January 29, 2017
When I came up to the main house for coffee in the morning,
I met a sleepy Jan who informed me
that one male and two female puppies had
been born in the early morning hours.
All three of them were black and marked like their mother, making it
impossible to tell who the father had been.
Like her earlier litters, two were born with no tails. They were tiny, whimpering black lumps with
miniature, embryonic looking limbs.
Shadow seemed very happy to be finished with her pregnancy. Every time she went outside, Ember, the young
female Labrador, tried to get at the puppies.
She was very curious. Jan had to
keep her outside so that she didn’t bother Shadow and the puppies.
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| Mama Shadow With Her Babies |
The new toilet valve that we had installed had ceased to
work and my project for the morning was to repair it. I thought it might be clogged with algae, but
cleaning it did no good. Eventually, I
determined that the water pressure was not strong enough to reopen the valve
once the float closed it. I took it
apart and removed the “o” ring from the plunger and that allowed it to move
freely enough to operate with the pressure at hand. I also bent the arm on the float so that the
tank didn’t fill as full. Water was a
scarce commodity on the island.
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| Lin and Lou's Gorgeous Pool |
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| The Lovely Dinghy Ride Home |
It was dark by the time I got home and it was a good thing
Jan was awake because she had locked the gate and the dogs made a big ruckus
until I managed to get it open. I ran in
to charge my phone and Kindle before the generator shut off. Jan didn’t make it long. She went to bed before 9:00. I retired to the casita to write so that I
wouldn’t disturb her. She had only
napped for an hour before the crew of Longta arrived to see the puppies.
January 30, 2017
The water tank in the casita ran dry on Monday morning. This was a bit of a mystery, as I had used
very little water. I hauled a bucket of
water from the barrels for plant watering to fill the toilet tank and flushed
sparingly. I knew Jan was planning to
haul water that week, so resolved to make do until that time.
The kids came for their English lessons that afternoon. The little ones were introduced to colors
while I worked on the numbers one to twenty with the two older boys. They got them down before the end of the hour
and picked up twenty-one to thirty-nine almost instantly. We had a very good time and they applied
themselves. The youngest child in the
group was the daughter of Jan’s caretaker.
He was determined that she get a good education and not end up like
himself, doing grunt work at the age of thirty.
She was a smart child and did learn, but didn’t have the attention span,
at four, to concentrate for the full hour.
It was interesting to observe the difference in maturity between four
and six.
The second group began to arrive almost as soon as the
younger ones left. As much as we would
have appreciated a break between the two classes, it was heartening to see that
the kids were so eager to come to class.
The older kids were introduced to the vocabulary for describing
people. Most of the class was spent
introducing them to a wide array of new words.
In the last few minutes, they were each given a card with a picture of
someone on it and asked to describe that person. Unfortunately, they were a little overwhelmed
and mostly acted silly. Even so, they
did try to use some of the new vocabulary.
I had faith that they would do much better at the beginning of the hour
on Thursday.
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| Stoves Staged in the Yard |
By the end of the hour, we could see pangas full of stoves
heading for Bill and Jean’s dock. I had
offered to help unload, so I headed over there as soon as the class was
over. Half the stoves had already been
moved to Bill and Jean’s yard by the time I got there. Jamie, from Allare, and four of the islanders were moving the heavy, concrete
stoves in pairs of two. I jumped in and
helped to move the remainder. Soon there
were 55 stoves littering Bill and Jean’s front yard. It was very exciting. I couldn’t wait to see them distributed the
following morning.
January 31, 2017
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| Genesis Carrying a Comal |
When I arrived at the meeting on Tuesday morning, a Salvadoran businessman was addressing the group of islanders on the danger of
wood smoke. Young children breathing
wood smoke damaged their lungs, resulting in asthma and susceptibility to
respiratory infections. Jan had
complained that certain children were always sick, but her theory was that they
were the children who went from hammock to arms without being allowed to crawl
around in the dirt. Both factors made
sense to me. The gentleman behind the
stoves also lectured them on air pollution and global warming contributing to
sea level rise, an issue that was quite relevant to an island that had already
been submerged by an extreme high tide in 2015.
