Currently at home in Calgary.

Monday, 13 June 2011

Not Every Business Has A Guard. The Churches Don't.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention security in Tegucigalpa. Admittedly, it was my one and only real concern before coming here (you know ... the Toncontin Airport thing notwithstanding).

Consider:
  • Per capita income is less than $2,000/year.
  • 60% live below the international poverty line of $1.25/day.
  • Half of the population is younger than 20 years old.
  • Youth gangs are estimated at 30,000 members in a country of 8 million.
  • All of Central America is a South American drug conduit for 'products' heading to that most loyal of customers, North America.


Guns are, everywhere. As a result, outside of most businesses you see everything from a uniformed guard with a military assault rifle or shotgun, to a guy in a t-shirt with a revolver stuffed down the front of his jeans.

Razor wire and video cameras protect everything.




Despite all of this you have to remember that very few tourists ever have a problem. By taking the same precautions as you would in most large North American cities, you won't interest the bad guys. If you are non-latino and walking around at night with a watch, rings, sunglasses, expensive sneakers and your Blackberry, you're asking for it. Dressing down seems to be the key. If one in a thousand people have a problem, it's real easy not to be that one.

My message? Don't let the stories scare you. This is a wonderfully diverse place with beautiful people and lots to see, do and eat. You should come.

Sunday, 12 June 2011

Honduran Fast Food

You could say the whole of Tegucigalpa is a drive-through restaurant. But not in the same sit in your car in a line-up / speak to a voice coming from a menu board / sit in a line-up / get handed a bag of food kind of way. Here you sit in your car until the food comes to you. Fruit, gum, cotton candy, you name it.

The best yet was yesterday. A lady selling flowers and a few fruits and vegetables from a roadside stand had plastic bags of slivered, unripe, green mangoes. After a few quick instructions from my trusty host, Alejandra, rock salt, vinegar and chili sauce were sprinkled in the bags and they were handed through the window. After a couple of shakes, the "mango verde" car-snack was ready. Spicy, salty, crunchy, with a little sweet n' sour going on.

A shy Mango Verde vendor