AMAZING MURALS OF ATACO

Bikers check out Ataco's vibrant murals after cruising along El Salvador's famous Ruta de las Flores. 

Visitors to El Salvador usually do at least one of two things--they surf and/or they travel the famous Ruta de Las Flores, a twisting, turning drive lined with ornate murals, flowers, and some of the richest coffee growing territory in the world.

Liz with pig and cow.

We'd already put in some time on the waves, so we headed down the highway out of San Salvador to the tiny town of Nauhizalco, famous for homemade furniture and for being the first stop on La Ruta. 

While the hand-hewn chairs, tables and lamps that lined the highway were uniquely impressive, none would fit in our backpacks. Plus, Kip was hungry, so we headed to Juayua, famous for its weekly food festival and a roaring waterfall (and also our Habitat build). 

Grilled churrasco skewers devoured, waterfall swam, we hopped a bus to the hillside town of Ataco. 

We came for the day but we ended up staying three. The air was cool, the food was tasty, and the murals were spectacular, and plentiful. 

Around every corner of the stone and brick streets, another brightly-painted wall awaited. Scenes of coffee pickers working, children reading, old people smiling, and even a little green alien flying a spaceship decorate nearly every street.

The story behind the murals is somewhat hard to unravel. Wall art in El Salvador is prolific. It's hard to find a vertical stack of bricks without at least something painted on it. 

In Ataco, we were told the first murals began popping up more than a decade ago to beautify the town and attract tourists. The art's beauty, style, and complexity, as well as a related controversy involving an artist, the town's conservative mayor, and the U.S. State Department, continues to evolve.

But enough with the broken history lesson. Below is a sample of Ataco's amazing murals. By the way, in our next lives, we're going to be highly-skilled artists and move to Ataco, where we'll volunteer to touch up the murals whenever necessary. 

OK, so this isn't really a mural. But it could be.
If Rockwell were from El Salvador, surely he would have approved.

VOLUNTEERING WITH HABITAT IN EL SALVADOR

Our group poses in front of the fruits of our labors.

Insane volcano running aside, El Salvador (and Phil) have been good to us. So good in fact, that we felt like we owed it a little something. And then, just like that, the perfect opportunity presented itself. 

We were invited to join in on a Habitat for Humanity build in the town of Juayua, with a number of US Embassy and USAID staff and friends. We've preached the merits of serendipity in the past, and this is another perfect example. Being hardcore voluntourists, it was an invitation we couldn't pass up.

What was not so excellent was the 6 a.m. departure time. That's 6 a.m. "U.S. time," not "Salvadoran time," which would have been a much more tolerable 7-7:30 ish. No matter. Phil, a McDonald's connoisseur and unofficial Fastfood Ambassador, knew of a great local restaurant where we could grab a quick breakfast on the way (see photo at right).

Once fully fueled, we were all set to grab some shovels and get to work. And there was much to be done. The house was without a floor, and hundreds of buckets of sand were needed to bring the interior floor up to the correct level. And so, we began shoveling.     

And shoveling....and shoveling.

And when we were done with the shoveling, and pouring, and pounding the dirt with paint cans filled with concrete, that floor looked beautiful.

And we were proud of ourselves. But there was still more work to be done.

We pulled weeds, moved rocks, got started on building the exterior patio, and primed the entire exterior and interior, for both plaster and paint.  Not only did we get to help out a great organization, we also got a killer triceps workout, and worked up an intense appetite.

But yet again, serendipity had our backs. The town of Juayua is also home to an incredible weekend street food festival. And this just happened to be a weekend. 

Needless to say, we stuffed our faces with grilled pork, beef, rabbit, and anything else these happy ladies heaped on our plates. Unfortunately, gorrobo (iguana) wasn't in season, so we'll have to come back. Shucks.

Two happy ladies prepping our lunch at the famous weekend Juayua food festival.