Job Discussion Forums

[Chazz]

Hi there, I am about to move to Honduras in August. So far I have done much research and I am excited about going with my girlfriend. I am confident and I am happy with my contract. I have read much and heard some great things about the locals. I have also read that one of my countrymen was shot in a bus-robbery recently as well. I am not the dramatic type to let the bad news (which seems to be all you hear about these places from the media anyways) affect my decision making.
It would be great, though, if anyone had any first hand experiences they could share with regards to Honduras (specifically, Comayagua).
Major Topics of Concern:
Local Food and Beverage (I love good beer), banking/moving money home to Canada, things I will take for granted here that I should bring there (I've heard peanut butter and linens...), are there any Recreational soccer/futbol leagues there (I'm not the competitive type and I figure that they're much better at it down there than they are up here), and also how cautious I should be as far as any activism for local causes (native rights, human rights, forestry/eco protection...I'm Not gonna be bombing gov't buildings or chaining myself to trees but there's a lot of good grass roots stuff going on and I was wondering if they would welcome a gringos volunteering of their time and hands and mind or if I would be out of line)...
Anything that anyone who has been there can share, on any topic, will be well appreciated as there's not a whole lot of first hand account type info just laying around the web as there is with much of Latin America.

Thanks a lot folks, Keep on rockin' in the tyrannical world...

[moonraven]

1. Be very careful with food and drink.

2. Do NOT get involved in political demonstrations of any kind. (This is true just about everywhere in Latin America except Venezuela--most countries prohibit foreigners from political activity and will deport them.) If you don't run afoul of the police or immigration folks, you may well find yourself canned from your job.

3. Sending money home will cost you. You may have to pay a commission at both ends plus not be given a decent exchange rate (unless the Canadian dollar is the official currency, which seems remote.)

My overall advice is: Keep your head down, a smile on your face, speak softly and try your damnedest to blend in.

[wildnfree]

I would be interested to know what are the "best" ways to try and blend in?

[moonraven]

Ways to "blend in ":

1. Learn Spanish, and do not speak English to people.

2. Ask questions about how to do things, and do not tell folks how much more efficient the Canadian way of doing things is.

3. Tell everyone on the street good morning, good afternoon and good evening.

4. Thank people--even when they haven't done anything for you that they aren't getting paid to do.

5. Bathe, and wear clean clothes.

6. Be helpful.

[wildnfree]

I think that is excellent advice. To become like a local. It really is something not to be taken for granted, as I can attest that most places in Europe and Asia delight in ensuring foreigners stay 'foreign' - by means of linguistic and cultural exclusion. And then there are the foreigners (usually from Eng-speaking cultures) who go to places and EXPECT locals to know english and treat them differently (ie better)!

I hope you enjoy Honduras!

[Chazz]

Thanks for all the advice. All good and practical stuff. Worry not - I am expecting, both dreading and relishing, the experience of being completely out of my element. I won't be able to tolerate it very long though, and so I will be extremely focused on learning the language, culture and adapting to my circumstances (rather than expecting them to adapt to me). I am allready almost disturbingly polite (the old Canadian stereotype) and love lending a hand. I would like to think I've enough decent karma and common sense to avoid any nasty debocles. As much as I would really like to help some local causes I also do want to fall into the category of "no body, no crime" which seems to be where a lot of Latin American activists end up. That's a bit dramatic, I know, but deportation and unemployment probably suck something fierce too. Plus, if I can't move my money over the border I can donate it to the March for Life or someone else who hugs trees and natives and human rights and all that.
You've all been most helpful. Feel free to keep it coming.
<PEACE>

[moonraven]

Meister Eckhart did not complete the thought, the completion of which would be, "or drowns in the attempt".

Even mystics don't always get a free lunch.

Best of luck!

[amy1982]

agreed, smiling and attempting to speak the language are key - even if you don't blend in. people tend to appreciate that you don't demand they do things your way, and a smile is (arguably) the universal symbol of friendliness.

