Thinking Positive
The other day, in an effort to cheer ourselves up about our impending departure, Maggie and I started coming up with a list of things we would not miss about Honduras. Here’s what I remember, plus some of my own personal additions.
My house. I really don’t like my house – it has way too many problems; I just put up with it so I could live by myself. Though it does have a nice big yard in which I was finally able to have my dream garden full of basil (which I now have to leave behind).
Related to the above, my metal roof. The deafening sound of rain pounding down during rainy season, leaks, feeling like I’m in an oven in the afternoons on hot days, and the constant banging and creaking during windy season.
Bucket baths. Though bucket baths are far better than a cold shower, I’m still looking forward to hot running water.
Doing laundry by hand. Need I say more?
Unreliable electricity. I just love frequent power outages, especially when I’m trying to fix dinner.
The absolutely horrible little ants. They bite whenever they get a chance and then the bites itch intensely for days. Absolutely awful.
Bucket flushing toilets and not being able to flush the toilet paper.
Slooowww internet.
Honduran spaghetti. It’s terrible. The noodles are overcooked and the sauce is pretty darn disgusting. Unfortunately, I’ve had to choke down my fair share of it since it’s not polite to turn down food that’s offered to you (plus I didn’t have much choice when living with host families).
Piropos. Catcalls from Honduran men. There are certain areas of town I avoid in order to decrease the chances of having to listen to them.
Honduran time. I was going to write a blog post about this, but then got distracted by other events. It’s highly annoying to have someone tell you a meeting is going to start at 3pm and then no one shows up until at least 4pm and sometimes later. I felt like I spent the entire month of November just waiting for people to show up.
Roosters crowing at all hours of the day and night. Totally a myth that roosters only crow at dawn.
Honduran baked goods. They think their bread, cakes and other pastries are yummy but they really are not. About the only pastry Hondurans do well is tres leche cake.
There’s probably more, but that’s all I can remember for the moment. However, the number of things (and people) that I am going to miss far outweighs what I am not going to miss. Perhaps that will be the topic of my last blog post from Honduras later this week. Right now I’m doing my best to pack things up and enjoy my last couple days at site.
