Here I sit, in San Salvador, in a house with Internet access, a full-time maid, a recording studio, but alas, very limited hot water (only in one of the three bathrooms) and sketchy plumbing. Its been very interesting to see how people live here and we´ve had experiences that the typical tourist would not be able to find. In fact, I havent seen another American since Friday... or even someone who isn´t from Salvador.

I´ll start from Saturday morning.... 4^30 AM and Oren and I wake up to sit on the dark street outside our hostel Shalom (the name an eerie omen of things to come, that we missed until now) Ostensibly, a bus was going to pick us up right at our door, and miraculously it did. We were taken along with an Israeli girl to the capital where we waited for our bus south. Zone 4 , our driver told us, was ´peligroso´ so he waited with us until the bus came. The streets were cramped with people prepapring their goods for the market - it was difficult to drive through...

On the bus I slept the whole way, of course, although Oren started feeling sick. The border crossing took forever, and the whole bus had to wait for us and 5 other people because Salvadorenos and Guatemalans were exempt from the passport control. We prayed it wouldnt leave without us.

Once in San Salvador, our life has been like a bizarre scavenger hunt - we get in the car and never understand exactly they are taking us - we have some clue, so we try to guess - but each event has been more strange, hilarious and exciting than our imaginations can dream up. Walter´s family has been amazing and we´ve spent time with both his father and mother´s families - the families are very close and we´ve met aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, in laws, etc... Mostly, they feed us A LOT!

Walter´s great aunt picked us up from the bus station. Her van - the large car she drives so it can fit the whole family band - has 2 jewish stars and ¨shalom¨on the dashboard. Paled in comparison the the house... Her garage is painted bright blue and the gate in front boasts an enormous Star of David. The gate on the adjacent door is a menorah. The whole family came out to meet us and when the garage door opened we saw a life size mural of the Kotel (the western wall of the temple in Jerusalem) complete with men praying. This, in their garage. Inside the house are countless items of Judaica - shofars, menorahs, music boxes that play the horah, framed copies of the priestly blessing and Israeli flags.

While the family went off to pray, we swam in their rooftop pool. They have a great view of the city and the volcano of San Salvador. The house is several stories tall and trees and flowers hung over the terrace where we swam. It was hot! Then, Bety invited me to watch TV. Her husband and sons were dancing and singing at their church and it was televised on a national station.

We had to see it in person, so as we struggled to understand the meaning of all this, we asked to join them at church for Christmas eve services.

Thousands of Salvadorans go to this church. It is supposedly the biggest congregation in San Salvador, and I have no reason to dispute this fact. Bety dressed in a blue and white dress with a gold Jewish star embroidered on the front. The traffic was crazy and everywhere were signs about salvation and Jesus. Many of the cars had seemingly contradictory bumper stickers - Jesus Saves, and an Israeli flag. We found ourselves smack in the middle of a Messianic Jewish congregation.

The stage was blue and white - with a Christmas tree. The tree, however was somewhat overshadowed by the enormous Jewish star and menorah on the wall. Intermittenly, the preacher spoke of salvation, and then Kol Hatikvah '- the band of the family whose house were staying at - would play the hora or some other song about Israel.

After the service, Oren and I were escorted to private rooms and begged to convert. I stood my ground and I think earned the respect of the missionary just for being Jewish and actually having been to Israel. As for Oren, he was still not feeling well and he opted for the quickest way out - salvation!

I almost wished Id done the same! Minutes later, a young woman came up to Oren and gave him a bracelet. She told him that she´d bought it for herself that day, but that Jesus had just spoken to her and told her to give it to that guy over there. The message from Jesus, via this woman, was that Jesus loves Oren. Alas, Im off to hell... Oren and I were pretty flabergasted.

That night, fireworks overtook the city until 2am. Across the street from Bety´s I ate a special Christmas meal - a sandwich of stewed turkey - and flan for dessert.

SUNDAY----

At 8am, Karla´s brother picked us up to take us out for breakfast. Comida typica at Burger King! After our third trip past the mall, we were beginning to understand how proud they are hre of fast food and chain stores. At Burger King I had a delicious breakfast of beans, eggs, cheese and salsa. After touring the city - the palace, the park de libertad and the enormous Cathedral of Sal Salvador, we went to Ilobasco. This town is about 45 minutes away.

We drove past the lago de san salvador which unfortunately cant be visited right now .The road is out because of flooding. Likewise, we cant visit one of th volcanoes because its active right now!

We spent Christmas day with the Ramirez family. They showed us pottery and we walked through the town which, to be honest, was very very dirty. Trash here doesnt seemed to get picked up regularly, and people just drop things on the ground. Its a shame...

For lunch we had Campero fried chicked. (think KFC) On Christmas, the national tradition is that no one cooks. So we ordered in... I already felt like i was going to overdose on oil and grease, but this was only the beginning.

After lunch, I read a little with Valeria, a 7 year old cousin of Walter. She was such a sweet girl, and very very smart. We drove back to San Salvador and took a pitstop at -yes! - the mall. Oren and I played an awesome game of knock hockey- the only money Ive spent here. Then we went to Walter´s uncles house. First, however, we had to awaken the drunk man on the steps.

They live in a communtiy with a security guard and are directly across the street from another church of Messianic Judaism. It´s everywhere here! Attached to this house was an ice cream shop so we opened for business and got free banana splits! Then we tasted the local soda - kolashanpan.

Next, we were taken to try the national food - pupusas... something wed heard a lot about... It took us over an hero to navigate the traffic and windy roads up to a spot that overlooked the whole city. It seems that it´s weekend tradition to congregate up here and eat pùpusas with the whole family. Horns blared, music played and pick up trucks had beds packed with pèople. ALong side the road were endless pupuserias and vendors selling jewelry and other knicknacks. We arrived and ate the delicious (fried) tortillas filled with beans and cheese.

Today, my tummy hurts a little, but Im happy. The hospitality here has been incredible and I feel like we´ve gotten to understand a bit about the Salvadoran culture. ITs wonderful to see how close the families are and how proud they are of their country.