El Salvador

The last time I was in the country was May of 2009.  This Salvador sabbatical is the longest I've had since I first moved here in 1981.Because I was going on miles, I had to get here in a roundabout way.  San Diego to SEATTLE(!), Seattle to Miami, Miami to El Salvador.  The good news is I was going first-class.

I got my usual one hour of shut-eye on a red-eye, but got to watch Office Space and Dumb and Dumber on the sweet gizmos Alaskan Airlines gives out to first-class passengers.  These machines have a four-inch screen and you can pick what movie or tv show you'd like to watch.

I arrived and was picked up by my cousin Rodrigo, had a late lunch with him, my uncle Tomás, aunt Claudia and cousin Enrique.  I then rented a car and met up with my old buddy Pando.  We had a small dinner at Bennigan's, of all places.  He is getting married during my time down here so that was discussed.

I met up with his brother Chamba and spent the night at Pando's beach house, with panoramic views of the coast.  Chamba told me the city gave them the lot, and Pando paid maybe $6000 to build a two-bedroom house.  Not bad for $6K! In San Diego, a place like that will easily run you $900K.

I hadn't surfed at probably my favorite left in the world since 2005 and was jonesing to go.