorgeous region of Santa Ana where we stayed in Santa Ana (the city) at a great little backpackers hostel. We explored the downtown area with its huge church and national theater - buildings with cool colonial architecture. We then made an outing to Lake Coatepeque - a beautiful crater lake with volcanoes rising up over it and lush green foliage all around. We swam and ate good food and read our books and relaxed.




On our second day in Santa Ana, we made another outing - this time to gorgeous national park Cerro Verde, named after the ancient volcano at the center of the park. After climbing high up by bus, we eventually found ourselves on top of Cerro Verde, next to neighboring giant volcano Ilamatepec, and overlooking smaller active volcano Izalco. The view was incredible - we could see all the way to the ocean.

Mom's visit was a wonderful gift. We had a great time together, and it was so exciting to have the opportunity to show her my life here in El Salvador. I'll never forget this trip.
(Contact me for more details on my mom's visit. She wrote up the visit and sent it out via her email list, the text of which I would be happy to pass along.)