(I was just trying to write this all in one blog and realized it was getting to be around four pages. In an effort to respect the overly busy American of my target audience, I will make these two posts. You can thank me later and read each of these at your convenience!)
I have TONS of down time here in Honduras. Believe me. Today I felt successful because after sleeping in ‘til 9:30, watching old TV on my computer until 11:00 and finally leaving the house by 1:00, I was able to visit three people in the community and score an invite to the Lions Club meeting on Thursday. Compare that to what I would call a successful day in the US and comparatively I did nothing. (Side note: I’m hoping to form a “brotherhood” between the Lions club here in Guaimaca and at home in Ceres, CA. My ultimate goal is to form a “sisterhood” between my hometown of Ceres and current hometown of Guaimaca. According to Sister Cities International, linking organizations such as the Lions is a good starting point.)
With that delightful anecdote of my day, it’s safe to assume there’s not much to blog about in my present life. Rather I’m going to elaborate a list that I’ve had going for some time now to share some cultural difference between the US and Honduras.
Don’t drink the water. Such sage advice is essentially cliché for anyone traveling outside the US. Who even drinks tap water in the US anymore? Where I currently live, I don’t even have a sink. (You know that if you saw my YouTube video “My Current Digs.”) Suffice to say I have to bring my five gallons in from a safe source. Guess what my safe source is? Some underground spring located under the vacant lot behind the gas station across the street, which the locals claim has been tested and is 98% clean. The craziest thing of all: it’s free! About every two weeks when I need a refill, I simply carry my five gallon-er across the street, saddle it up to the nozzle, flip it to ‘on’ and fill ‘er up. I’ve never gotten sick from it and we’ll see if I have any parasites at my 1-year of service mark in May when I journey to Tegucigalpa for medical check-ups.
This may be redundant for my faithful readers. However, showering here is also quite an experience. Water has one temperature: COLD. Thankfully we’re just starting to come out of winter here, so the cold isn’t quite as COLD as it had been. In the colder months here we had days where the high probably hovered around the mid- to upper 60s. Taking an early morning shower in those days was painful and masochistic. I couldn’t change my OCD American personal hygiene habits of daily cleanings of my ENTIRE body, to the frequent adopted arm pits, butt and “privates” and feet. I mean after all, my knees, scalp and elbows would get jealous. Gotta make sure they’re all equally loved, or uh, washed! Anyway, in the HOT summer months the water isn’t COLD or even cold. It’s fabulous and refreshing.
Many products which we’re used to seeing in large, gallon size, plastic bottles in the US frequently come in small (one liter or less) bags. Purified drinking water, bleach and milk are ones that have made my list. Initially it’s a frustrating conundrum trying to drink your half liter of water in one long swallow, place the bag of bleach just-precariously-enough-so-it-doesn’t-spill, and fold the top of the milk bag over just right so it doesn’t spoil. I’ve come to terms with all these things after being in country for nearly a year now. You really do drink your water quickly or pour it into a bottle which you’ve got left over. Same goes for the bleach – either have a big cleaning day and use it all up or find some random discarded bottle to store the remains. The milk (usually) doesn’t spoil. Just make sure to use it within five days of opening it!
For having poor plumbing, clogged toilets are very rarely an issue here. After all, toilet paper doesn’t go in the toilet. Nope, it is neatly (if you’re lucky) discarded in a trash can that is beside EVERY toilet in this country. Many brands of toilet paper marketed here are scented and most people take trash out frequently. I’m sure the prissiest Americans back home are thinking how gross that is and that it must stink. Eh, you get used to it and it actually doesn’t, surprisingly. Also, taking your trash out here isn’t like taking it to your big rolling bin beside the house which you place on the curb weekly. No, no, no. If you’re lucky to live in a city, like I do, there is trash pick up – minus the rolling bins. Trash still goes on a weekly basis; however some poor city employees simply pick up the small pile in front of each home along the route. For the po’ country folk the only way to rid your life of trash is to burn it. Many homes here have a familiar black spot in the backyard where they burn their trash. It does wonders for the air quality here. That and all the vehicles that come from the US circa 1980 and would never pass SMOG in the US. (I now understand why they made such a stink to double check that I didn’t have asthma before being accepted.)
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