1932 peasant uprising

It's incredible the hidden historical and cultural gems that are buried and completely disregarded in this country. On the one hand it's a completely unique and unadulterated experience, walking through the heavy wooden doors that machetes hacked away at with animus intent, to explore the historic interior completely free of any supervision. On the other it's alarming and saddening to see such beautiful historic buildings such as Casa Barrientos in Izalco, literally crumbling to pieces before your very eyes.

In December of 1931 civil unrest peaked due to the collapse of coffee prices on the international market. Full on fighting broke out on January 22, 1932, led by communist insurgents, and the peasant revolution which pretty much anihilated all of El Salvador's indigenous communities, began. Angry peasants and farmers gathered in front of Casa Barrientos Frankenstein style with machetes and pitchforks, yelling in protest at the unjust conditions and results of the agricultural reform. Military forces intervened and the rest is history.

Today, not much has changed. As a result of that war, many legal property titles were lost or destroyed and the ownership of these properties was reassigned to members of the Salvadoran military.  Farmers who for generations have lived off the land, since 1932 have been forced to pay a portion of their proceeds to those in power. After talking to agricultural farmers in Nahuizalco, it seems that these farmers will be forced to relocate once again to undisclosed location in January 2013.

Beans

I like to think of El Salvador as the land of beans. The bean, particularly the Salvadoran red bean, is a very important staple in traditional Salvadoran food. It is a food which can be served as a side, a main, a dessert, and even a condiment to the ever popular pupusa. So the local saying goes "you can take away a poor man's meat but you can't take away his beans". At a first glance the trusty bean can even be said to be part of our national flag, the centre of Salvadoran peace and glory, the epitome of much love and adoration which has been bestowed on this staple food:

There it is, the heralded red bean, highlighted by the glow of the setting sun, underneath the pro-gay rainbow of peace. This however is just my personal interpretation. In reality this "bean" cap is actually the gorro frijio (not frijol), a Phrygian cap also known as the cap of liberty represented in Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People, and more popularly worn by the smurfs. Yes, a smurf cap features at the centre of my country's national shield. I prefer to think of the cap as a liberty bean. The bean that fed and supported the leftist guerilla movement 30 years ago. But let's not get political here.

Over the past month I have eaten green beans, white beans, black beans and best of all red beans. I have had them stewed, boiled, fried and blended, for breakfast, lunch and dinner in soups, tacos, rice, pies and salads. The abundance of beans in this country and its great nutritional value is one of the main reasons why the population remains so well fed and rotund. And my favorite bean combo to date? Bean puree fried with garlic and coriander served with a side of plantain. Trust me, it's delicious.

Sonsonate and San Antonio del Monte

Sonsonate is a great little city. It's like any other typical Central American town, with its bustling street markets where you can buy anything imaginable under the sun from fresh fish brought in from La Libertad to machetes, electronics and other necessary household utensils. Saturday is market day pretty much wherever you go and this is no exception.  The open air bit offers a wide and varied selection of fresh fruits and vegetables, and this time of year mobile vendors walk around with dried and fresh beans on offer. A pound (450g) of dried red beans for 60 centavos - local currency is USD - a bushel (as much as you can carry on your head) of fresh unshelled beans for 2 dollars. Although who would want to pay such exorbitant prices when you could just as easily pick them yourself for free from the fields? Further along, the open air market gives way to covered stores and fast food joints like La Bomba! and Pollo Campero, who in the spirit of market day plug their best salesmen into a set of speakers and have them rattle away their deals of the day.

Despite it's vibrant market scene which I obviously loved, (who doesn't love the smell of chicalín* and the distorted sound of a clipped sales pitch at full volume?) most people travel to Sonsonate for religious purposes. A short walk over the hill away from the market will lead you to a colorful but quiet square, one of the few places in El Salvador where you can still find adobe houses. They are old and discolored, but still standing after countless storms and earthquakes. As you walk down the hill you will see the white arches of the iglesia San Antonio del Monte, host to a tiny sliver of bone which is said to have belonged to the late saint. We arrived in time to see a procession of nuns reverently filing out of the chapel, a great contrast to my grandmother who went to give the good saint a piece of her mind.

The church itself is a large white structure with heavy wooden doors. The decor is simple but nice with but one mural of St. Anthony himself and his followers dressed in green. Women sell artesanias all along the left-hand wall of the church, but on a quiet day like Saturday when everyone is living the life at the market, there is not much business to be had. Despite the deceptive calm of the day, I am told that people travel far and wide to visit this site to thank San Antonio for his miraculous deeds. 

After paying homage to the saint our little troupe of non-believers shuffled back to our pick-up truck and headed back through the market crowds, Caluco, fields of sugar-cane in flower, and fields of molten lava and headed back to San Salvador, following the 205 bus and chasing coconuts and bundles of fresh red beans along the way.

*Chicalín is sun-dried shrimp often used to add flavor to soups and rice. It is not particularly appetizing but there are worse smelling things in the world. In El Salvador, nearly all markets smell of chicalín.