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| The Islanders Being Informed About the Stoves |
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| Island Ladies Cooking Pupusas |
Jeff and Judy and a young couple from Washington were
walking down to where Jeff and Judy’s new dinghy was being constructed and I
decided to tag along so as to see more of the island. I had met Deni, the man building dinghies, on
our previous trip to El Salvador when he had provided us with potable water on
a number of occasions. He was an
enterprising sort and had started building fiberglass dinghies after everyone
had been impressed with my friend Venus’ hard dinghy.
Deni had started with the body of a dead RIB (rigid
inflatable boat) and was building up the sides with fiberglass and adding
flotation that also would provide seating.
The sides were coming along, but the bow was still rather unformed. It was fascinating to see the construction
process.
By the time we got back, the rest of the young couple’s
family was visiting with Jan on the front porch. We all had a cold drink and chatted for some
time. After everyone left, I decided I
had better break the news to Jan about the water tank in the casita being
empty. At that point, she asked me to
leave and suggested that I rent a room from Lin and Lou. She didn’t have their number, so I headed
over to Bill and Jean’s dock where a group of people were having cocktails.
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| Jeff and Judy's Dinghy in Process |
It turned out that Lin and Lou were about to return to the
United States and I didn’t really want to be five miles up the estuary without
a dinghy, anyway, as lovely as their home was.
I was in El Salvador to help the community, not lounge at a resort. One of the skippers offered up the
possibility of my helping to sail his boat to Panama and we agreed to pursue
that further on Thursday, as he had to spend the following day in San Salvador
looking for glue to repair his dinghy.
Bill and Jean offered to let me stay with them for a few
days until I could solidify a plan. I
was able to go back and tell Jan that I would be leaving in the morning. She was in a much better mood when I got back
and we actually passed a pleasant evening.
She offered me a drink. I had
already had a shot of tequila at Bill and Jean’s, so I mixed myself an orange
juice and soda just to be companionable.
It was apparent to me that Jan’s water situation really couldn’t support
the two of us. I was still puzzled as to
what had happened to the 300 gallons of water that should have been in the
tank. While I later heard an unconfirmed
rumor that there had been another guest before me, it occurred to me that the
shower had leaked quite copiously between the time we fixed the toilet and the
time I went to bed that night, discovered water everywhere, and turned off the
main. I had fixed the shower before
turning the water back on, but the leak was no doubt at least in part
responsible for draining the tank.
February 1, 2017
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| Interior of the Casita |
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| Isabel and Jean Making Cushions |
We took a break for lunch and I made quesadillas out of cranberry covered goat cheese, candied jalapenos, and diced pork ribs. They were very fancy and tasty, too. After lunch, work resumed on the cushions. Bill and I spent a large portion of the afternoon playing the guitar and I finally found the motivation to change the strings on my guitar which had been there for almost three years.
The social event for the evening was cocktails at Colette
and Ralph’s. Their place was a three-story
A-frame over on the other side of the village.
Bill mixed up some kumquat margaritas and we hopped in the panga and
zipped over there, landing on the beach.
We arrived at the same time that Deni delivered Richard and Elizabeth
(whom I had met in Chiapas) and Judy who had somehow gotten separated from Jeff
who had gone to San Salvador with Jan, but went his own way once there. Another few couples joined us there and we
had a nice group outside on the terrace.
I chatted quite a bit with Judy and Elizabeth and Judy floated the idea
of my crewing for them on the passage to Panama, as they had crew coming to
join them there. Jeff wasn’t there to
discuss it, but it was a very tempting idea because I knew them and their boat, Just Passing Wind, was large and beautiful.
