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Published: February 27th 2013
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With Christmas approaching, it was time for the annual El Salvador international T20 cricket tournament – The Volcano Cup. This year it was the hosts, along with neighbours and rivals Guatemala and Mexico competing for the trophy. A 40 over match was arranged with Mexico for the day after too. The squad was a mixture of expats and locals, along with the coaching trio of me, Brock and Adrian. The final couple of training sessions were well attended and the tournament kicked off with ES vs. Guatemala.
Batting first Brock and I put on 50 for the first wicket in no time at all, Brock in particular hitting the ropes with consistency. I departed for 16, playing on to a delivery that reared off the pitch. The good start continued and we looked set for a score of 200, but tighter bowling and a late flurry of wickets meant we closed on 156 from our overs. Guatemala started slowly and with wickets tumbling they were never really in the hunt eventually finishing on 79. Next up Mexico took on the Guatemalans and looked strong as they put on 203 with the bat. Guatemala struggled in response and despite a few
last blows couldn’t chase down the total. Day 1 finished and we retired to a strange nearby bar for food, drinks and to get to find out a bit more about the other teams.
With the first day results it meant that ourselves and Mexico were through to the final, but had to play each other in a dead rubber group match first. Both teams used the opportunity to give their youngsters a bat & bowl and some strong performances by ours gave us victory. In the afternoon it was time for the final – again we batted first, but this time it was more a case of survival against a quick Mexico attack on the “variable” track, my helmet coming in handy a couple of times. Frustratingly I then got out to a slower bowler for just 6, but the middle & lower dragged us up to a score of 149. We weren’t sure that would be enough, but a great bowling performance, coupled with commitment in the field meant we restricted them to 103 to win the tournament and spark the celebrations. It was a big scalp – Mexico is an ICC affiliated side and ranked far
higher than non-affiliated ES.
The evening saw a few celebratory drinks in an old city area called Pasa El Carmon a god spot for live music and food, but the next day we had our 40 over match vs. Mexico. They opted to bat first (sensible in the heat) and set off at a canter. I helped to peg them back a bit with 3-47 from 7 overs but their 214 score looked a good one. We lost a couple of early wickets and I came in at 5. Finally I had a bit more luck with the pitch and selected my shots well keeping a straight bat (well mostly). We were keeping up with the rate, but with the ES players only used to 20/20 cricket the wickets kept tumbling at the other end. I farmed the strike for several overs with the tail, but eventually was bowled for 94 trying to go over the top again with the team 9 down and 30 runs short. It was great to finally hit some runs, but sad that the game ended in defeat. Overall the tournament was great fun and a really nice way to finish my cricket in
ES. I met some great guys and hopefully improved a few of their youngsters too.
Tina continued to explore the city and ended up at an art gallery and Tin Marin an excellent museum encouraging children to think about the world around them. It had an exhibition on how important geothermal heating is for El Salvador and is the way for them to sustainable energy in the future as well as exhibits such as TV studio, Apollo 11 and an opportunity to experience lying on a bed of nails (Tina assures me it wasn’t too painful). It also had a small garden with a number of El Salvador’s amazing butterflies.
We headed straight off the next day for a couple of nights in the mountains of the east of the country, climbing ES’s highest peak El Pital and enjoying the cooler weather (although not the rain!). The surrounding towns were much calmer than the city and the air much fresher. We arrived back at Bess’s house to find her and Phillipe (her boyfriend) having made pasta for our lunch and thrusting a Margarita drink into our hands - it was a nice way to be welcomed back. Phillipe
stayed on in the afternoon making a massive batch of papusas and teaching Tina how to make them in the process, while I settled for sampling the finished articles. With Bessy now off work for the Christmas holiday the four of us headed off to the Playa (beach) - La Puntila for the day. The beach was rustic but beautiful, and we ate and drank for most of the day while Pelicans and Frigate birds flew past. Most of the beach area was derelict a hurricane in 2010 had left sunken buildings and houses tipped onto their sides – this was a first to see and the damage was pretty shocking. When we could eat no more we headed out on a boat trip round the estuary of the river, getting better views of the bird life and mangroves. On the way home Bessy dropped into an ice-cream parlour to taste the best Salvadorian ice-cream.
With Christmas fast approaching we took a couple of shopping trips for food and drink, Bessy always insisting on a coffee and cake stop although we weren’t complaining! One evening we were invited by one of the cricket team to the opening of his
Indian restaurant – the first one in ES. It was an interesting night, with great food, good company and even some Indian dancing. On the 23rd we took another trip to the Playa with Bessy– this time back to San Diego beach where she had organised for us to help with releasing some baby turtles back into the wild. The conservation work was organised by the local charity Funzel
http://www.funzelsv.org/ . We both enjoyed it and it seemed like they were doing a great job in helping with turtle populations in the area. We continued into the evening dropping in on a Christmas festival in a 'village' whch is very near the centre of the city.
The main Christmas celebration for Salvadorians is on the 24
th December, the highlight at midnight. The day was a waiting game, but by evening time we were enjoying a great home cooked meal. Bessy’s Father and then sisters and nieces came round to the house at various times to exchange presents and share the Christmas meal. As the evening wore on we moved to the rooftop to watch fireworks going off over the city and let off a few of
our own. Fireworks were a huge part of the Christmas tradition and for weeks before stalls had set up everywhere to sell them. Most of them were clearly homemade and basically just cardboard stuffed with gunpowder and the emphasis was clearly on noise. Lucas didn’t mind the fireworks, but Coffee – Bessy's other dog that we’d gradually befriended, was not happy. The climax of fireworks at midnight was like being in a war zone - the noise was unbelievable. We exchanged some presents with Bessy (and the dogs) and after another hour or so (fireworks still going strong) headed to bed.
Christmas day was a slow start but Bessy was keen to make the most of our last day by taking us on a road trip to Coatapeque Lake. We had lunch at a superb lakeside restaurant and watched families swimming and playing in the sunshine – what a contrast to a Christmas day at home. We took a detour on the way home for coffee and cake at a hotel that Bessy used to visit with her Mother. It didn’t disappoint a beautiful setting and lovely cake! The next morning we were up at 3am and after emotional
farewells with the dogs, Bessy drove us to catch our bus down to Nicaragua.
Our experience in El Salvador was a very different one – spending two months in the same place and living with local people. Bessy was a simply amazing host – her kindness meant it was more like staying with extended family than renting a room. We are so grateful to her for looking after us so well and making our stay such an enjoyable experience.
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