Growing up, my dad and I had this tradition where every summer, we would go visit his home country of El Salvador. This was a great way to for me to appreciate the culture and meet everyone in my family. However, it’s been almost four years since I’ve last been to El Salvador. On occasion, I’ll find myself missing the scenery, the food, the people, etc. It’s hard not miss it.

1. Gaseosa en una bolsa a.k.a. soda in a bag

It’s common in Central American countries to serve juice and soft drinks in flimsy plastic bags with straws tied around them. This was rather strange for me when I first saw it. But after a while, I grew to enjoy holding a plastic bag of Coca-Cola while sitting in the back of a pickup truck, seeing mountains and trees that surrounded me.

2. Pollo Campero

Pollo Campero is a really popular fast food chain all over Central America. Whenever I went to El Salvador, I saw Pollo Campero on almost every single block. It was hard to resist the temptation to walk in and order fried chicken with french fries. Although the fast food chain has restaurants in United States, the food doesn’t taste the same.

3. El Espino

It was always a given that at one point during my visit in El Salvador, my family would decide to plan a trip to the beach. This usually involved a two-hour drive with an occasional pit-stop to get lunch. For the most part, El Espino was empty. So this gave my cousins and I space to run freely and enjoy the day there.

4. Pupusas

Although my mom makes these very often, I miss seeing my aunt throughout the entire preparation process. My aunt was known in her neighborhood for selling her pupusas during dinner. This process would usually take her from the morning to dinnertime. In the end, they were always so delicious to eat.

5. The festivals in August

July and August were usually the months that I would go to visit El Salvador. Within these two months, the different parts of the country are having festivals in honor of their patron saints. This usually means that there are a lot of rides, food and parties. It wasn’t an uncommon thing for me to go out with the other 13 to 18-year-old kids from the local neighborhood.

6. Live cumbia performances

It’s never unusual for a cumbia band to perform at a party or a festival. Los Hermanos Flores and Marito Rivera are the most popular artists that perform all over the country. Seeing a live cumbia performance at a festival makes the atmosphere more exciting! From time to time, I like to listen to Salvadoran cumbia on Spotify. However, it’s more exciting to the music being performed live.

7. The street market

I would spend most of the days out at the street market in one of my aunt’s shops. I always enjoyed people-watching the entire time. There so many people walking the streets attempting to sell various items: food, clothes, electronics, etc. Not to mention, the people that worked at the market treated each other like family. That was something that always fascinated me.

8. Lago Coatepeque

The trip to the other side of the country just to visit this lake was pretty worth it. I was able to explore towns that I’ve never seen before. The lake itself was beautiful to look at. I was fascinated by how huge it was. I just remember having lunch in front of it, feeling mesmerized by it.

9. Elotes loco

Corn is found everywhere around the time I visited. People in El Salvador have various ways of eating corn. From drinks to tortillas. However, I enjoy the basic corn on the cob. Besides butter — ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise and grated cheese is added to the cob. If I had the choice to eat whatever I wanted while in El Salvador, I would choose elotes locos.

10. Family

From late night drives to eat pupusas to our conversations, these memories that I’ve shared with them are the ones that I miss. Although I haven’t spoken to them in such a long time, it doesn’t mean that I’ve stopped caring for them. I will always love them and cherish them, no matter what happens.