I had the most restless, unproductive, and cataclysmic day/night yesterday.  I barely slept because of the obscene quantities of adrenaline pulsing through my veins.  Let me tell you about my day.

My day began in the city hall of Izalco, the official town where I live on the outskirts in a smaller community called San Isidro.  Just confirming the details here.  I am currently working with the city hall on a project to restore a 154-year-old mansion, once owned by coffee farmers, to its original glory.  To ramble a bit, the project’s main objective is to restore the indigenous cultural traditions of Izalco, ironically enough, in the house where the exploitation and downfall of the indigenous people was possibly plotted.  THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN the whole damn Earth started to gyrate!  The earthquake, because yes, that is how it is technically defined because it measured 6.0 on the Richter scale, started somewhat aggressively, then slowly calmed, before climaxing with a shake, rattle, and roll stronger than it had begun.

My heart started pumping, and the palpitations grew in strength when the kids at the school across the street began screaming in unison.  In total it couldn’t have been more than 30 seconds but I was shaken for the day.  Subsequent tremors passed throughout the day, but I didn’t even notice probably because I was shaking regardless.  It was an unforgettable 30 seconds and an incredible force to be experienced.  Luckily, no one was hurt and no devastating damage occurred.

The rest of the day I went about my business thinking every bump or breeze was an earthquake.  I was paranoid, without even knowing how badly.  That night I tried to sleep and couldn’t.  Maybe it was from the 10:30pm coffee I had, but I think I’m well beyond that after more than 2 years, but I tossed and turned all night.  I had to get up early the next morning too, so I think that stressed me out and kept me from sweet dreams.  However, at 4:39am I gained consciousness again but in the darkness of my windowless room I was not sure what was happening.  A noise that I cannot even begin to explain consumed my aural range and I started to consider the possibilities.  Was it rain? No.  Was it the norte?  No.  Was it an alien invasion?  Maybe?  I was too scared to even go outside and investigate, but I had to do it.  I walked outside and saw nothing but a clear nighttime sky.  However, the noise was even louder.  What was happening??

At this point I became delusional.  I seriously thought I might be hallucinating or dreaming.  I don’t even know how to explain the bizarreness I was feeling.  Then I decided to be braver and took a step off my porch to go look around my house where I could hear a pack of dogs barking.  Holy cow... the sky was ablaze with flames higher than skyscrapers and smoke signals only giants could make.  I immediately thought, “The earthquake triggered one of the volcanoes to erupt!”  Now, anyone who knows me and how I am in the first few moments of waking up knows that I function much lower than a retarded gorilla.  I’m not even human.  So I began to panic and my heart was racing while my brain was searching for an explanation.  Then it hit me, before I could even start my marathon to outrun the pyroclastic flow, that I live in a house surrounded by sugar cane fields and it was harvest time.  To harvest the cane, the field is completely burnt to get rid of all the organic waste, and to scare out dangerous animals like scorpions, snakes, etc.  They burn the fields at night, to scare unaccustomed gringos, and so that the fields are ready for harvest by early morning so workers can whistle and do their thing.  I had no idea nor had I ever imagined that a forest fire, which it basically was, made such a tremendous and frightening noise.  If you’ve never had the pleasure of experiencing one, well, I invite you here, but you must youtube it and watch it on surround sound.  It is awful.

Also, I need to backtrack a bit.  I forgot to tell everyone what I did for New Year’s Eve.  I was invited to dinner by my friends Lupe and Chobe, with their family.  Janet and I went where we taught everyone to bob for apples.  In El Salvador, everyone has grapes and apples, exotic and expensive imported fruits here, so we decided to put them to use and show people how to get their heads all wet.  It was a ton of fun.  My little host sister, Karen, was the grand winner by jawing an apple in a record-setting two seconds.  I can’t say I have seen many people bobbing for apples, but I will probably never see it done quite like that again.

Then, at midnight, the whole town goes crazy.  Fireworks are literally shot off from every rooftop and institution.  You can barely walk through the streets, which you have to do, because every three-year-old child is firing off bottle rockets and roman candles.  It’s terrifying.  So, then my favorite part begins.  Everyone goes walking through the streets to find all their friends and family to give them a New Year’s hug!  I love the tradition.  As you walk through the streets all the strangers you’ve never had the courage to speak with run up and hug you while wishing you all the best for the upcoming year.  It’s a great gesture of community and friendship and I literally spent several hours walking around, visiting, and hugging all my favorite people in San Isidro.  I might just stay for 2011 because I really did enjoy the event.  There was also another dance, like they do for Christmas, that I did not go to this year, but everyone else in the community, and literally their mothers, did go.  I’ll have to try and make it at the end of this year.  We’ll see.

Alright, that’s all for now.  Hope everyone is healthy and enjoying life.  It’s the most you could ask for.  Take care, talk soon,

Zacarías

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