Another rainy day in La Ceiba!

As you all know Jason (bitsnpieces) Kelly (Green Bein’) are spending some time in Honduras… Here is the latest from Jason:

Here’s the thing about rainy days in La Ceiba; everything pretty much shuts down.  It’s really amazing.  Nobody works. Nothing is open.  You can’t do anything.  This wouldn’t be so unsettling if it weren’t for the fact that we are in a climate that experiences a shit-ton of rain!

Which brings me to one of my many observations about Hondurans (I’m quickly figuring out the locals):

Hondurans are poor.

Hondurans don’t work when it rains.

It always rains.

It seems simple, doesn’t it?  Many observations I’ve made here seem to simple to be true.

Like the trash problem here. It is more than a problem, it is an epidemic.  The streets are covered with trash.  The word “litter” does not exist.  There are no second thoughts about throwing an entire happy meal out the window when you’re through with it.  Hondurans would think you were crazy if you said something to them about dropping their empty 3 liter (yes, 3 liter!  I’ll get to that…) of Banana Soda on the ground.  It’s just a different set of values they have been raised with.  They grew up playing in trash, and they most likely don’t even notice it.  Why?  How could an entire nation have no regard for their environment?  What could cause this?

Here’s a possible answer:

We have still not bought a decent trash can for the bar/restaurant.  Not because we can’t find one, but because we can’t afford one.  A regular sized trash can costs about $60.  Considering the average Honduran makes about $10/day (when it’s not raining!) the trash problem becomes a bit more clear.  Could it be that simple? The more I get to know these people, the more I think it is!

There are, of course, many exceptions to this.  There are plenty of well-minded people here who are just as disgusted at the littering as I am.  Of course, most of them can afford a trash can.

Another observation, related to the financial situation here:

Hondurans are poor.

There is a ridiculous amount of useless crap for sale everywhere.

Hondurans buy it. All of it.

Seriously useless shit.  Every red light you stop at, someone is at your car window trying to sell you cheap, worthless trinkets for your car.  Decorations for your antenna.  Decals for your rims.  Air fresheners. They love air fresheners.  Every time a bus comes to a stop for more than a few seconds, someone jumps on board selling shit.  Cheap watches, socks, puzzles, kites, underwear (yes, underwear).  And these people buy it!  All of it!  These people who make $10 a day will spend a dollar on a plastic bobble head for their dashboard.  It is amazing the shit they buy!  See, the poverty is as much a problem of money management as anything.  Simple math.  I make $10/day.  Someone wants half of my daily income for a toy kite that will break by tomorrow.  Should I buy the kite?  Of course I should!

Another observation, deeply related to the poverty:

Hondurans are addicted to sugar.

Everything has sugar in it.

Hondurans buy everything with sugar in it.

Seriously. It really is a problem.  A nation of sugar addicts.

We found out the other day that our coffee comes with sugar added.  Coffee.

There are several people regularly walking the same intersection selling cotton candy.  There is no parade or carnival, cotton candy is simply a regular part of the Honduran diet.  Soda, as I mentioned, comes in 3 liters, and the average Honduran drinks one daily.  Oh, and the Coke here has much more sugar in it than the Coke in America.

Hondurans don’t drink water.  They drink sugary sweet things. Always.  I have not yet seen a Honduran drinking water.  Seriously.

Bags of marshmallow are regular snacks here.  The only cereal without sugar is plain corn-flakes.  There are at least 2 ice-cream bikes (like an ice cream truck, but a bike!) in our little neighborhood.  Hondurans cannot go anywhere without a soda and a sugary snack.  Seriously.  A trip to the grocery store requires a stop at the pulperia (small-walk up window convenience stores that exist about every 10 feet) for a soda and a candy.  While in the grocery store another soda should be consumed, and possible a bag of chips.  A different puperia should be stopped at on the way home for another fresca (soda).

Did I mention these people are poor?

Is it that simple?  I don’t know, but I’m starting to believe it may be.

So, the solution?  Well, not so simple.  It requires changing the way these people have been thinking and living their entire lives.  Here’s what I would do:

Work when it rains.  Stop buying so much useless shit.  Curb my sugar addiction.  Someday be able to afford a trash can.