Here are a few highlights from the trip:
1. El Salvador seems really safe, arguably “Canada safe” or maybe even safer.
2. I have never experienced the fastest and easiest airport and check-in procedures.
3. There are no visitors, unless you count El Salvadorans returning from the United States.
4. In a small country, always visit city #2, this time Santa Ana. There’s nothing you can do there, but that’s part of the point. You can navigate to your local Walmart.
5. You should especially eat pupusas in less organized places. The basic products of corn, beans, and cheese of the country are very good, although they get worse as the restaurant becomes more beautiful.
6. There is one exception to #5: go eat at El XoLo, best meal I’ve had in years. The squash and cochinita dishes were the best, and you get a taste of El Salvador’s elite.
7. You can go to beautiful beaches and no one will be there.
8. I visited the colonial city of Suchitoto again, after nine (?) years of absence. It was about 10 times the last trade value.
9. El Rosario, the brutal church, is one of the great landmarks of the New World.
10. The Chinese gifted library in San Salvador is funny, here are some pictures.
11. El Salvador’s estimated gdp growth is disappointing. But use seems to be growing rapidly, both in numbers and what one sees on the ground. Which thread is the most important? This is a common paradox in development economics.
12. Taking a 3-4 day trip in groups of five or six is taken very lightly. I hope you can plan your trip yourself!
13. People love it when you tell them you’re from Virginia.
14. I may consider the “future of security” issues in more detail in a later post.
15. All in all, I would encourage you to go, go, go. From Washington, DC it’s an easy, direct flight of four hours — not that much closer than Denver? What are you waiting for?
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