Happy Christmas Eve everyone. This morning I’m sitting on the second floor terrace of my father-in-law’s house looking out over the village and the street below. This past weekend I came down with a cold bad enough to put me in bed for two days, but it was not COVID. I’m feeling mostly better now, but woke up about 3:30 AM and could not fall back to sleep. I tried, but the various early morning noises (like a woman rolling a wheeled trash can down the street while she swept and raked along the curb or the birds starting to sing) kept me awake, so finally I gave up and made some hot tea and moved to the terrace.
One creature that has joined me this morning is a Tropical Kingbird. It’s a grey and yellow bird that likes to land on the wires above the street near the terrace, so I get a good view from here. A new hobby for me since we moved here has been bird watching, which is something my father enjoyed many years ago. The variety and beauty of the birds here is astounding and I love watching them and identifying them. One of the first birds I saw here was a toucan, which I identified as a juvenile Collared Aracari that was in the tree in the inner courtyard at the house. Other birds I have seen here include the Rufous-browed Peppershrike, which is a small mostly green bird with a grey neck, and the Rufous-backed Wren, another small bird with a checkered pattern on its back. I’ve also seen the Common Squirrel Cuckoo, which has long striped tail feathers and is a blue and brown bird. Another I have seen more often closer to the beach, but once in the village, is the Great-tailed Grackle, which is an all black bird with long tail feathers, though the female is more brown. The most common birds I see though are doves. They include the White Winged Dove and the Ruddy Ground Dove, both of which live in the tree in the courtyard in high numbers. Some of the them nest in areas of the upper landing of the house and have their babies there. In Maryland, birds having babies happens in the spring, but here, just like flowering plants, this happens all year round.
My mother recently visited and we had an excellent time. This was her second visit as the two of us came in January, before I knew I would be moving here. When we visited back then we went spent time at Mayan sites, including Joya de Ceren and San Andres. Her favorite was Joya de Ceren, which is El Salvador’s Pompeii because it includes regular people’s houses that were buried, without being destroyed, by an eruption from a volcano. We also visited towns along the Ruta de las Flores or route of the flowers, which is a driving tour of colonial villages with brightly painted churches on town squares with artisan shops and cafés. This time we went to the beach, staying at a resort called Hotel Tesoro Beach, which has very nice beach access areas and a beautiful club house. If you’re looking for a beach resort in El Salvador, I would say this is a great option for a day-time visit, but note the front desk is not open 24 hours and there are limited dining options.
During her visit we also went to Suchitoto, which is a colonial village that was briefly the capital of El Salvador under Spanish rule. It has a history related to the production of Añil, which is the Spanish word for indigo, the natural blue die. We attended a fantastic workshop there where we learned about the history and craft of dying fabric to make clothing using Indigo, then we made beautiful tee shirts and a scarf. I want to give a shout out to Irma Guadron, the owner of Arte Añil for hosting the workshop and taking such good care of us. I strongly recommend the workshop to anyone who enjoys crafting and learning about history at the same time.
I hope you have a perfect holiday season and allow whatever stresses you face to fade at least for a few days. Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, and Happy New Year!
