Adios, Amigos!

Hola amigos! For my last blog post on this series, I though I'd do something a little different: a show of the best Salvadoran food trucks!

I know, kind of unrelated to the whole "arts and crafts" blog... But these food trucks are also independent businesses, and almost an art form in and of themselves. You'll see what I mean.

First up, Oye Chico!

I'd totally live out of it

This Cuban (legit Cuban, from La Havana) is small, but mighty.

art

I told you. An art form.

This one's the "Super Cubano": 1/2 a baguette, smoked pork shoulder, pork rinds, caramelized onion, mozzarella. It's all doused in chipotle mayo and comes with a side of plantain chips and pickled onions.

All of their creations have similar quirky names and excellent ingredients, and are delivered from the side of their truck every day, from 11p.m (for the office crowd) to 2a.m (for me).

Above: Tostones de Plátano (plantain fritters), and Chicharrones al Mojo de Ajo (garlic mojo pork rinds). It's really cheap too (for you and I). A full meal will run you between $1 (for the tostones) and $5 (for the larges sandwiches). Score!

Now, for Argentinean:

it looks as awful as it is good. So very much so.

You know what, maybe these just don't photograph well.

This food truck is actually located right around the corner from Oye Chico's. It's ran by an Argentinean couple who came to El Salvador to find it in post-civil war mayhem, in 1995. They did other things for a while, before finally deciding to cater to the broke masses of students that frequent the area around the museum where they're located. Hence, their prices are extremely cheap, and the food is extremely good.

My favorites.

Their motto is "two can eat with a $10", and they definitely deliver on that front.

Last but not least, the Salvadoran cuisine item par excellence (which is coincidentally street food): pupusas.

Corn tortillas filled with cheese and beans and anything

They're $0.50 apiece, and they're Godsend for breakfast. Or lunch. Or dinner. You know, I think I've even had them as snacks at some point.

The best pupusas come straight from dingy pupuserías, with stern voices and strong arms.

YES

No two pupusas are the same, and no two pupuserías will have the same feel either. While not strictly food trucks, they most definitely belong to the "cheap street food" category. I've heard the same about Philly cheesesteaks-- the dirtier, the better. In this case, the cheaper the pupusa, the more you enjoy it.

A final note:

While this blog post wasn't about arts and crafts, I'd like to think I still shed some light on small Salvadoran entrepreneurs, which was the whole point of the blog from its conception. Be it through arts, crafts or food, I wanted to highlight some of the true Salvadoran spirit, which is so at odds with the media's portrayal of my country. Yes, we are small, but (much like the first food truck showcased, Oye Chico!) mighty. And hope I could transmit some of that ethos with my blog.

Adios, amigos!

COSTAZUL / Lou

In honor of the really warm Monday we're supposed to be having in a couple days (84 degrees!!!!), I thought I'd make a post about swimsuits. Because my favorite pastime during the cold, dead days of winter is looking through beachy swimwear collections and daydreaming about the beautiful days of summer. Which I think will never come back. Because it's the cold dead of winter.

But I digress. I'm not rambling here (but if you are interested in rants and rambles, do check out my Civic Issues blog).

On this post, I'm talking about swimsuits.

And of course, not only any swimsuit: I'm talking about artsy, unique, eclectic printed stuff. There are two up-and-coming swimsuit artist boutiques in El Salvador: COSTAZUL and Lou. COSTAZUL caters to men, and Lou to women; both with a markedly different style, but the same explosion of beach on both (which is why I love them).

First, COSTAZUL:

COSTAZUL

COSTAZUL is the brainchild of Neto Rodriguez (who will hopefully be featured soon), a 20-something Salvadoran artist with a passion for all things color and sea.

My boyfriend probably would never wear those shoes

     
All above: COSTAZUL

All the materials are locally sourced, and the finished pieces are hand-stitched by local artisans... Therefore contributing to the local economy and empowerment of small communities.

Lou's Bikinis are a different story, and I'm planning on lingering here a while longer.

They're made from Brazilian materials, but completely in El Salvador (again, by local craftsmen and women):

The pom-poms! The colors!

blue

lemony?

As you can see, the material the swimsuits are made of look pretty sturdy-- not naming names, but that's pretty rare in most occasions these days. Lou also makes small cute swimsuits for baby-people:

To be honest my baby probably wouldn't wear that either because my imaginary family is pretty un-fashionable

I'm just a really big fan of patterns and colors and different textures-- especially at the beach, when I feel they contrast beautifully with the scenery.

The best part of both of these boutiques is that they empower local communities and the economy, and by only producing small lots of swimsuits they manage to keep their content fresh, exclusive and sustainable. For me, that's a beautiful operation.

That's all for today! I hope you're looking forward to summer as much as I am (and decide to renew your swimsuit closet in the process)

Stay artsy!