EL CENTRO y MULTIPLAZA CENTRO COMERCIAL (by John Shnier)
The term "centro" (downtown) brings the idea of a city's core, the inner city, the space drawn by people's steps. The term "centro comercial" (meaning mall but literally a commercial centre ) is a confined, regulated, organized planned centre; in short, a formalized replication of the city core (sometimes a redundancy).
When you come to San Salvador the centros comerciales become your first point of reference by word of mouth. You have to try hard to go to the centre as not even cab drivers want to take you there. As it happens, buses and cars have to find their way through predictable streets narrowed by vendors (mostly black market vendors). There is no government presence in the centro, I mean a visible presence (police, government buildings, offices), which I believe contributes to the perception of fear. However people take care of each other, that is; if you blend in. On the other hand, the centros comerciales have an excess of security which might contribute to the perceptual analogy enclosed/safe.
My craving for intersections in this city makes me complain about not being able to hang out in the centro and propelled by this urban landscape to do so in the centro comercial. In my mind I have redesigned the centro streets as if it was a place- in- potency. Should its reality change for foreigners (extranjeros) to write nice things in their online journals? or, Should the extranjero blend until he or she becomes invisible? (another pirate dvd). John suggested selling pupusas in a corner and simply hang out. What do you think?
