Learning... to adjust

Learn…. To…. Adjust… A mildly comical look at first adjustments to living in Honduras

1. Electricity--- truly a luxury. Here at the ranch we adjust to power outages almost daily. Sometimes, the power may be out for days. In that case, the generator is used sparingly, sometimes running only for 2-4 hours in the morning and 2-4 hours at night, always being turned off by 9:30pm. Amazingly, it has been fun to adjust to what normally would be considered an “inconvenience.” Here, communal living is key, and there is hardly ever a lack of something to do or somewhere to get together and play games, or just chat in the dark. I’ve learned to carry my flashlight everywhere…

2. Internet- I have to say I have been surprised at the availability of the internet. The ranch has wireless internet available, but very little bandwidth. Here, we keep internet usage to e-mail, uploads and very limited browsing.

3. Seasons- Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer-- in the states you could pretty much sum up each season with one or two words. Leaves/Cool, COLD, flowers/rain, HOT/dry, respectively…. Not so much here in Honduras, especially up in the mountains. Seasons here have been given new names. Dry season, Wet season, and FLY season. Currently, we’re in fly season. Usually my room would be very decorated with pictures, etc…. here, sticky flystrips are all that is necessary to give your room that warm, cozy feeling.

4. Trips to town- The ranch is approximately 20 miles from the heart of the city. However, the drive takes about an hour, if not a little longer. The road is not nearly as bad as I had expected, but it has to be traveled very slowly and cautiously. It is all dirt, but holds up very well to the elements. The vehicles, however, take a lot of wear and tear over the years. So, trips to town are limited to usually one a week per person. Here, it is better to buy a little more than a little less… it stinks to run out on Tuesday what you can’t buy again until Sunday. Be prepared to get close to everyone else in the van, as space is precious on vans going to town. When there IS an empty seat, the driver is usually nice enough to pick up someone along the way that needs to get to the bottom of the mountain. Most of the others that live on the mountain do not have transportation, and it is a very long, difficult walk going up or down the mountain road. Room for one more??? You bet!

5. Learn to go uphill both ways- I think all of us have sat with the parents and grandparents at one point or another and heard, “we used to have to go uphill both ways, barefoot in the snow, just to get to school…” or something close. Well, don’t worry about the snow, bare feet is optional, but be ready to go uphill both ways. I actually like that everything here seems uphill-- it is great exercise, and it makes level ground seem like floating on air. There is a pond further up the mountain, and I have hiked up to it twice now. There is actually two different ways to go. One is VERY steep, shorter, and rough on the calves. The other is not as steep, twice as long it seems, but has wonderful opportunities for viewing birds. I have seen some of the most wonderful blue and red colored birds. When you come to the fork in the trail, choose left.