I love the people of Honduras! For the most part, they are good people who work hard and who always have time to talk.
Like I stated, it is good manners to greet everyone when you walk into a room of strangers. When entering a room of friends, it is custom to not only greet each person in turn, but to also give then a "beso" or kiss on the cheek. The Hondurans that know me throw in a hug too (because they know that hugging is an American thing).
Hondurans also have a knack for making me feel welcome, not laughing at my Spanish, and sharing their lives. Once Noe and I went to get baleadas (tortillas with beans, eggs, and avocado...yum) and ended up talking almost 20 minutes with the woman who was making them.
And when visiting a house, it is custom for the visitor to bring something for the host, usually some kind of bread or sweet treat to eat during coffee time. And the host almost always invites the guest in for a "cafecito" (a little coffee). Strangers become friends around a cup of coffee...I think that's a universal thing, but Honduran coffee with a little sweet bread seems to make the custom so much better!
Then thing I will miss the most about Honduras is the people. I have made so many wonderful friendships here, and have never felt like the outsider. Plus I already have 5 offers of places to stay when I return.
I guess I'll have to come back soon!
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Friday, December 2, 2011
Culture Part 2: Driving
At the beginning of my time here, I wrote several blogs about learning to drive. Well after a year and a half, I am quite good at driving in Honduras (although I may have to re-learn to drive in the States).
The rules of driving in Honduras is that there are no rules.
Police are not on the highways, they are stationed at the entrances to the city so anything goes on the highway.
For example, the speed limit is 60 kph(about 37 mph) on the highway. Most cars wouldn't dream of going any slower than 80 kph (50 mph) and usually drive about 100 kph (62 mph).
Those median lines? Forget about them.
No passing zones? No one follows them.
And driving is like one big game of chicken. I've seen the two lane highway fit four cars passing each other. No big deal.
If I drive like that in Wisconsin, I will be arrested, or at least heavily fined.
Driving in the city is another matter. There is A LOT of traffic, no matter what time of the day it is. People continue to drive fast and weave in and out of the lanes. Motorcyclists drive in between cars like they're threading a needle. And merging becomes a game of "my car is bigger than your car"...the biggest (or the least expensive) always wins.
Want to merge? Roll down the window and wave your hand. If the others are willing to let you in, they signal by flashing their lights. To show your appreciation, you give two short honks on your horn. I'm good at merging because I am a "rubia" aka I have lighter hair and skin...people are nicer to me when it comes to letting me in.
Another common trait for driving is being "conchudo". In English this word describes people who are rude and who don't necessarily consider others. For example, cars that pass on the shoulder of the highway because you are going to slowly. Or a car that merges when it is clearly not his turn. Or making an opening to pass when there is clearly not one. These people are conchudo. I have learned to be conchuda. It's not always a bad thing and is often necessary for driving in Tegucigalpa.
I am truly a Honduran driver, now that I have un-learned all the good driving techniques my parents taught me. Maybe they'll have to enroll me in driving school again?!
The rules of driving in Honduras is that there are no rules.
Police are not on the highways, they are stationed at the entrances to the city so anything goes on the highway.
For example, the speed limit is 60 kph(about 37 mph) on the highway. Most cars wouldn't dream of going any slower than 80 kph (50 mph) and usually drive about 100 kph (62 mph).
Those median lines? Forget about them.
No passing zones? No one follows them.
And driving is like one big game of chicken. I've seen the two lane highway fit four cars passing each other. No big deal.
If I drive like that in Wisconsin, I will be arrested, or at least heavily fined.
Driving in the city is another matter. There is A LOT of traffic, no matter what time of the day it is. People continue to drive fast and weave in and out of the lanes. Motorcyclists drive in between cars like they're threading a needle. And merging becomes a game of "my car is bigger than your car"...the biggest (or the least expensive) always wins.
Want to merge? Roll down the window and wave your hand. If the others are willing to let you in, they signal by flashing their lights. To show your appreciation, you give two short honks on your horn. I'm good at merging because I am a "rubia" aka I have lighter hair and skin...people are nicer to me when it comes to letting me in.
Another common trait for driving is being "conchudo". In English this word describes people who are rude and who don't necessarily consider others. For example, cars that pass on the shoulder of the highway because you are going to slowly. Or a car that merges when it is clearly not his turn. Or making an opening to pass when there is clearly not one. These people are conchudo. I have learned to be conchuda. It's not always a bad thing and is often necessary for driving in Tegucigalpa.
I am truly a Honduran driver, now that I have un-learned all the good driving techniques my parents taught me. Maybe they'll have to enroll me in driving school again?!
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Culture Part 1: The Waiting Room
Any kind of "appointment" is a cultural experience here. I use quotations because appointment is a loose term here. Basically you tell the doctor you're coming, the doctor tells you when he/she will arrive and then you wait your turn.