We all stayed until the tide threatened to go out and strand
the boats on the beach and then the party broke up. Bill took the group home that had arrived in
Deni’s taxi and Jean and I walked down the beach. As we were passing the village, one of the
women cornered Jean because one of the older men had a bad case of flu and was
vomiting. Jean, who was a nurse, agreed
to come back and give him a shot. She
administered Benadryl in this sort of situation that really only made them
sleep, but at least allowed them to rest and recuperate.
Bill made some very tasty pork ribs with potatoes and
onions, which were ready in about 20 minutes in the pressure cooker. It was nearly nine by the time we ate, but
the food was worth the wait. We relaxed
in hammock chairs for a bit after dinner and then turned in.
February 2, 2017
After having had perfectly good internet through my phone
over my entire trip, the morning that I needed to do my banking and try to firm
up my plans, I had no connection. My
mission for the day was to talk to Jamie from Allare about crewing for him but,
though he arrived early, he was on another mission. He had gone to San Salvador the day before to
see about purchasing glue to repair his PVC dinghy. He found some, only to be told that it cost
$500 for a pint. By the time he arrived
at Bill and Jean’s, he was ready to consider having Deni build him a fiberglass
one. He left with a promise to return
later in the afternoon and I let the matter slide at that point.
Isabel returned and she and Jean resumed work on the
cushions. There wasn’t much for me to do
and I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open, despite a cup of leaded
coffee. I finally lay down for an hour,
although I never did go to sleep.
Eventually, I gave up, rose, and drank one of the diet cokes leftover
from the Rotarians. That revived me
enough to sit in the hammock chair and write.
We had sundowners on the dock and, by that point, Jamie had
decided to stay long enough to have Deni build him a fiberglass dinghy. Clearly, our timelines were not going to
align. Since arrangements to visit my
cousin in Mexico City, La Cruz, and Comet in the Sea of Cortez were coming together
nicely, I decided to confirm those plans as soon as I got a connection.
We had gringo tacos for dinner. Gringo tacos are corn tortillas lightly fried
(but not crisp) and stuffed with lettuce, tomato, hamburger, onions, and
whatever else was in your fridge, tossed with a mixture of mayonnaise, ketchup,
cumin, and paprika. They were very
tasty.
February 3, 2017
My phone still wasn’t picking up internet when I got up on
Friday morning. Jean and I were heading
to Zacatecoluca to go to the bank and pick up a few things, so I decided to see
if my signal improved when we got there.
We took the panga across to the hotel, dropped off our laundry, and then
took a bus to Zacate. It cost $1. The bus took the scenic route, but we were
assured of having a seat all the way. We
stopped in Santiago Nonualco where the vendors were selling small pupusas made
with rice flour for 10 to the dollar. We
got a couple and snacked on them as we rode to Zacate.
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| The Interior of a Salvadoran Bus |
We got off at the strip mall near the entrance to town and
went to the Dispensa de Don Juan (a supermarket) where there were several
ATMs. We looked around the store, but
didn’t buy anything because we didn’t want to carry things around town. We stopped at a fast food restaurant called
Biggest for brunch. I still wasn’t
getting internet, but my text messages went through and I got a few Facebook
messages. We ordered a variety of
Salvadoran items to eat. I had a slice
of fried cheese, what they called an empanada which looked like a corn fritter
filled with sweet cheese and a piece of bacon.
Jean had a fried sweet corn tamale.
After our meal, we walked up the hill to the square where
there was a pretty white church and another supermarket called Super
Selecto. We bought rum, juice, cabbage,
onions, and cat food. I picked up
batteries for my LED lamp and radio.
Then we walked back down the hill to the bus station and waited for a
bus back to La Puntilla. I didn’t take
many pictures because I was leery of taking my phone out in the city, but I did
snap a few from the bus before it filled with passengers.
It was a long, hot ride back to Bahia del Sol. We were very happy to get into the panga and
feel the wind on our faces. We returned
to the house by 2:30. I had to borrow
Jean’s wireless stick when we got back so that I could finally make my travel
arrangements and do my banking. I had
planned to take the bus back to Tapachula and then fly to Mexico City. However, I found a flight for only $383
instead of $650 that would save me two nights in hotels and an entire day of
travel time. It would still be more
expensive, but the convenience seemed worth it.
