Public Restrooms

Three things I learned to always have with me when I was out and about:

1.  a small amount of toilet paper in a plastic bag
2.  hand sanitizer -- many restrooms have hand soap but no water to wash it off
3.  a small amount of cash -- some places charge to use their restroom (usually just enough to cover the cost of the water)

Public Transportation

Public transportation is common in Latin America.  Public buses are inexpensive but are often cramped.  If you have baggage you might have to pay an additional fare for the space it will take up.  The nice thing about buses is that you can get on and off anywhere; there are few designated bus stops. 

Taxis can be more comfortable and have space for luggage but cost a little extra.  Prices are flexible, but it is helpful if you know what is reasonable.  I usually ask a driver what he would charge, barter a little bit, politely turn him down, and use his lowest price as a point of reference for the next driver I talk to.

Public transportation can be relatively safe if you are wise.  It is best to travel in pairs.  If you split up a larger group, be sure to get the number from the outside of each taxi your group is using.  It is not a bad idea to let the driver know that you are taking down this information. 

It is best to be polite when traveling.  You will get a better rate and feel safer during the ride if you are respectful to the driver and other passengers.  Make polite conversation if you are comfortable with the langauge.  Remember to keep the volume at a low level, and restrict the conversation to the person beside you.

Grocery Shopping

Grocery shopping in other countries can be a challenge.  The closest grocery store to where I lived was a small store with only the essentials.  It was about 15 minutes down the mountain.  To complete our shopping for the week, we had to go down into the city, about 45 minutes away, where there were two larger stores.  We usually had to go to both of the larger stores to get everything we needed.  Driving so far away for groceries meant we had to take a cooler with us and had to move quickly through the second store.

Groceries are also packaged and sold differently.  Until very recently milk was only available in plastic bags or waxed cardboard boxes.  If you purchased it in a bag, you had to carefully cut off the corner and pour it into a pitcher.  Milk in plastic containers tastes more like American milk, but is still different because the cows are fed differently.

Eggs are seldom stored refrigerated.  It is important to crack each egg into a small bowl and then pour the contents of that bowl into the recipe.  I have ruined entire batches of cookies by cracking a rotten egg directly into the batter.

Even cereal may not be packaged the same way as it is in the States.  Many American cereals exist, but the mascots are different.  This is true of a few other boxed foods as well.

Pulperias

Pulperias are small stores run out of the front of family homes.  You can find one on every block.  They generally carry snacks and sometimes have baking ingredients.  A few also have hot food certain time of the day.  Customers do not enter pulperias; instead they stand outside and ask for things to be passed to them through the window.

Pulperias carry American sodas as well as some others.  Squirt, orange soda, Manzanita Sol (apple-flavored soda), and ginger ale are common.  They are sold in bottles or bags.  The bottles cost extra, as they can be returned later for a deposit.  If you choose not to purchase the bottle, the person in the pulperia will pour your soda into a clear plastic bag with a straw and may or may not tie a knot in the top.

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Fast Food

McDonald's, Church's Chicken, Papa John's, Pizza Hut, and other American fast food chains are common in other countries as well.  Sometimes they are just like in the States.  Sometimes a few things are added or deleted from the menu.  In Honduras nearly every fast food restaurant has an indoor playground and Papa John's are all eat-in.  

My parents sponsored a Compasion International child named Celia.  I was in the country, so a friend and I took her to dinner.  She said she had always looked at the McDonald's at the top of the hill and wanted to eat there.  It was her first time in a restaurant, on an indoor playground, using a flush toilet, and using automatic hand dryers.  She must have spent ten minutes in the bathroom!

Markets

Markets are another common way to buy food, mostly produce.  In some places markets are set up and torn down daily; in other places market days are weekly occurrences.

Most towns and cities also have markets that are somewhat permanent.  They have tables and a roof that are always there, but the merchandise is packed up and taken home each day.  In those markets you can find just about anything.  Marbles, brooms, and stools might be in one booth, while seeds of all sorts and kinds are sold in the next booth over.  There is no rhyme or reason to what is sold where.

These photos are of a produce market.  I believe these were set up a couple of times a week.

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"to invite"

When inviting someone from a Spanish-speaking culture to dinner, be sure you know what you are offering.  In the Spanish-speaking world when you invite someone, you are implying that you will also pay for them to attend.  You might also be inviting their friends and family. 

