Wednesday, June 15, 2005
I'm not as good looking as Vin Diesel
Our second day in Honduras was a day of opposites.
Yes, it is sadly true. I'm not as good looking as Vin Diesel. My illusion has been shattered by one of the Roses. We were sitting at dinner last night and in my pidgin Spanish I was asking about the movie they had seen in the afternoon. A mission group from Coral Gables, FL had taken all the girls, their mission group, and my son to see The Pacifier. The older Petersen's had a meeting with La Jefe Maestra and Neik who coordinates the volunteers and Spanish Language students. While not as enjoyable as the movie we did get to go to the Supermercado. So having missed the movie, I asked some of the girls if they liked it. They did. I then tried to lie to them and tell them that I was Vin Diesel. They laughed and then said, when I asked them why they did not believe me, "Vin Diesel es Guapo". This served me right for lying.
On the flip side of surreal (which is very, very real) was our ride along the Levy. (Several of the pictures show some of the children of the Levy) The levy is squatted land along the nearby river. During Hurricane Mitch many of the shacks, which are a patchwork of fencing, wood planks, and tin roofs were simply swept away when the flood waters came off the mountain. If I know my history 20,000 people were killed in Mitch with many more being displaced. Since Mitch the poor have rebuilt the shanty towns along the very same river.
What made our visit to the "levy" so surreal but, I think essential to "see" the abject poverty of Honduras was to ride through in an air conditioned van with a video camera and close to $200 dollars in my pocket. I am not responsible for the conditions yet I could not help but feel guilty. What was most difficult to see was there amongst all the trash and waste was the same river they would pull their drinking water from. Yet there too was beauty. Most of the small homes would try to have some type of beauty. Some had floor that were very clean...At least as clean as they could get it with all the dust and mud of the road. We saw "pulperia's" or small stores that sold goods to their neighbors. We saw two horse and carts that would sell vegetables. We saw girls dressed in school uniforms.
Life goes on. It certainly goes on.
Yes, it is sadly true. I'm not as good looking as Vin Diesel. My illusion has been shattered by one of the Roses. We were sitting at dinner last night and in my pidgin Spanish I was asking about the movie they had seen in the afternoon. A mission group from Coral Gables, FL had taken all the girls, their mission group, and my son to see The Pacifier. The older Petersen's had a meeting with La Jefe Maestra and Neik who coordinates the volunteers and Spanish Language students. While not as enjoyable as the movie we did get to go to the Supermercado. So having missed the movie, I asked some of the girls if they liked it. They did. I then tried to lie to them and tell them that I was Vin Diesel. They laughed and then said, when I asked them why they did not believe me, "Vin Diesel es Guapo". This served me right for lying.
On the flip side of surreal (which is very, very real) was our ride along the Levy. (Several of the pictures show some of the children of the Levy) The levy is squatted land along the nearby river. During Hurricane Mitch many of the shacks, which are a patchwork of fencing, wood planks, and tin roofs were simply swept away when the flood waters came off the mountain. If I know my history 20,000 people were killed in Mitch with many more being displaced. Since Mitch the poor have rebuilt the shanty towns along the very same river.
What made our visit to the "levy" so surreal but, I think essential to "see" the abject poverty of Honduras was to ride through in an air conditioned van with a video camera and close to $200 dollars in my pocket. I am not responsible for the conditions yet I could not help but feel guilty. What was most difficult to see was there amongst all the trash and waste was the same river they would pull their drinking water from. Yet there too was beauty. Most of the small homes would try to have some type of beauty. Some had floor that were very clean...At least as clean as they could get it with all the dust and mud of the road. We saw "pulperia's" or small stores that sold goods to their neighbors. We saw two horse and carts that would sell vegetables. We saw girls dressed in school uniforms.
Life goes on. It certainly goes on.
