What Wonders Await the Wandering Ones: May 2013

We wanted to go to El Salvador to get away, and that we did. We got to drink coffee and chat for hours, surf in the warm water, eat pupusas and desayunos típicos. But perhaps one of the most relaxing aspects of our trip was being around the Salvadoran people and culture. After a couple weeks of random observations, I began to see a new way of living. Although American culture and society may not allow for some things I think are awesome (loud, crowded, musical colorful busses) I realized there are ways we can apply this new perspective in our everyday life.

Random Observations:
The huge sign advertising the Praise the Lord Hardware Store of Peace
The restaurant we ate at every day where people could not only smoke but drop their cigarette butts onto the sand, while swinging in hammocks
The construction workers tromping around in flip-flops
A friendly teenager who paddled past me in the water while surfing, wondering how old I was and if I had kids yet

It doesn't take long to realize that things are different here. The people don't stress out, they roll with it. They're hard working, but unhurried. If you're offended at the store name, that's your problem. If there are burning embers on the ground, you need to watch where you're going. It's not judgmental, simply curiosity when asking about one's age, family planning, etc. Their whole culture allows them to be unapologetic, which is so refreshing to be around.

For me, getting away from the litigious, paranoid about stepping on anyone's toes, annoyingly PC world we live in, it was heaven to be around people who assume you're capable enough to handle life. (Even the dogs are allowed to look out for themselves.)

We tend to stress ourselves out by focusing so much attention on things that don't really matter, as well as forcing things to happen instead of rolling with the punches.
One of the places we stayed had a popular wave, which inevitably means swarms of Brazilians. Brazilians are the only culture in our experience that travel in packs of 20. So after a few days of being in a what felt like a Portuguese frat house, but was actually the line-up, we were excited to meet some Americans. Until they started talking.... "The chef cannot get it through his head that I'm vegan! How many times do I have to say, 'No kay-so'?" or "Could I get the fried fish, but not fried?" or the tourist watching a local lady make pupusas, but when asked if she wants one responds, "oh, nooooooo, i'm gluten intolerant."
But instead of catering to the picky Americans, Salvadorans view pickiness as the problem of the picky person.
The chef doesn't care if you don't eat cheese and the pupusa lady doesn't care if you're gluten intolerant.
I like this way of living, because it reinforces the notion that things don't actually matter as much as we let them. Like when a kid runs into something and looks at you to see if they should cry or not. If you fuss, they'll scream; if you ignore the incident, so will they. We live in a fussy screamy society, and it's become exhausting. I can't change society, but I can live my own life without being a fusser or screamer - there is too much life to live to worry about the kind of milk someone puts in my coffee.

Likewise, instead of fretting about unessential matters, Jordi and I should instead know who and what matters to us, focus on that, and not apologize if our decisions don't align with the world's figurative dietary restrictions.

Our new deliberate and hopefully slower lifestyle ensues... ;)