El Salvador

Salvadorans work hard. They are very creative when it comes to finding a way to make money. They do not give up easily when things become difficult. Instead, they fight to find the way, and usually they take refuge in God.

Most of the people are Christian, being the two more predominant religions the Protestantism and the Catholicism.

Faith has been a resource that has helped the people to go through varied tough situations, making them tough as well.

The endurance of the people of El Salvador has been tested many times, the more prominent of which being the twelve years civil war, followed by the several natural disasters that have hit the region, like earthquakes and hurricanes. Unfortunately, when this is combined with the difficult social environment that Salvadorans need to face daily, plagued by economic uncertainty and the physical insecurity generated by the crimes committed by the unlawful social groups known locally as "maras", it has made the people to be mildly negative in their expectations.

Salvadorans tend to overestimate the bad things, and to minimize the good ones. Nevertheless, they never give up, and still preserve the human warmth and natural joy that characterize their people.

At first glance, citizens living in the urban areas seem to be self-centered and indifferent to others, but once the ice is broken between two strangers, by means of a natural gesture like a smile, or a casual incident like a belonging being dropped, the Salvadorans let their friendliness to emerge, and within a couple of minutes, the two strangers become acquainted, help each other, and disclose themselves a little.

In the rural areas, people tend to be more open, and show immediately a natural interest to others, to help them, to share with them their own limited resources.

Male to male greeting usually involves handshaking with the right hand. But, if the two people are close friends or relatives that have not seen each other for a long time, the protocol could also include a hug or a half-hug.

Hugs among men are customarily reserved for very close friends or relatives, or for the greeting of a man and a male child which is a relative of a close friend or a relative, or for special circumstances, like in funerals or to show some emotional support. The rest of the time, men usually give half-hugs to other men, i.e., one person puts his left arm around the shoulders of the other person, while handshakes him with the right hand at the same time.

Men kissing each other are only seen mainly between father and son, specially, but not only, when the son is still underage, or when the father is elder. This kissing involves closed mouth to cheek or to forehead contact.

Typical verbal formulas accompanying the handshake or the hug vary depending on how close the two man involved are. Two first-time acquaintances would say "Hello, how are you? I'm So-and-so, nice to meet you". Two friends who see each other frequently would say "Hey, what's up?" and two old friends who have not seen each other in a while would say "Hey man, how are you! It has been a while..."

Adult to kid greeting would include expressions from the adult like "Hey champion, how are u doing?", and then, a quick comment to the adult accompanying the kid could follow, like "It is incredible how much your kid has grown so far".

The protocol for male to female greeting generally includes a cheek kiss, or a soft handshaking, but that depends on whether the encounter is social or more formal. For instance, a young male would kiss in the cheek to a female friend of his, or to a young female first introduced to him by a mutual friend, or by her boyfriend, but would handshake an older woman, like a professor, or a woman with whom the encounter is supposed to be sparsely, like the wife of a coworker.

When kissing the cheek of females, males usually also hold their right hand on the left shoulder of the female. Couples customarily greet with a rapid kiss, with a closed mouth to closed mouth contact.

Male adult to female child greeting usually involves no physical contact, and a short sweet expression like "Hello young lady". Verbal formulas accompanying the greeting between a male and a female are similar to the ones described for the male to male case, but the message and the expressions tend to be softer, like when a guy greets a female friend and says "Hey, how are you! It is very nice to see you again".

When two females meet, they usually always kiss each other in one cheek. This kiss typically does not include mouth to cheek contact, but instead, cheek to cheek contact, plus a kiss sound, made by the mouth of the two females. If they are first being introduced, or if they are not close acquaintances, the kiss is preceded by a soft handshake with the right hand. If the two women are close friend or relatives, they add a hug after the kiss. The formulas for the greeting between two women are similar to the ones described for the male to male case, except that these tend to be longer and more expressive.

It is poor manners to use extensive hand or head gestures in conversation or to express feelings. Yawns should be avoided or covered with the hand. It is not appropriate to point feet or fingers at anyone. Only close friends are beckoned with a hand wave.

When a friend or relative is invited over to someone's house, it is customary for the person being invited to bring over something to eat, generally a traditional dessert, like "quezadilla" (a type of baked bread made of cheese), "reposter­a" (pieces of sweet bakery), a "brazo gitano" (an elongated semi cylindrical shaped piece of cake), or something more conventional like ice cream, or even fruit, like a papaya, a watermelon, several mangoes or lemons, etc.