[Justin Trullinger]

I'll add that there are lots of non-political social causes that you could safely volunteer with. Help with underprivileged kids in local schools or orphanages. Feed the homeless. Teach English to other charity workers.

There are many, many, organisations that do stuff like this, and it's one of the best ways to fit in and get to know you're adoptive country.

Moonraven's right, though. Any overt political demonstration in Latin America could turn out very badly for a "gringo." To the already mentioned dangers of arrest, deportation, and loss of job, I will add the possibility of simply being attacked and killed. Mobs can get a little irrational, and anti-American sentiments can run high. (I don't remember your nationality, Chazzer, but to many, any foreigner is American.)

Have a great time out there, but be careful....

Justin

[Chazz]

"Even mystics don't always get a free lunch."

Well, gee whiz, Moonraven, wouldn't you rather die swimming to the source than just let the current take you into the sea of mediocrity and death..?
Oh well, good to know someone out there knows a mystic when they read one...thanks for your advice!
Oh, and by the way - the true irony of your comment lies in the fact that This Mystic (yours truly) actually does get a free lunch!!! It's in my contract. I thought that was effing hilarious...

[moonraven]

I have been swimming against the current quite happily for 60 years.

Not everyone does it as effectively, or as gracefully, though. You need to be aware of the pitfalls.

[Ben Round de Bloc]

[Weona]

[moonraven]

Weona:

Are you trying to get an award on Dave's for shooting off your mouth without anything to back you up? Or do you just want to try your luck by disagreeing with me?

I don't know specifically whether you could have been booted out of Chile for interfering in domestic politics, as I have not read the Chilean constiution. If you had marched--or even been in the area of the march--in either Mexico or Ecuador, you sure could have been. Both of their constitutions prohibit ANY political activity by foreigners. And they are the ones who decide what is political activity, not you, Weona.

I have found ways of getting around this--writing speeches for agrarian leaders to give in manifestations, for example, that I do NOT attend--and writing and producing political plays in my home base here without being bothered because I know where the "bodies are buried". Most people on this forum are not that savvy, and they need to know that the risks are serious ones. I sure as hell wouldn't want to have spent the past year in a Mexican jail being tortured--and with, so far, no prospect of being released. Or to have spent even several days in a filthy immigration holding tank before being kicked out the country. Maybe you would find that fun?

In Mexico there have been thousands of cases of deportations, especially of folks from the US, Canada and Europe who came as observers of the EZLN siuation in Chiapas or to participate in buildings schools and clinics there. One recent example of the fun to be had in political demonstrations: the folks who happened to be in the centro of Guadalajara last May during the European-Latin American Summit, and who were deported.

They were the lucky ones--a bunch of others are still in jail, where according to human rights groups such as Amnesty International, they have been tortured. This week in Spain there was a protest about it because the governor of the state of Jalisco travelled there.

Maybe if you kept up with what's happening in Latin America by reading newspapers and internet news sites, you would find out something about the part of the world you are living in. That could save your neck.

[Weona]

Moonraven:

Ouch. I wasn't questioning the validity of your post, I was just speaking from my personal experience in a country with which I believe to be a lot more familiar than you. I don't know about the actual laws pertaining to this topic in the rest of Latin America but you did say that MOST countries do prohibit foreign involvement in protests and I was saying that Chile is one of them that does not. And if it does, it's not something that is enforced.

I understand the original post was about Honduras but when I see a comment speaking generally about most of Latin America, I thought I would comment about my part of the region. What's wrong with that?

And who said I was "interfering in domestic politics"? I peacefully marched with thousands of other like-minded individuals. I also never said Mexico nor Ecuador do not prohibit foreign involvement. Deportations, jail time, or these tortures that you speak of probably happened and I'm not here to contest that... but you must understand that I can, just like anyone else on this forum, share my own experience that is relevant to the topic discussed.

Notice how I did not recommend getting involved in political demonstrations. You made it seem like I did. I do "keep up" with what is going on around me and I don't need for you to tell me to do so when speaking for the country in which I live.