Lesson #1 on how to stick out as a gringo in El Sauce: say “hola” to people as you pass by them in the street. What?! That’s right, if you say “hola” everyone will immediately pin you as a foreigner (though the light skin and hair don’t really help in that department!)
Now, this doesn’t mean that people ignore each other. On the contrary, actually. People are SO friendly here, but if you want to acknowledge and greet someone when you are just passing by, you say “Adios!” (though it comes out more like “adio” because they tend to chop the “s” off a lot). I guess it makes sense. I mean, if you’re going to say hello to someone, it’s like you’re starting a conversation…so to say hello but then keep going and chop the conversation seems a bit odd.
Given that El Sauce is fairly small, pretty much everyone knows everybody else, so you are constantly hearing "Adios!" Now, one of my favorite things about walking around El Sauce is passing by one of my students and hearing “Adios profe!”