The adults generally gather together to chat, while they drink coffee accompanied with the bread being brought by the visitors. For this purpose, the living room is barely used. Instead, and especially if the visitors are very familiar with the hosts, it is customary to gather in a back or a front deck. Children are served a soft drink, like a soda or a drink made of fruit and water. Children from the two families go and separate from the adults to play together.

If the visit is in progress by the time of a main meal, the host invites the visitors to join them for the meal. If the visitors have no intentions to stay for the meal, maybe because lack of closeness, it is accepted for them to politely reject the invitation, but usually this is followed by them leaving the house and ending the visit. This is because it is not considered polite for the hosts to have a main meal while they have guests, if the guests will not join them for that meal.

After a reasonable period of time, the visitors start to try to close the conversation, and prepare to leave. When this happens, the visitors are walked to the door by the hosts, when all of them have a last small talk before the visitors leave.

It is not uncommon for the host to give something away to the visitors, like something among the examples of desserts cited before, but different from what the visitors brought.

Climate in El Salvador is tropical, and that dictates the type of clothes worn by its inhabitants. In urban areas, typical outfit for male young adults is jeans and camp shirts, polo shirts, or T-shirts, plus loafers, brogues, deck shoes or tennis for casual needs. For the office, they turn to pleated pants and button-down shirts, with or without a tie, and dress shoes.

Dressing behavior for women varies depending on fashion. There is a marked influence from the American styles in this respect. Jeans are common in the female population, but they also wear a variety of other type of clothes like short and long skirts, shorts, casual and cocktail dresses, dress pants, among others. Young women also wear casual shirts and tops, career shirts, dressy shirts and blouses. Currently, the most common type of shoes that women wear are sandals, but they also use platform shoes, boots, ankle boots, tennis, May Jane shoes, mule shoes, wedge shoes, open toe shoes and pumps. For the working environment, women generally wear working suits, with a combination of pants or skirts, career shirts, and blazers.

In El Salvador, students in all public and most private schools wear uniforms during school time, but for the rest of the day, dressing habits for boys and girls vary depending on current trends. Nowadays, boys wear tight jeans and tight button-down long-sleeve shirts, or long-sleeve T-shirts, and tennis. The previous generation, though, had the opposite trend, consisting of loose pants, and loose shirts. Young girls usually wear miniskirts, tops or strap blouses, and sandals. Male kids wear jeans, stamped T-shirts and tennis. Female kids wear jeans, tops and sandals but also shorts and spandex pants and shorts with long T-shirts, with colorful short socks and tennis.

Male babies are dressed with diapers and little T-shirts, while female babies usually are dressed with little dresses.

Old male adults generally wear the clothes that were common when they where young adults, like old fashioned suits consisting of pants, button-down long-sleeve shirts and jackets, but also tennis and maybe a hat. Old female adults usually wear old fashioned dresses or suits consisting of pants, button-down long-sleeve shirts and blazers, and low heels.

In rural areas, men typically wear button-down long-sleeve shirts, casual pants and half boots, while women wear blouses and long skirts with rustic sandals. Boys and girls usually are dressed with the same type of clothes as their parents, but generally wear no shoes, and little kids and babies are naked most of the time. Old male adults in the rural areas generally wear just pants and rustic sandals, with no shirts, while old female adults are dressed no differently from the younger women.

Salvadorian food is more spicy that of many other Latin American countries. Most people eat black beans (frijoles), refried beans, thick tortillas, rice, eggs and fruit. A typical lunch is pupusa & chilate.

It is polite for guests to try some of every dish that is served. Leaving a little food on the plate is considered good manners. Men generally stand when a woman leaves the table. Guests compliment the host or hostess on the meal, something which assures the hosts that the guests feel welcome.

Salvadorian food is more spicy that of many other Latin American countries. Most people eat black beans (frijoles), refried beans, thick tortillas, rice, eggs and fruit. A typical lunch is pupusa & chilate.

Family structure and its traditions are different for people living in the city and for people living in towns, or in rural areas.

The basic family structure for people from the cities consists of father, mother, and from one to three sons and daughters. Having a grandfather or a grandmother, but not both, living together with the basic family is common. If both grandparents are alive and relatively independent, they usually live alone in their own house, though their sons and daughters are usually in close contact with them.

