Chinese in Salvador

Fried Wontons.



Egg Rolls.



Singapore Style Noodles.



Fried Rice.



Lemon Chicken.



The "Lemon" of the Lemon Chicken.



Camilo and Rob.



Paola, our coordinator and Chinese food expert.

Judging Ben's Coffee

Our judges welcome us to the "After Party".



Is this a "4.5" or "5.0"?



Under the scrutiny of Judges...



Nice tulip!



A Dragon!



Cocoa powder "heart".



Beatriz ponders.



Group photo.



Cappuccino and a pecan macadamia nut pie.



Photo Op!



A Lion - after the foam has been "tested".



A super secret tiramisu recipe from Italy.

Campeonato Salvadoreno de Baristas, Day One

I prefer to give the first day pep talk in German to set the tone.



Judges waiting for their turn.



Francisco Palarea, technical judge extraordinaire.



Head Judge Rob Tuttle de Atlanta.



Getting ready to begin.



"Calibrating" with local coffee.



Guillermo, Gabriella, Claudia & Beatriz.



Tech Judge Claudia.



Johanna Rodriguez (s) tastes the coffee.



Calibrating.



My Day One Judging Team: Guillermo Valdez (s), Gabriella De Leon (s), Francisco Palarea (interloper), Beatriz Valdez (s), Yours Truly (h), Claudia Torres (t), Jorge Escobar (t) and Jorge Villacorta (t).

Pollo Campero

Welcome to Pollo Campero!

Seems that everywhere you turn, there's a Pollo Campero awaiting your arrival. After our unsuccessful attempts to eat Yuca con Chicharron, we were hungry and, surprise! A Pollo Campero was in sight. The question: wait until we get back to San Salvador and eat at the Campero across from the hotel or eat now. Now wins every time.

Should I ever decide to live in Guatemala, El Salvador or Nicaragua, I can rest assured that fried chicken will never be far away.


Salsa Tomate a.k.a. Ketchup.



Campero Cole Slaw - weird.



Chicken fingers - kinda processed.



Nuggets - tasty!



Dipping sauces.



Fries.



Pizza Bikinis - literally.



Ice cream but no sundae.

Vamos El Salvador

Eager to increase our pace, Francisco switches with Don Angel.




We never did try the Yuca con Chicharron.




Yet another cultural monument we were kicked out of.




Che Guevara estaba aqui...




Jade handicrafts.




This is a God, but I don't remember which God.




Lago de Coatepeque




Hombres y El Lago.




The lake is actually a caldera.




Camilo ponders sweets for his many chicas.