El Salvador

January is a reserve month for me, so it usually means short call outs and running to the airport to make flights.  I was surprised when I called in for the next days assignment, expecting to hear I was on "Ready Reserve" and instead had a trip assigned.  It was a three day trip to El Salvador, via Los Angeles.  I was scheduled to dead head that evening, so I spent the late morning at UT Southwestern's Ashton Clinic.  I am participating in a study to see if Polybrominated Diphyrel Ethers (PBDE's), the chemical that makes seats flame retartat, is showing up in the blood stream of Flight Attendants.  It is a carcinogen, so if it is showing up in our blood stream, we could be prone to cancer or other health problems.  I had gone with a group of friends a few days earlier and I managed to get Nurse Ratchett for my blood draw.  She stuck me three times and could not get blood.  Now I just got my "Nine Gallon" pin at the local Blood Bank so I think it was her and not me.  Anyway, on Thursday I went down for another "sticking".  I had success this time around and they got the seven vials they needed.


After dinner with Ladyfriend, I made my way to the airport for the deadhead to Los Angeles.  The flight was full, but I got an aisle seat.  We arrived about 45 minutes early in Los Angeles and had to wait about 10 minutes for our gate and the guy sitting next to me was just dropping "f bombs" and going on about how ridiculous this was.  We still got to the gate 35 minutes early, but he swore he was never flying the airline again.  Oh well.


I had about three hours before our midnight departure so I went down to the crew lounge to grab a nap, but the carpets were being cleaned with the loudest industrial strength vacuum cleaners I have ever heard.  So much for the nap.


Our flight was full, but the Salvadorian folks are nice and easy going.  They never complain about anything.


We arrived into San Salvador at about 6:45am, as the sun was coming up.  Three of the flight attendants and one of the pilots were going to spend the 24 hour layover at the beach (they had even brought their own surfboards).  That left the Captain and two other flight attendants going with me to the hotel.  The property is beautiful and the rooms are very nice.  I passed out pretty quick, since I had been awake for what felt like days.


After a quick work out, I met up with Lynn and Chris, the two LAX based crew I was working with and we went downtown.

The thing that makes me sad though is the fast food explosion that seems to be everywhere.  There seems to be a Pizza Hut and a KFC on every corner!  

The great thing about El Salvador is that they use the US dollar for their currency, so you don't have to change any money.  We decided to get the local flavor and take the bus down to the city center, versus a cab.  All of the buses are old yellow school buses from the states that are painted in these trip out colors.  The bus we rode downtown on was named Jesus.  A bus ride costs 20 cents.  That is a pretty good deal!

I made a little friend on the bus named Manuel.  He must have been about 8 or 9.  The girls were looking for the part of town where you can buy cheaps DVDs, and Manuel decided he would be our tour guide.  Of course, he wanted money, so after I gave him a dollar, he said thanks and bolted off to find the next tourist he could help.  The girls fly this trip all the time, so they like to go and find the deals.  They found this place where you can buy CDs and DVDs for the cheap.  Notice the local woman walking around with items balanced on her head.

There are tons of street vendors selling all sorts of food.  Chris and I decided to try the "Chocobananas".  They dip the frozen banana in hot fudge and then roll it around in the topping of your choice.  And all this yumminess for only 50 cents!

The next stop was the Iglesia de San Ignacio, one of the many cathedrals around town.  The outside of the church was so ornate, but the inside was surprisingly simple.  One of the stark reminders about being in a third world country, was the poverty and beggars.  The church entrance was surrounded by lots of people asking for money, and many of them were missing limbs or disabled, which was sad.

We were trying to figure out how to get a bus back to the hotel as the evening rolled in.  The crowds were everywhere and I wasn't watching where I was going and I bumped into a box of chicken legs.  It took a second to register what they were.  I am not quite sure what recipes they are used for.....  hmmmm.

As the sun began to set, people were ending their work days and they all just sort of found their way to the many parks and squares around town.  It must be the social part of the day.  It was fascinating to watch people bustling about, buying things from the street vendors, sitting and chatting, etc. etc.  Certainly a much simpler life than what we have in the US, but everyone seemed jovial and happy.  We rode back to the hotel on a bus named "Christina".

The flight back the next morning was full, but the people were just as nice as on the way down.  A lot of the folks, especially the elderly ones, can't read or write, so being the spanish speaker onboard, I had to help them fill out their forms.  You have to be sesitive about it though.  It must be hard to admit for them, because they always say something like their eyes or bad or they left their classes at home.  I just tried to make it seem like it was no big deal.

The deadhead back to base from Los Angeles was great.  A lot of my friends were working the trip, so it was fun to catch up with them and visit.  I sat next to a United Flight Attendant who had just flown in from Sydney.  She looked surprisingly fresh after a 15 hour flight.  I look desheveled after a two hour flight from Cancun!