There are also a lot of families that miss the father, mainly because he has migrated out of the country to provide financial support, or because he has another home which he considers to be his primary concern. Yet another group of families miss the two parents, maybe because both of them are working abroad to support the financial needs of their children. In this later case, the children usually live with their grandparents, or with an uncle or an aunt. The most popular country for Salvadorans to go to work at is the United States, but there are people from El Salvador working in plenty of other countries around the world.

In El Salvador, It is very common for both parents to work in order to supply the required income for the family. Nevertheless, the mother is still considered as the responsible for the caring of the children and the home, but daughters are taught to be independent, to study and pursue a career.

Salvadorans tend to have a dual standard regarding sex education towards their children, because on the one hand, parents want both sons and daughters to get married before starting to be sexually active, but on the other hand, they educate differently their sons and their daughters, because sons are often expected to meet several female partners before getting married, and to be sexually active, while on the contrary, daughters are expected to meet very few partners before getting married, and not to be sexually active but until they get married.

Parents in middle to upper classes expect their sons and daughters to go to school, then to go to the university to get a degree, and then to get married and leave the parental home. But in recent years, there has been an increasing tendency for some young male adults after they get a job, to leave the home of their parents earlier and to live alone, becoming sexually active and possibly later to cohabitate with their couple. Some couples also do not get married, but just cohabitate.

Children from lower classes are not always expected to go to school, but rather to learn an occupation, and to work as soon as possible to help with the financial support for the parental family. They also usually do not get married, but instead, they get together in cohabitation.

Families in the towns tend to be more numerous than the families in the cities, with the amount of children ranging from two to five. Another difference is in the role taught to the sons and daughters, because the later ones are expected to be dependent, to be focused mainly on the care of the children and the home, and not to work, or to work but in commercial activities done at home, like in meals or "tortillas" preparation, or in a store at home, while the male is considered to be the support for the family. And like in the case for the middle and upper classes in the urban areas, people in the towns usually leave the parental home until they get married.

Families in rural areas behave very similar to the ones living in towns. For instance, both types of families have numerous children and both have traditional roles for male and female. But they also have some differences. For example, they live together with both the grandparents, and they usually do not get married, but get together in cohabitation.

In past generations, when two young adults, male and female, were attracted to each other, and wanted to make official their relationship, the male visited the home of the female, to talk to her parents, in order to get their consent. The boyfriend was then allowed to start visiting his girlfriend at her home, watched by her parents. If the relationship went along in good terms, after a reasonable length of time, the couple had a formal talk with the parents of the girlfriend, to request their consent to get married. If the consent was granted, the couple got married first by civil marriage, and a week later, by church wedding, moment after which the bride used to leave the house of her parents, and went to live with her husband. It was customary for the groom's family to afford the civil marriage, and for the bride's family to afford the church wedding.

Nowadays, these traditions are in progressive decay. Instead for the boyfriend to go and talk with the parents of his girlfriend, the girlfriend talks to her mother privately to let her know about her boyfriend. The mother is then supposed to talk to her husband, to make him accept the relationship. After this private negotiation takes place, the boyfriend is allowed to visit her girlfriend at her home. Then, if the relationship goes along in good terms, after a reasonable length of time, the boyfriend proposes to his girlfriend, gives her an engagement ring, and if the girlfriend accepts, the civil marriage takes place, and a week later, the church wedding. It is no longer a strong tradition for the boyfriend's family to afford the civil marriage, and for the girlfriend's family to afford the civil wedding. Instead, usually both ceremonies are afforded by the boyfriend, or by both boyfriend and girlfriend. An increasing number of couples are opting to get married just by the civil marriage, and not to do the church wedding, while some others do not get married at all, and instead live in cohabitation.

The civil marriage ceremony usually takes place in a house or in a reception room. Usually few people are invited; just close family and friends of groom and bride. The ceremony is lead by a public notary. Days or weeks before to the ceremony, a meeting must be held by the notary and the couple, to establish the conditions and options under which the marriage is going to be arranged. On the ceremony itself, one witness is required for the groom, and one for the bride. Groom's witness is usually male, and brides's witness is usually female, but this is not mandatory. The notary conducts the ceremony according to national regulations in this matter, explaining the purpose and importance of the marriage, and the duties and rights of the wife and the husband. To the end of the ceremony, the notary asks the groom and the bride weather they accept to get married, and then they sign the marriage deed, followed by their witnesses signing the deed too. After the signatures, the notary declares the couple man and wife, and the newlywed kiss in front of the audience, act to which them respond with an applause. Then, they are congratulated by the public, and the banquet and the music starts.

