Black and White day

So our day today was a perfect illustration of what El Salvador is...a stark contrast between the wealthy and poor. We started off our adventure taking different busses down to this huge mall that is like the gateway mall. The buses here are not like your normal bus in the U.S-at least not the majority of them- they are basically old-school vans that have been ripped up inside to put as many seats as possible in them. I never new so many people could fit in such a little space! Because we live on a mountain the ride down has been making me pretty dang sick lately. The driving here is enough to make you want to throwup but when you add in a narrow windey road dodging chickens and people all the way it's double trouble. This was our first time in the centro of San Salvador and oh man! was it an experience. There are about a thousand stalls crammed together and they sell anything from chickens to shoelaces to underwear. I had a guy trying to sell me anti-ich cream on one side and a women wanting to sell me rotten bananas on the right. I've been to downtown New York and it couldn't shake a stick at "the centro." I could barely walk to the place where we had to catch our next bus partly because of me being on the verge of throwing up but also because the cars were so old there that black smoke was pouring out of them in an inclosed space. Then this man with no teeth led us to the place where we would find the next bus. We finally made it to the mall about 40 minutes from leaving and it cost us a whopping 55 cents a piece total. I told Mark when we got there that either we get a Taxi or dramamine for the way back because I couldn't do that again.
Once we got to the mall it was like heaven!! There were pretty people dressed nicely and with teeth all around us. There were happy families with the parents holding hands, a whole slew of nice U.S restaurants, a big Cinemark, and very nice department stores that were actually the same price if not more expensive than the U.S. We ate at Bennigans where I had a bacon Cheeseburger then we went and saw Robin Hood(In English!!!) and it was only 4$ a person! After doing that we walked around and watched some dancers they have perform and ate some of the best ice cream i've ever had. I feel like I can face the world after having a "U.S experience." What was crazy to me was the people. It seems like there is no middle class whatsoever here it's either dirt poor selling rotten bananas or richi rich with a driver, dressing like your going to the grammy's and trying to seem as U.S as possible. We took a cab home and it cost us 12 dollars!! what a difference 55 cents versus 12 dollars. Trust me I'd pick the 12 dollars every time if Mark would let me!

Sorry I don't have pictures I would have been mugged bringing it out but one of these times I'm going to sneak it!