Shooting Archeological Sites
What a day! BECA 580 traveled from San Salvador to the archeological site of Tazumal, about an hour and a half away from the capital. The site, "discovered" early in the 19th century, was home to peoples living in El Salvador from roughly 1200 years BC to the era of the Mayans and Pipil, roughly 1200 years AD. It's an amazing structure - a pyramid surrounded by other structures that have yet to be unearthed. A museum on the grounds chronicles the peoples who lived there, and the reasons they left or were chased away, as well as the history of the archeological operations at the site.
From there, we traveled to another site - San Andreas. Again, there was a pyramid - this time, much smaller - and grounds where farming must have occurred. We walked through thick vegetation to get to the site, and saw a cacao tree heavy with fruit en route. We enjoyed the sheep that grazed around the site. One of the students - Nadia De Ala, who is in charge of audio for Team Pupusa* - wandered off into the lush, butterfly-filled environment next to the site to capture ambient sound. And, under the punishing sun and heavy humidity, we longed for a dip in the pool back at the hotel.
On the way back to the city, we stopped at a vista point that allowed us to see the entire city and the lake beyond. Spectacular! After a brief rain shower, we were graced with a rainbow, which we got on camera!
Keep in mind that this is a "dollarized" economy; the currency in El Salvador is the U.S. dollar. Gas runs about the same price per gallon as it did in San Francisco when we left. We pay U.S. dollars for everything. While we have not yet learned the per capita income, clearly the majority of the people do not have the dollars to keep them well fed, clothed and housed.
*There are two production teams. As indicated earlier, one is Team Paco, named after the parrot that watches us swim. The other is Team Pupusa, named after the national dish, based on corn, that is a cross between a tortilla and an empanada. And we are eating a lot of pupusas!
From there, we traveled to another site - San Andreas. Again, there was a pyramid - this time, much smaller - and grounds where farming must have occurred. We walked through thick vegetation to get to the site, and saw a cacao tree heavy with fruit en route. We enjoyed the sheep that grazed around the site. One of the students - Nadia De Ala, who is in charge of audio for Team Pupusa* - wandered off into the lush, butterfly-filled environment next to the site to capture ambient sound. And, under the punishing sun and heavy humidity, we longed for a dip in the pool back at the hotel.
On the way back to the city, we stopped at a vista point that allowed us to see the entire city and the lake beyond. Spectacular! After a brief rain shower, we were graced with a rainbow, which we got on camera!
Keep in mind that this is a "dollarized" economy; the currency in El Salvador is the U.S. dollar. Gas runs about the same price per gallon as it did in San Francisco when we left. We pay U.S. dollars for everything. While we have not yet learned the per capita income, clearly the majority of the people do not have the dollars to keep them well fed, clothed and housed.
*There are two production teams. As indicated earlier, one is Team Paco, named after the parrot that watches us swim. The other is Team Pupusa, named after the national dish, based on corn, that is a cross between a tortilla and an empanada. And we are eating a lot of pupusas!
Labels: 201203-4, BECA 580, Media and Community Service, video production
posted by Betsy J. Blosser at
6/20/2010 08:46:00 PM
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