Travelogue: El Salvador, May 2007, Part V

Vomit Roulette

Hey Everyone,

During this air conditioning break, I would like to tell you about a game we play here – Vomit Roulette.

It’s called vomit roulette because the ‘winner’ has to vomit (well… they just vomit of their own bodily urges). The roulette part is that it can strike anyone, any day, anytime.

There are so many factors that decide this game – and all of these variables is what makes the game interesting. Saturday saw four winners – Canuck2, the new Kiwi surfer, Jesus the surfer/waiter, and one of the sorority-girl-volunteers. The clean-up woman was not happy with us that next morning.

The sorority-girl was easy to see coming. They showed up for the weekend – seven of them – and proceeded to drink and yell and attract attention to fact they were a) drinking a lot, b) volunteers, and c) getting drunk. Too bad she didn’t make it to the bathroom and left a trail on the roof below her balcony. I’m glad this flock of birds is gone. Really. Think obnoxious San Diego State U sorority girls partying in Tijuana. Only a couple of the most hard-up Canadians could handle continuing the party with them after the ‘group-dinner’ we usually have.

Jesus was a wild card. He surfs with us in the mornings, and is a waiter in the evenings (a Salvadoreño) – sometimes he hangs out with us and shares a few beers. Hard to say what pushed him over the edge due to the language barriers and Salvadoreño culture (the macho part about not revealing weakness). Jesus excused himself to the bathroom – was there for 30 minutes – then left quickly with a quick ‘buenas noches‘. Unfortunately, he missed the bowl… completely – and also made no attempt to clean up after himself (he is only 16 – and a local, so he was excused).

The Kiwi and the Canuck have done this before – they handled themselves like pros. After a hearty midday surf, it is very likely we are suffering from heat exhaustion. Symptoms are lethargy, nausea, thirst, etc. Sometimes, one may feel like they are just sunburnt and tired from the surf – but the drinking of a beer or two is enough to know for certain if the body is ready to handle the extra work of processing alcohol. There’s a fine line – after a hot day of great surf and exhaustion – for drinking a beer on a steamy evening. It could be your best decision… or it could be your worst. As I mentioned, they handled it like pros – as if they were on a ship – and blew their chunks over the railing and fed the bagres (which is very much appreciated because the communal bathrooms do not have windows for ventilation).

So what does the winner get? A hand delivered bottle of gatorade mixed up by the ‘losers’ of the game. We’re very civilized in the bungalow. The winners don’t get made fun of either- because everyone can be a winner here at any time – and has been.

Of course, there are other ways to win: amoebic dysentery, food poisoning, drinking the water (besides too much alcohol, and heat exhaustion).

So why do we pay to come here? Why do so many stay here at the bungalow and extend their trip here?

The surf is epic. The best collection of surf spots in a small area that I have ever seen. It has been surfable every day. It has not gone below head-high. There are not that many surfers here. It makes the vomiting o.k.

By the way, I won the roulette last Thursday after the Zonte surf. Felt close to winning on Sunday – especially when the owner of Roca bought us a round while playing poker (and I was not going to insult him by refusing). That was the most difficult beer I ever drank (swig of beer – swig of water)

I hope everyone is doing well and did not mind a vomit story…

Salud.

(Read Part VI)