Crossing borders

Hola Amigos,
Another freaking fabulous day in Central America. Today I am writing from San Salvador!
We celebrated our last night with amazing pizza, beers and margaritas. We left Nicaragua at 3:30am on Thursday the 10th. We bussed to the border at Guasale, 2 and a half hours, and watched the last Nica sunrise from the bus which was breathtaking. The border was easy so early in the morning with not too many touts trying to tell you that you need their help. It cost 2 dollars US to leave Nicaragua, and 3 dollars US to enter Honduras. It was a little frusterating since we were low on cash and there were no banks anywhere. At least there were moneychangers around. The border officials were great, which they always are. We walked across the space between Nicaragua and Honduras which we dubbed "The line on the map." The young boys at the Honduran entrance were incredibly intriuged by my tattoos. They were young and giggly (and had guns) and let us by without a fuss. We then took a minibus for 27 lempiras ($1.50) to Choluteca, the largest town in the south of Honduras. We got on another bus (41 lempiras) to the border El Amatillo, at El Salvador, I met Walter, 39 year old Honduran fellow on the bus and we shared chips and he bought me some water. It was hard to converse as my spanish isnt very good, neither was his english. The El Salvadorian border was a breeze, with officials in actual uniforms helping you along. No cost to exit Honduras or enter El Salv. We needed to get to the first town possible with what little money we had left so we took a bus to Santa Rosa. El Salvador uses US currency, and the bus cost a dollar. We were all frantic to find a bank and after walking to about 5, we were all a little bitchy that we couldnt find an ATM. We finally found one that worked for us, and Greg decided to go across the street to the Scotiabank, which ended up eating his card. I really felt for him since he was trying to be so positive all day. We tried to explain in spanglish to the teller about the card but it was of no use as the security guard said they would need a technician to open the machine. Bon Voyage Coastcapital bank card.

We got some food in us and REALLY had to pee after 7 hours of travelling. We discovered there were no working public toilets in the town (it had no plumbing), which was fine for the boys but us ladies were suffering badly. We walked by a hardware store and I desperatley asked the lady working if she knew of a bathroom. She led me to the back of the store to use hers. YES! RELIEF! I tried to give her 25 cents but she laughed and said no way. She motioned for us to stay a few minutes and pointed to the sky. About 30 seconds later the thunder and lightning came for about 25 minutes. The rain was so hard the streets looked like rivers. She pulled some chairs out on to the covered deck in front of her store and we sat and enjoyed the rain. After a frantic day of travel it was very relaxing to just sit.

We got on the next bus, bus number 5 of the day. It was a beautiful old greyhound bus and we were the first ones on it. The fellow told us it was $1.25 which we thought must be a mistake since it was playing movies and had air-con and was nicer than any bus back home. Slowly we got going to San Miguel and the bus started to fill up. It really did only cost $1.25. We met a fellow, Carlos on the bus, who told us we werent going to get to our destination that night. He told us he knew of a good place to sleep that was cheap and safe. We then shared some cashews and I fell asleep. We arrived and checked into our hotel but were all wayyy too tired to do anything. We watched a couple movies and fell asleep around 9pm.

This morning we woke up and Carlos showed us the Mercado where we ate good cheap breakfasts. We decided to spend the day in San Salvador since we were tired of busses. Carlos told us it was a good idea and asked if we had heard about the Earthquake tsunami in Japan. We hadnt but turned on the CNN bulletin after breakfast and noticed they were speaking to the Presidents of Chile, Ecuador, and El Salvador. They said to expect a 2m rise in water levels between the next 24-48 hours so I guess the subconcious decision to stay in the city overnight was a blessing. We caught the bus, 2.5 hours to San Salvador (5$) and then into a cab to the Blvd de los Heroes, the safe university district of San Salv. We got to a nice little place called La Estrancia and the woman, Doña Ana, opened the gate and said "Welcome home!" It definetly felt like the right place to be. Hot water, free water, TV, cheap dorm beds (although more expensive than Nicaragua).
We went to this little burger van called Mayaburguer, recommended by my amiga, Madison, which was amazing. A big mac replica only better for $1.75. El Salvador is definetley fast food CRAZY. You can stand in one place on the street and count 2 Burger Kings, 2 Pizza Huts, 2 Mister Donuts, a Wendys and thats only the american fast food. Theres even more than you could imagine. We then walked to the biggest mall in Central America, but just for window shopping, we didnt spend anything.

We are now back at the hostel waiting to hear more news on CNN. My heart goes out to all the people stranded on the rooftops, as this image is becoming more and more frequent but never hurts your heart any less. We might go to the beach tomorrow, as we dont want to live in fear but would rather be safe than sorry. My sinus infection seems to be worsening. I have had a headache in the front of my head for over a week now which only worsens in air conditioning (which is everywhere). I think I will go see a doctor. I just dont want to take the time out of my vacay :(

Tonight we will go find cheap Guiness since the beer in El Salvador is just OK. I am craving something dark and delicious. Anyways, I hope everyone is feeling extra love and extra grateful for their family and friends today.  I know I will be celebrating life in this beautiful city tonight, wish you all could be here! XO
(No new pictures to post, busses are boring.)