Doctors/dentists/hair dressers usually work out of their house. Their place of practice is normally a room that is added on to the house or a building within walking distance.
Once I took Angie to the dentist. We arrived at noon to find the place completely locked up, even though the dentist said she'd be there at 12. She arrived at quarter to one with all her kids. In the morning our dentist is a public school teacher, in the afternoon she cleans and pulls teeth. Don't try to figure that one out.
The one thing I love about Honduras is the waiting room. When a person enters, it is good manners to greet everyone with a "good morning" or "good afternoon". Perfect strangers can become good acquaintances after an afternoon in the waiting room. And because there are no set appointments, you might just end up spending the whole afternoon there.
I especially love when I go to get my hair done, because there is no waiting room. The whole hair salon is one room so it's like one big social event. I went to have my hair dyed last week and what an experience it was.
I entered to find two women ahead of me. Since there are 3 hairstylists, this normally wouldn't be a problem, but one hairstylist was already dying the other hairstylist's hair so I had to wait.
Three more women entered behind me and suddenly we had 6 customers for 3 hairstylists (2 of whom I mentioned were busy doing each others hair). Now things get interesting because it becomes a competition. I was already sitting in a chair so I got first dibs. Then things went a little like this.
- Hairstylist 1 is mixing my color while the first client waits for her color to set.
- Hairstylist 1 leaves me to take client 1 to wash out her hair. Client 4 (I am number 3) slips into client 1's chair.
- Hairstylist 2 dyes my hair and leaves it to set, then goes to wash out her own hair with hairstylist 3. Client 1 returns to find her chair occupied, and takes a seat on one of the waiting couches.
- Hairstylist 1 starts working on client 4. Hairstylist 2 takes me to wash out my hair. Client 1 grabs my chair.
- I come back from getting my hair washed and take the couch since my sets has been robbed.
- Client 2 finally evacuates her chair and as I go to grab it, client 5 swoops in and steals it. But Hairstylist 3 tells her that I was first and the chair is relinquished to me.
- Finally my hair is dried and straightened. I pay (not really sure who to pay) and get out as another woman fills my chair.
So there you go. In the course of 75 minutes, I sat in all three chairs and had my hair done by all three hair dressers. I also made friends with all the women in the salon, talked about my "kids", discussed hair styles and caught up on my Honduran "gossip". All for about 30 bucks.
Not bad for a day at the salon.
Doctors/dentists/hair dressers usually work out of their house. Their place of practice is normally a room that is added on to the house or a building within walking distance.
Once I took Angie to the dentist. We arrived at noon to find the place completely locked up, even though the dentist said she'd be there at 12. She arrived at quarter to one with all her kids. In the morning our dentist is a public school teacher, in the afternoon she cleans and pulls teeth. Don't try to figure that one out.
The one thing I love about Honduras is the waiting room. When a person enters, it is good manners to greet everyone with a "good morning" or "good afternoon". Perfect strangers can become good acquaintances after an afternoon in the waiting room. And because there are no set appointments, you might just end up spending the whole afternoon there.
I especially love when I go to get my hair done, because there is no waiting room. The whole hair salon is one room so it's like one big social event. I went to have my hair dyed last week and what an experience it was.
I entered to find two women ahead of me. Since there are 3 hairstylists, this normally wouldn't be a problem, but one hairstylist was already dying the other hairstylist's hair so I had to wait.
Three more women entered behind me and suddenly we had 6 customers for 3 hairstylists (2 of whom I mentioned were busy doing each others hair). Now things get interesting because it becomes a competition. I was already sitting in a chair so I got first dibs. Then things went a little like this.
- Hairstylist 1 is mixing my color while the first client waits for her color to set.
- Hairstylist 1 leaves me to take client 1 to wash out her hair. Client 4 (I am number 3) slips into client 1's chair.
- Hairstylist 2 dyes my hair and leaves it to set, then goes to wash out her own hair with hairstylist 3. Client 1 returns to find her chair occupied, and takes a seat on one of the waiting couches.
- Hairstylist 1 starts working on client 4. Hairstylist 2 takes me to wash out my hair. Client 1 grabs my chair.
- I come back from getting my hair washed and take the couch since my sets has been robbed.
- Client 2 finally evacuates her chair and as I go to grab it, client 5 swoops in and steals it. But Hairstylist 3 tells her that I was first and the chair is relinquished to me.
- Finally my hair is dried and straightened. I pay (not really sure who to pay) and get out as another woman fills my chair.
So there you go. In the course of 75 minutes, I sat in all three chairs and had my hair done by all three hair dressers. I also made friends with all the women in the salon, talked about my "kids", discussed hair styles and caught up on my Honduran "gossip". All for about 30 bucks.
Not bad for a day at the salon.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)