I have been jotting down observations over the past couple of weeks, and have generated a rather sizeable list of things that have made me look twice or think again (in no particular order):
1) Armed guards - all the banks have them, and many stores that have a large enough income
2) Campesinos with machetes - men from the country casually carry their machete through their belt loop
3) Children with machetes - boys younger than 10!
4) Tear gas on Independence Day - a group of people in resistance to the government held a protest in downtown San Pedro Sula (they support Mel Zelaya, who was ousted from presidency last year). I was at the Mennonite church several blocks away at a chicken barbeque when we heard a tear gas canister go off and saw a small crowd of people running down the street. Things calmed down quickly, and I didn´t see anybody injured.
5) Gecko poop under my pillow.
6) A cockroach leg in my bed - There was something prickly on my arm one night, so I slapped at it. In the morning I found a leg in my bed, and saw my cockroach friend running around with only 5 legs!
7) Participatory amens during a church sermon - when the pastor wanted to make a point, he said ´Amen?´ and the congregation responded with ´Amen!´
8) A scorpion in the bathroom (scorpions can´t swim, for future reference!)
9) Having to pour water from 5 gallon jugs to my 500mL water bottle - this takes steady hands even though there is a water stand!
10) Not knowing what language a word is in (was that English, French or Spanish...?).
11) Hearing a fellow MCCer say ¨y´all¨
12) An extremely wealthy church with tall fences and manicured lawn, surrounded by impoverished houses.
13) Receiving a 30 minute sermon on the public bus - every bus has vendors hopping on and off; this bus had a preacher!
14) Having a cell phone - weird!
15) Feeling surprised to see another blond person.
16) Guys in cars honking or staring.
17) Being head and shoulders taller than many groups of people!
18) Funeral homes open 24 hours
19) Bus taking a detour onto the sidewalk when the street was too busy
20) Entering the supermarket and finding that absolutely everything is packaged and bordering on junk food
21) Learning from a 9 year old that this year´s SALTers and YAMENers are a ¨good group of young people¨
22) Not feeling (overly) anxious about things - this is/was a surprise, as I fully expected much anxiety (hence my use of Julian of Norwich´s quote above)
That's great that you haven't encountered too much anxiety. Gross to gecko poop, cockroaches, and scorpions! Shake out EVERYTHING before you sleep!!
ReplyDeleteThat is quite the juxtaposition between rich and poor. Hopefully the church supports the neighbourhood in some way?