The church marriage ceremony usually takes place at church, but it can be done also in a reception room, especially in the case of Protestant ceremonies. Instead of a best man and a matron of honor, it is typical that a married couple close to the groom and the bride is chosen to act as godparents of the newlyweds, to advise them in life on marriage subjects. They stay next to the couple during the ceremony. They are also responsible of putting and removing the cord that interlaces the couple, and that symbolizes the union between them. This is done before and after the ceremony. A kid is there also to be the page boy, and his responsibility is to hold and later give the rings to the couple. Generally, the bridge is dressed in white, and the groom in a dark suit. The groom is supposed to be at the altar waiting for the bride to arrive, and the bride is supposed to be walked to the altar by her father or, in his absence, some other paternal figure, or her mother, while the wedding march is played. A baby girl and a baby boy usually are in charge of holding the tail of the dress of the bride while she walks towards the altar.

The ceremony is lead by a priest or a pastor, and its content is similar to the civil marriage ceremony, with the addition that everything is explained based on biblical or doctrinal concepts. The priest or the pastor then asks the groom and the bride if they accept to get married, and then declares them man and wife. After this, the young couple interchanges the wedding rings, and then the bride gives the groom the weeding coins, while states that the coins represent the prosperity and the resources of the marriage. The groom receives the wedding coins from the bride, stating that he will take care of them in the benefit of the marriage. This act is followed by the newlyweds kissing each other and the audience applauding. Then the priest or the pastor ends the ceremony with a general blessing and the guests come closer to congratulate the young couple. In Catholic ceremonies, the wedding may be put in between the mass. Generally, after a church wedding, the guests and the newlyweds go to a reception room to celebrate the weeding party.

Some other traditions related to weddings include separate bachelor's parties for the fiance and the fiancee, the honey moon after the wedding, and one or two wedding tea receptions before the day of the wedding.

Football soccer is, by far, the most played sport in the country. It is the unofficial national sport, played by kids and adults, by male and female population, though male players are more common, especially in the adult community. Football games are played daily, from the informal gathering of boys in the neighborhood who play in the street, to local and national tournaments throughout the year. It is common for workers from several companies to join and set teams to play on competitions taking place on weekends.

Another entertaining activity for kids and young adults is video gaming. Nowadays, it is becoming increasingly popular for middle class families to have a video game console as part of the household devices, or a computer that kids use also as a game console. Kids are also into the portable game players' tendency.

On the other hand, outdoor games for kids are becoming less and less common. Previous generations of kids enjoyed playing street games in the neighborhood, like hide-and-seek, tag, and cops and robbers. They also used to play with toys that required some level of physical ability from the kids, like spinning tops, yo-yo, kites, bicycles, skateboards, rollers, marbles, jacks, etc.

The preferred activities that people carry on during vacation may depend on when those vacations take place. Pupils in public schools and those in private but non-bilingual institutions are given vacations at the end of the year, from the second half of October, to the first half of January of the following year. So, during this long period of vacation, in urban areas, it is customary for parents to send their children to summer lessons, like swimming, languages, football, music, arts, dance and academic reinforcement. Youngsters may get a temporal job like as sellers in stores.

In rural areas, sons are sent to work with their father in farming activities, though this is becoming less common because of the progressive drop of the agriculture in the country during the last decade.

Pupils also have vacations for the Holy Week, and for the Patron Saint's Day of their municipality. These one-week vacations are commonly employed to go to the beach, or to go hiking and camping. They may also use this time for church activities or to go to the fairs.

Most of the employees in the government and in some private companies get their vacations on fixed periods throughout the year, that is, in Holy Week, Patron Saint's Day of their municipality, and Christmas. A high percentage of this part of the population prefers to go to the beach during Holy Week. People from San Salvador may also choose to go to the beach on August, when they get some days of vacation because of the celebration of the patron saint of the city.

At the end of the year, several people like to go outside of the country for tourism, but specially to visit the family members or friends that live abroad, being the United States their main destination.

Other activities carried on during these periods may be attending religious events, visiting tourist towns, or simply resting at home.

Another group of the workers get their vacations on varied occasions, depending on the employee's interests and the company's needs. These periods might not coincide with the common intervals of Holy Week, Patron Saint's Day on August, or Christmas, but the activities that they carry on are similar to the ones of the rest of the working population.