Without the help of Paola Perez, this trip could not have been this successful. I had no idea what to expect other than the fear of security that I had heard while in the USA. Once I booked a room in the Sheraton, I reached out to them to talk to somebody.

Paola – who is in charge of guest relations – answered all sorts of questions from me – including if it was safe for me to move around with my camera!! She offered all sorts of options of places to visit. Once I explained that I am not into architecture or long dead people, she quickly understood what might be interesting to me.

She also arranged for the car and an English speaking guide and driver. As if that was not all, she also left a gift made by local artisans for me.

Had a chance to have dinner with her and her friend Maria Jose today. Learnt how typical life is for twenty somethings in El Salvador. One interesting fact I learnt is that after high school, instead of going to University – which people find costly – often people go to something called an Academy to learn English to improve their job prospects. It is aa 18 month course, I believe. In fact, Paola Perez was with the local airlines Volaris. But she never got a chance to speak English. So, she switched to the Marriott group – this way, she gets more exposure to English thru the guests!

Congratulations Maria Jose on your upcoming wedding. And I hope Paola Perez, you make it to your dream vacation in Colombia!!

Till next time!

Ever since I posted about my El Salvador trip on Facebook, Gerardo Urias has been desperately trying to figure out how to meet. He was traveling for work and then when he came back he was stuck with way too many meetings at office.

Finally, we managed to see each other this evening. The reason he absolutely wanted to have the meeting is that this is the first time we met! We have worked in the same company at one point of time and all our meetings were over the phone. These were the days when we did not have Zoom or video calling facilities.

The first time I got to see how he looks like was when he accepted by Facebook request – way after I had left the company.

I am impressed that he remembered me. Even went to the extent of accusing me of being helpful when we worked together!! I am sure his standards have improved since then.

Gerardo has a very interesting life story. Both his parents immigrated from Israel to Honduras and then moved to El Salvador which is where they met each other. I was very impressed to hear about his son – also called Gerardo – who at the age of 24 has a flourishing coffee business!

I am so grateful that he made all the effort to meet me. Otherwise, I would have missed seeing this fine gentleman for God knows how many years!

Long, long time back, I worked with a gentleman called Mauricio Flores. I was in Atlanta. He was in El Salvador. Later he moved to Portugal. You may remember him from a post in 2019 November whenI met him while on a vacation with the family in Azores islands and then Lisbon.

He found out that I was in homeland this week. Got an immediate message that his brother was going to drop a local alcohol for my bar!

When I came back to the hotel, his brother and sister in law – Erick and Blanqui – were waiting for me in the lobby.

Now, my Spanish is nothing to write casa about. (Yes, it gets that bad when I sprinkle in one or two words Spanish words I know in an otherwise clear English sentence). And Erick and Blanqui confessed that their English was the same.

Yet we spend one and a half hours together. Over some loud laughs and a great chat. But mostly getting thrilled every time we made a break thru in communicating successfully our message or question. Often resorting to Google for translation, I was able to put the story together of their lives, their siblings, their daughters – Adriana and Daniela, their aspirations, their trips to the US and other countries.

The bar staff who got curious with all the laugh and chat going on often would have fun watching us struggle to find the right word. And then once in a while, they would get so impatient and excited, that they would blurt out the word for us!!!

Blanqui’s sister lives in Knoxville. I will get in touch with her when I get back to the USA. They were excited to realize that I live in Atlanta. Blanqui brought out many pictures from Georgia Aquarium and Coca Cola Factory on her phone from their trips to the USA!!

Like I said, we spent one and a half hours together without realizing that we had absolutely no idea how to construct a full sentence in each other’s language!! It was that good a meeting.

Thank you Mauricio for your gift and most importantly introducing me to two great people!!

“Remember I had promised you in Madrid in 2011 that someday I will come and see you in El Salvador?”

“Of course, senor!”

Today was that day!!

I had kept up with Leonardo – again on his birthdays – thru the years. Then, when he almost died due to Covid two years back (doctors had literally given him another couple of days after many weeks in ICU), I was reminded of that last meet we had.

This January, when I called him to wish him a very happy birthday, little did he know that I had already bought tickets to come and see him.

I always remember Leonardo as the street fighter. He was the ultimate in scrambling. Somehow, in the end, he would pull his numbers thru every quarter.

So, against that mental picture, it was a little jarring for me to realize today that he has made two visits to India – a month each – to spend time in Sai Baba ashram. I did not realize how deep he is into meditation. And Buddhism too!

It was also a little jarring to sit in an upscale restaurant that he had booked in surrounded by Valentine couples at every other table!!

The evening was spent reminiscing the old days of work and the many friends from those days. At the end of the dinner, he took me around to show the city. On a Saturday evening, the city looked vibrant with all sorts of American branded retail and food shops.