|
June 20, 2006
Day to Day life in Honduras
Our typical days would begin at 6am. The sun rises around 5:30 am year round. Honduras being near the equator, you would have 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness continually all year long. It made every morning seem like summer time, and every evening seem like winter because of the early rising and early setting of the sun.
The dust and dirt everywhere in this hot, humid climate requires that you sweep and mop your floors daily. We had only solid, cement floors, so it wasn't too big of a deal. Just a bit time consuming to start your day mopping.
We actually DID have an automatic washing machine, but most people did their laundry in the rivers and streams…alongside the cattle drinking or people bathing. Our washing machine took about 2 hours to run through one cycle because the water pressure was so low…it was gravitationally based…the higher your 'water tank' sits on your house roof, or hill, the higher the water pressure! We finally moved to a place where our tank sat up on a mountain side, so we had real pressure then. Only cold water though…which made showering very thrilling!
The 'clean' clothes then hung outside in the dusty, dirty windy yard. Not that they were very clean after coming from the river anyway! Or from our wash machine for that matter…the water in Honduras is VERY contaminated and not too clear!
This is me in 2000 hanging out our clean clothes. Don't you love our Suburban?
This is a neighbor with her clean laundry hanging out.
Meal preparation took a bit of time too. Not like you could get lunchmeat, peanut butter or quickie meals or convenience foods at the store. You had to plan and begin the meals at least 1 1/2 hours before you plan to eat. Every meal….Every day. Everything was bought fresh at the markets so had to be used in a couple of days and nothing was convenient or quick. Well, we could get cereal (see this Cultural Contrast post) and milk so breakfast was easy in that regard. OH, but the milk had a shelf life and did NOT require refrigeration! And boy, was it GROSS!
And the fresh produce would require sanitation before using. Not just washing off like we do here…but first a wash in bleach water, a rinse in clean bottled water, and then a second rinse in clean bottled water again. Then you would be able chop and prepare them for the meal.
Because we lived in this hot, humid, tropical country where mosquitoes were rampant and diseased, we had to go inside and stay for the evening/night around 5pm everyday as the sun was beginning to set and the mosquitoes were coming out in abundance. And I do mean in ABUNDANCE! They would be so thick on the screens that you couldn't see out the windows! Bug repellents are not safe for little children, and rarely work like they say anyway, so it's best to just avoid the little critters at all costs. Malaria is a real and present danger in Honduras. Just ask DH.
That's a good run down of a typical day. I miss it though. Too many choices and too much convenience for my taste here in the US of A.
~Betsy
|
| •
Leave a comment! •
Send to a Friend!
|
Comments
|
|
|
|
Posted by 
Posted by 
Posted by 
Posted by 
June 20, 2006 - Untitled Comment