My parents sponsored a child, Celia, through Compassion International.  I was in the country, so a friend and I went to visit Celia at her school.  We spent some time with her there at the end of the day.  Her father and brother were at the school as well.  I got to meet them and talk for a few minutes.  It never seemed odd to me that her older brother and her father were at school with her.

When school was over, we offered to take Celia out to eat.  The translator pulled me aside and said that Celia's dad and brother would like to go with us.  It was implied that if they came, I would be buying.  They came, and I did.  It was well worth it; it was their first time eating in a restaurant.

Woman selling tajaditas

In this photo you see a woman selling tajaditas, or banana chips.  They are cut length-ways and are much thinner than our banana chips.  They are fried and lightly salted.  They are also served with a lime wedge that you can squeeze on them to make them a little bit softer and to add flavor. 

These two women walked around the medical clinic where we were working and sold small bags of these chips to the people waiting in line.  They are very inexpensive and very good.  It is very common to see women walking around town with a large plastic container like this one full of food for sale. 

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Cooking

I recently sorted through my pictures from one of my trips to Honduras.  In this one you see a woman preparing a meal of fish outside.  There are a lot of details here that are very typical of Honduras.

Notice

• the tables she and the woman in the background are using
• the two chickens--common pets
• the woman's genuine smile
• the large barrel of stored rain water up against the house used for cooking and cleaning
  
• the open windows and door--Hondurans are very welcoming people
  
• the lack of grass--it's very dry in this region and hard to grow grass
• the cement block house which was whitewashed that day
  
• the plastic chair--these are used at home and in small restaurants
• the vibrant green trees
• that you are looking at half the house

(Click on the photograph to see it enlarged in another window.)

Day of the Dead

The Day of the Dead is celebrated in Mexico on November 1.  It has roots in Aztec religious traditions as well as Catholic influences.  On the holiday it is traditional to remember and celebrate friends and family members who have died by creating an altar for each person.  The altar is not meant to worship the person, but to celebrate his life and to guide his spirit back to the altar to spend the day with friends and family.  An altar generally contains the favorite foods and possessions of the deceased person, as well as traditonal symbolic objects.  Below is a list of the things usually found on an altar and the significance of each one.

tiers of boxes covered with a tablecloth  to display the items attractively

arch  represents the passage from life to death

photo of the person to whom the altar is dedicated   

a glass of water  relieves the thirst of the spirit after a long journey from the other world

fruit and pan de muerto (bread of the dead)  provide nourishment after long travel

one candle at each cardinal direction  to guide the spirit to the house and altar

incense  helps the dead find the altar, represents changing from a physical to a spiritual being

marigolds  represent death, a trail of marigold petals (or the smell of the flowers) guides the soul to the altar

skulls  symbolize death and rebirth

cross  Catholic influence in the religious traditions


RED = blood of life
ORANGE = sun 
YELLOW =  merigolds = flowers of the dead 
VIOLET = pain, suffering, grief, mourning 
PINK = celebration 
WHITE =  purity, hope


Skulls and skeletons are common decorations of the holiday, but are usually depicted dancing and playing instruments, as it is a happy occasion.  They are often dressed in colorful clothing and with flowers.

You can find many more colorful designs by Googling "Day of the Dead folk art" or "Dia de los Muertos folk art." 

  

(All photos are public domain or are used according to this agreement:  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)

Power Outages

I remember sitting in the living room many times working on homework when the lights went out.  Sometimes they flickered a few times first, giving us time to gather candles and matches.  We always had them ready because we never knew when we would need them.

Not having electricity also meant no hot showers.  It might mean no dinner, if you had an electric stove.  It happened to everyone, and was never an excuse for not having homework done.

Once they were out, we never knew when the lights would be back on.  Sometimes it was only a few minutes.  Other times we went to bed early and woke up to find them back on.  I learned the hard way to use a battery-opperated alarm clock!

Widowmakers

In Honduras (and I assume in other Latin American countries as well) hot water is not common.  Most of the time there is a hot water handle on a sink, but nothing comes out. 

The same goes for showers, unless you have an electric shower head, called a widowmaker.  A widowmaker heats up the water before it comes out.  Electricity is required to pump the water to the shower and to heat it.

Without electricity you can take a shower with water from an above-ground cistern.  A cistern is a large tank that catches rain water and holds it for later.  It usually sits above the house so that it can flow straight down inside without the use of electricity.  During the day the water is heated by the sun, making a shower warm, but not hot.  It's good to have a cistern when the electricity goes out, but once the cistern is dry, there is no more water until the next rain.