If you read my first post on El Salvador, you might have noticed that I wrote “Salvadoran” to refer to the people. And this is the correct spelling in English. And if you watch some YouTube videos about the country, you’ll find more than one person proclaiming loudly that the correct pronunciation is Salvadoran, as it is spelled, and you should, under no circumstances, say Salvador-E-an. However, I’m here to tell you that every single tour guide I had, when using English, said Salvador-E-an, so don’t listen to those social media guys.
The different varieties of Spanish always interest me, and I pay carefully attention to the words used and pronunciation. One that especially made me smile in El Salvador is that gringas are quesadillas, not white people. So you can use that word if you want to order what we in American think of as quesadillas, or you can ask for a “Mexican quesadilla.” But if you just just ask for a “quesadilla” you’re going to get pan dulce.
Also, chicharron is just carnitas, not crunchy pig skin. There’s a delicious fried yucca dish you can get in the markets for a few dollars that is topped with their version of chicharron and cortida, which is a cabbage, red onion, carrot, and vinegar slaw. There’s a homemade soft cheese that’s really good too. And obviously I ate a ton of delicious pupusas and fresh fish, but I didn’t pick up any interesting words for those.
Another language hot take was from one guide who insisted that “conquistar” (conquer) was not that correct verb for what the Spanish did in Latin America. A “conquest” is a romantic endeavor, according to this man. The correct word to use was “invadir” because they invaded. He’s not wrong about the second part of that, but I’d also object to describing a romantic pursuit as a conquest.
Also, while I conversed in Spanish whenever possible, there was still the assumption (I’m guessing based on the color of my skin) that I couldn’t speak Spanish. At one point, a lady bumped into me on the street and apologized in Spanish, but as she was walking away, she also said out loud in heavily-accented English, “uh, uh…sorry.” That was cute.
Despite high-fluency in English among my guides, I suspect that someday soon, many SalvadorEans might be learning Mandarin. The Chinese are in El Salvador, just like they are in Montenegro and Bolivia. They built a massive library in San Salvador and are apparently, building a soccer stadium too. And if you think they are doing this out of pure generosity, no. No they aren’t. This is going to be a very different world in a few decades.
But the library was incredible. It was cool to see a line of people outside, waiting to enter. There are lockers outside; you can only bring in your phone and wallet. Inside, there are “tour guides” that take you through the first few floors, which are arranged by grade level. Zero to three years old is on the first floor, and there are lots of toys and games, but the rule is that parents must read to their kids for at least 15 minutes before playing. Each floor from there targets progressively older kids. There’s actually very little for adults…except a whole room of Taschen and Taschen-esque books. These are oversized, hard-backed, full-color books about every beautiful topic in the world: art, fashion, nature, space, architecture, and so on. If I lived in San Salvador, I’d be there every day, perusing those books. There are also a few balconies that overlook the main city square and a cafe in the basement. It’s a gorgeous library and I’m sure, generating lots of good will as desired.
Jennifer A Swallow 