Rob and Anna's travel adventure

My View - Tegucigalpa (Hond) to Granada (Nic) [Rob´s entry (#4)]

Standard disclaimer: Anna does an excellent job covering the positive aspects of our trip, and I try to fill the ‘other side’.

Tegucigalpa was an unremarkable place, and while we were there, we
continually encountered the same heavy techno Rapp beat placed over and
over (Reggaeton Gasolina). ´Goosi´ (as I termed it) was the cleaner of the twin cities (capitol of Honduras); Comayaguela (Chumunga, as I called it) was the other. For some reason, the latter held some fascination for me. It was unbelievably
chaotic, gritty, dirty, decrepit, and it seemed that anything and everything
was for sale. The whole decaying city was a giant market place.

Passing through into Nicaragua was fairly uneventful; however cashing
travelers checks proved to be very difficult (even at banks, impossible
other places). Anna became ill and we hung out in Leon for a few days. The
ride there was difficult for her as the roads were very bumpy and
exacerbated her condition. I determined that (at least this) Nicaraguan bus drivers honk for the following reasons:
1. I'm coming, get out of my way.
2. I've passed you.
3. Hello!
4. Get out of my way.
5. Goodbye!
6. Any other reason.
7. No reason.

Also of note were some of the road kills observed. I’ve seen a number of different animals on the road, but only in Nic did I see horses. I wondered if losing your horse was equivalent to wrecking the family car, as we often see them pulling carts, etc.
One of the characters we came to know in Granada was a wretched woman who
sits on the cathedral steps and bellows to all “I am hungry, one dollar
please”. Not to be crass or insensitive, we both thought that $1 was a bit
excessive as we often eat for about $0.60 each for dinner. Some days ago, I
bought something disgustingly sweet thing (told it was chocolate, btw-
chocolate isn’t popular here and can’t find it—huge cravings…). One day,
remembering her pleas, I took those sweets with me in case wed meet her.
Sure enough, we did and she enthustically accepted my offering, showing me a
generous toothless smile. I will say that it did bring a good feeling over
me, and did remind me of the conditions of others. On a serious note, Anna
and I have had a lot of introspective philosophical analysis of the poverty
we witness, and what our roles and responsibilities are regarding it. Perhaps more to come on that subject later.

posted by Rob and Anna @ 11:55 AM