Pupusa Fest!

There is no denying it; my neighbourhood is pretty homogeneous. Although socially and economically diverse, almost everyone from the rich to the poor is white.

That almost makes my family (me: half British/half El Salvadorian; Glosette Girl: half French Canadian/half Lebanese; Margot a blend of the two) the minorities of the hood!

So to add a bit of ethnic flavour this past weekend, we decided to head outside of Hintonburg and down to Brewer Park for ...Pupusa Fest! I couldn't believe it when Glosette Girl first mentioned this gathering of the local El Salvadorian community. Pupusa Fest?! A festival dedicated to the tortilla based dish that El Salvadorians are famous for...?!

I think it's just an excuse to have a big El Salvadorian get-together and party.

In any case, the timing is perfect as we are going to be visiting El Salvador over New Year's this year and the festival made for a great preview of some of the delicious food we can expect.

Of course we ate lots of pupusas...

We tried pupusas from two places. This was the first...

...and this was the second.

... but besides eating delicious food we also got to see a few dance numbers...

..and I got to see a lot of people who reminded me of my Uncle Tio and my El Salvadorian grandmother, IA (p.s maybe it's just me but I always have the urge to help old hispanic ladies cross the street and do chores! They just look so friendly and remind me of my own grandmother!)

I've never really explored the El Salvadorian side of my heritage before, so it was interesting for me to take part in a festival that I have a cultural connection to. Of course we stood out like sore thumbs (note to self: bring a soccer jersey to next year's Pupusa Fest), but was still fun. Next stop: San Salvador!