My cousin agreed to pick me up at the airport. I also accepted Ulla’s offer to rent me the
palapa at Agave Azul in La Cruz for three weeks beginning February 10th and booked a cheap flight from Mexico
City to Puerto Vallarta. Arrangements
for hooking up with Comet in March would have to wait until later when Don had
some idea of where he might be.
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| Ralph Grilling Sausages |
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| Dinner at Ralph and Colette's |
It was after 9:00 when we got back. Bill wanted to stay up for a couple of hours
to run the generator, but I didn’t make it past 10:00.
February 4, 2017
I awoke at 3:20 and stayed awake, reading for a couple of
hours. Finally, I was able to go back to
sleep for another couple of hours. I got
up, drank coffee, did the dishes, and ate a banana. I managed to study Italian for a few minutes
before Jean invited me to go with her to La Colorada, a village on the island
of Tasajera where there is a woman artesan’s coop. Jean helped them to market their products in
San Salvador and through the National Geographic’s online store. She also brought some to Lin and Lou’s every
Sunday where she often sold things to cruisers.
She needed to refresh her supply.
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| Clearing a Plastic Bag from the Outboard |
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| Restaurant Built on a Sand Bar |
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| The Way to Tasajera |
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| Public Dock at La Colorada |
We walked along the dock and then down the main road through
the town. The residents of Tasajera
owned their property and kept it neatly fenced.
There was an actual sandy road through town and we saw homes of various
construction, concrete wells, and even some brick outhouses.
The women’s coop was a spacious cement block building. They made tote bags and purses out of hand
woven fabric and beaded jewelry. They
had four or five industrial sewing machines in the interior of the building and
displayed their wares on the covered porch, although few people even came to
buy anything except Jean. Most of their
orders were effected via the internet, which was often difficult because their
coverage was no better than mine and they often had to depend on people who
went back and forth to the city.
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| Sewing Room at the Women's Co-op |
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| Bags for Sale at the Co-op |
We spent an hour or so looking at their operation and
admiring their wares. I bought a couple
of pairs of beaded earrings for my cousin and her daughter in Mexico. Elizabeth bought a bracelet and a couple of
pairs of earrings. Jean stocked up for
the Superbowl party at Lin and Lou’s the next day. Then we hopped back in the panga and zipped
back to the marina where Jean and I collected our laundry and then stopped for
an icy cold beer on Georgia B before heading back to the island.
We had leftover gringo taco salad for lunch and then spent a
relaxing afternoon working on our separate projects..
Saturday night, most of the gringos on the island and in the
boats went to Bill and Jean’s caretaker Jairo’s house for dinner. On Saturday nights, his wife made
pupusas. This week, she was eager to
show off her new stove. Her specialty
was queso quemado (burnt cheese.) They
were fabulous. They had even gone out to
buy beer so that they could sell it to us.
Her kitchen was basically in an outdoor shed. They set up a large table outside and we all
crowded around it in resin chairs. My
dinner cost $1 and we all had a great time.
We stayed until well after dark and I was ready for bed by the time we
got back.
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| Pupusas Being Cooked on One of the New Stoves |
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| Pupusa Night on El Cordoncillo |
February 5, 2017
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| My Quarters at Bill and Jean's |
About noon, we loaded all the food into Bill and Jean’s
panga and headed up the estuary to Lin and Lou’s. Once we got there, I used the internet while
Bill took Lou’s truck back to the hotel to pick up the majority of the
cruisers. By the time he returned, I was
ready to be social. It was Superbowl
Sunday, so nearly every foreigner in Bahia del Sol was there. We drank cocktails and lounged in the
swimming pool until it was time to devour the pulled pork sandwiches. Then we returned to the pool until it was
time for the kickoff.
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| Huge Hibiscus Flower |
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