Day 359 - Enjoying Taco Bell for the first time in two years

Of all the things I would have expected to miss during the past two years, who would have imagined that Taco Bell would have been near the top of the list. Before I continue, allow me to clear up a common myth in the form of a fictional dialogue:

Jimbob: “Why, Lee, Taco Bell's just fake Mexican food, and where you lived, you could get real Mexican food every day!”

me: “Well, actually, Jimbob, I lived in El Salvador, so there wasn't a whole lot of Mexican food.”

Jimbob: “But I thought that all Latin cuisine is pretty much the same. Isn't everything really spicy? Don't you eat a lot of tacos?”

me: “No, in fact, Salvadoran food is quite distinct from Mexican food. Salvadoran tortillas are far too thick to make into tacos or burritos (or even chalupas or Mexican crunchwrap supremes, for that matter), and most Salvadorans don't like spicy foods.”

Jimbob: “Wow, that's interesting. No tacos!”

me: “Yes, and you know, there's quite a bit of variety within Latin American cuisine. Saying that all Latin American cuisine is pretty much the same would be kind of like lumping together Italian food, French food, Belgian waffles, and fish and chips and calling it all 'European cuisine.'”

Jimbob: “Well that would just be ridiculous! Thanks for straightening me out, Lee.”

So, you see, in missing Taco Bell, I was really just missing good old fashioned American junk food. Among the many American fast food restaurants which have been exported to El Salvador, Taco Bell is absent. So while I'd had my fill of Big Macs, Whoppers, and Frosties, it had been far too long since my last Chalupa.