Lisa Ann wrote:
> Sandi wrote:
> >We have Sears - with all the brands they carry in the US
> >including linens. Pricesmart=Costco - same brands as Costco plus bulk
> >local goods. Restaurants - Tony Romas, Applebee's, TGI Fridays, the
> >usual assortment of fast food franchises, Argentinian restaurants with
> >imported beef, a wide variety of Asian and Middle Eastern restaurants,
> >Cafe du Monde - yes a branch of the new Orleans establishment complete
> >with beignets and chicory coffee. Kitchen cabinetry - I can have it
> >custom built or I can by pre-fab from Sears, any number of home centers
> >(yes..they are calling them home centers and not ferreterias now)or
> >even Home Depot. Word on the street is Gutemala City is in line for the
> >next Latin American Wal-mart to be built.Yeah..we have do do without a
> >lot of stuff here.
>
>
> LOL - you sound like my aunt, who has lived in El Salvador since the
> mid-60s (she married a native). My cousins, who all came to the US for
> college, were quite disappointed when they got here...all the stuff
> they had at home...and less!
>
> That being said, when they come up to visit...they do bring us coffee
> beans they've grown on their own finca...damn, I really need to get
> down there...
>


El Salvador is even more Americanized than we are in Honduras - the
currency is the US dollar - that's what the ATM's spit out - US
greenbacks. There are more American stores in the malls (Hush Puppy and
Bass Shoes, Samsonite luggage, etc), more American foods available in
the supermarkets, more American restuarants, American and European
style coffee/pastry shops. The roads in San Salvador are wide and in
good shape and the public transit (buses and taxis) are clean and not
spewing pollutants into the air). I sometimes go to San Salvador on one
of my "leave for 72 hours" visa renewals - and then it's sjop til you
drop for DVDs and CDs - the only things that can sometimes, but not all
the time, be har to find here.

On coffee....our friend's grandma's coffee isn't ready to harvest yet.
It's shade grown (under mango, banana, peach, and ornamentals),
organically fertilized (by her pig and chickens), high altitude at 4000
feet. We roast our own here so she only has to have our share that we
have bought and paid for pulped.

SD