Provoking thoughts and theories...

---

Our travels to and through Mexico and Central America are going great!

We have had some requests regarding what IT is like down here. "IT" being prices, peoples and places, cities and streets, all of the everyday things.

Many things stand out as different, but just as many things are much the same. For example...

Different things are:

a cows head on the shoulder of a highway; no idea where the body was or how the head got there without the body.

having to stop and wait for a pig, chickens, a herd of cattle, turkeys, iguanas, humans or damn lazy dogs to move out of the road.

cars passing on blind corners, uphill, both far below and beyond the speed limit.

pizza made without sauce, but served with ketchup.

COLD showers!

Nothing very significant, well, aside from the showers. I suppose if I looked for or expected difference, it would be there. Really it seems to me that much is the same or at least comparable.

The basics... Travelling in Latin America can be as expensive or economical as you like. Many towns and nearly every city will have accomodations ranging from around $10 USD per night up to $100s per night. It is really up to the individual and which ammenities are wanted and considered essential. Cheap rooms are just that, they come with a bed in a room and the cost then goes up when more ammenities, such as fan, shower, A/C, HOT water, television, cable television, window, balcony, parking, restaurant, bar, pool, location, location, location are added. Same goes with food. People selling food on the street provide a much cheaper meal than do sit-down restaurants. There are big houses and small houses, new vehicles and old ones.


Here is my theory... Whether in North, Central or South America there are bad people and good people, rich people and poor people. And, poor does not mean poverty stricken, just as uneducated does not mean stupid. I find it better to not be patronizing and paternalistic. I try to be empathetic and not ethnocentric. Be respecting and act respectful. Most people, most places work everyday to do well for themselves. Most people I come across are kind, courteous, friendly, accepting, helpful and welcoming. Of course we are cautious during our travels, but we are not afraid, there is no need to be. We are polite and patient. We are not demanding. Probably every day something occurs that we perceive as different, but we are in a different country with different cultural, institutional and societal norms. Some degree of difference is unavoidable and once one comes to accept this, then what is different is neither detrimental to nor deterministic. So, jump in and enjoy as much as often as possible!

Hope I answered some questions and likewise provoked more. I will add more images as we go. Cheers!

---

Photos

corn for all
From a sticker put on a payphone in Chiapas. Quite the statement! One day I may write a book. In the mean time, send comments and questions if you have any.

Tuk Tuks, Honduras
three wheel taxis