Friday night Alvaro, one of Ivan and Karen´s friends, invited Karen and me to the Nejapa Fire Ball Festival. I had no idea what to expect. I figured there would be some performers on a stage swallowing fire or something...but boy was I wrong! Turns out the fire festival is extremely interactive; so much so that I had to dodge fire balls being thrown at me at least 5 different times. Alvaro even claims I shoved him out of the way and towards the fire at one point. I explained that I was in my "fight or flight" mode hahaha..
Nejapa celebrates the fire festival every year around the same time as their "fiestas patronales", this means their city's patron saint week. Supposedly their saint got in an argument with the devil back in the day and each of them used fire in the fight. Hence, the throwing of the fire balls. Although this experience was awesome, and I will most definitely be going back next year, people leave the festival with burns annually. Fire and police man stand watch in case things get out of hand. But I'm not really sure how much they could have done had the whole street gone up in flames.
Also, did I mention it was pouring down rain and the fire balls were still going??? Oh, and I was interviewed by television channel 12. Still looking for the youtube video of it. Will post ASAP if I find it.
Updates on El Salvador: things are getting more EXPENSIVE.
Gasoline prices are going up up up! For Regular gas it now costs close to $4.50/gallon!!! Thank goodness I do not have a car or drive down here...I have no idea how people afford it.
The price for tanks of gas for cooking are also going up up up! We buy a tank of gas every 3 months or so. It used to cost $12, now they are saying it could cost up to $17. This will effect food prices at restaurants and on the street.
The price for flour is also climbing! This means bakers will start to charge more for bread. Guess I won't be able to buy 6 rolls for a $.25 anymore :(
Finally, President Funes is meeting with the head of public transportation tomorrow. He would like to cut the bus subsidy by 40%! Although I know the drivers aren't using the subsidy the way they should (the buses are extremely unsafe, run-down, but pimped out), I think this is going to cause more bad than good. I forsee the buses going on strike for a couple of days, and that means chaos in the streets for a bit. Or, the bus drivers are threatening to double the bus fair from $.20 to $.40. Again, not good for those of us on a strict budget.
La paz,
Katy
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