El Gringo Misterioso

And "el gringo misterioso" was....(drum roll, please).......(no, seriously, drum roll).............

                             Mi papito!

That's right, my daddio surprised me in El Salvador last Monday.  We spent five days having a great time.  He fit right in as you can see in the next photo.  (Instead of "Where's Waldo?", it's "Can You Locate the Funny White Man"?) 

We spent a day at the beach and another day at Suchitoto (an old, colonial town that has a gorgeous lake).  We took a boat ride to "la isla de pajaros"(The island of the birds).  It was lovely. 

He almost didn't make it back to the States.  On the way to the airport, the woman working at the gas station wanted to take him to her house.  She thought he was pretty darn handsome.  I think so too :)

"Gooooooooooooooooollllll"

If you've never watched the superbowl in Spanish you ought to try it sometime.  Uncontainable laughter erupted from my larynx during the first touchdown run when the announcer declared "Gooooooooooollllll".  My Salvadoran companions didn't understand why I found this humorous.  I'm not sure if they were watching the game for the sake of the "gringa" or not, but they were very kind friends as they watched futbol americano - a game they don't really understand.

Nearly every boy I've ever met here (save one) was weaned on futbol.  In fact, one of my favorite snapshots from my time here happened as I was walking back from the market yesterday.  As I was meandering down the street, I heard a combustion of noise.  It wasn't until I walked a few more paces that I learned the source of this noise: about 10 boys between the ages of 4 and 7 were playing their favorite game in a concrete alleyway between houses.  The noise, I assume, was their fervent celebration of a "gooooollll". 

Alas, sleep is prevailing over the superbowl tonight.  Tomorrow I'm going to the airport to pick up a mystery man.  We don't really know who he is or why he's here but it will be rather strange to have to share my friends with another gringo :)

"Princesa"

Something humorous happened just now, but I was alone.  So I'm sending it out into the void and perhaps the echoing laughter will suffice in making me think that I wasn't laughing alone.

I was painting inside my apartment near the back of the kitchen where there's netting.  (Thus, you can see outside and can be seen by the outside world.)  I became aware of two men when one of them yelled out "Princesa" (princess).  I assumed he was hitting on me and tried not to give him my attention.  When he continued to yell it a multiple times, I turned my head and realized that the object of his beckoning was not me but rather a dog :)

Thank you for listening, dear void.  Back to painting.

Mom - For the sake of your worried mind: there have been no previous instances of advances by strange men here that would make me draw my initial conclusion.

There's nothing quite like a street vendor yelling "tamales de gallina" outside your door at 8 o'clock at night to let you know you're in San Salvador.