In San Salvador, El Salvador, I stepped off a bus into an overwhelming market. This market ran full-throttle every day and hummed constantly with throngs of people changing buses. The buses bellowed diesel smoke and dust, and the market kiosks filled the air with the heavy stench of slowly rotting produce. I retreated to the shade of a deserted kiosk and sucked down a Coke. Sometimes, the ubiquitous carbonated products in Central America are actually just what you need.
Sodas are familiar, sterile, and usually served quite cold.
Occasionally they give you a lesson in ingenuity, too. The drink goes into a plastic bag, with a straw. It sounds difficult to manage, but it s actually not too tricky. Short and stocky, he walked beside me and asked me questions. At that answer, he brought his fist up in an arc toward my face.