As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end, and for me, this chapter of my life spent in Honduras has concluded, a brief intermission in Chicago has begun, and soon, a new chapter in Carbondale will follow. I do have my hopes there will be a “Honduras– Revisited!” at some point, but that hope I will tuck into my heart and allow myself to find again one day, a surprise for when I go to put it in the wash and check the pockets. I was only in Honduras for a little less than half a year, but it feels like much longer. I am grateful to have met so many incredible people, all of which have made an impact on me in various ways. I have been shown more kindness than I deserve and that I could never pay back in full. Honduras quickly became my second home, not necessarily only in the physical sense, but by the people who immediately befriended me, who stayed patient all the times I got tongue-tied in Spanish, who laughed at my (supposedly) Russian-sounding r’s, who taught me how to cook, who showed me the best hiking trails, who made it their goal to have me try the “essential” Honduran foods (cough cough all of them), who shared their music and eagerly received mine back, spent their evenings with me, and made me feel more welcome in a foreign place than I usually feel at home.

It pains me to know that the moment I start reintroducing myself into my US bubble, I’ll be bombarded with the typical “bUt WaSn’T iT dAnGeRoUs?!?!?!” questions, which I admit, I once asked myself and now realize are so, so ignorant. Yes, you can ask me that question, but I’ll give you the simple truth that just because it is different from the States doesn’t mean it is some fiery hellhole of a place (ok, San Pedro Sula was SO hot, I’ll admit that haha). I know I’ve written this before somewhere, but in the same way that there are parts of Chicago that are more dangerous and there are parts that are not, the same applies to Honduras. I’ve seen and dealt with some things that were not so great, sure, but I’ve also dealt with similar at home, often just in different ways. 

Some things, too, also gave me insight into America, of all places. One thing foreigners in Honduras will often deal with is “random” police checks, for instance. Cue passport inspections with squinted eyes, as though I will morph into a different person if they stare at my picture long enough, emptying my purse onto the ground, getting pulled off buses, being asked a barrage of questions regarding why I am here, searches, stopped at the airport, etc. I still recognize my privilege in these situations, having an American passport and being white and all, but they were still stressful. During one of the times I was with a Honduran friend and we got pulled over to search me/the car, to their complete disbelief and confusion, I had a brief moment of “Ohhhhh, this is a much milder version of what happens to minorities in America. Wow, okay, yeah, that totally sucks.” I thankfully never dealt with physical violence from the police here, but little things like this gave me a firsthand taste of being a minority, on a smaller scale, of course. This is only one mention of insight I gained here; I learned much more of course, but I was personally surprised to learn something of America while living afar. 

Similarly, I realized just how blessed I am overall. Even though money is tight, I still have access to so many services and opportunities that people there don’t have. We have trash services, clean water (in most places… my mind goes to Flint, MI), good public schools, healthcare, libraries, mail services, and a hundred others I could mention. The fact that I spent $5 in an airport for coffee when I could have bought a decent amount of groceries was kinda painful. Now when my ma comments on our house being old or with minor issues or my brother complains about something insignificant about his school, I want to tell them that we are lucky to have functional roofs over our heads, that we have never had to make food versus electricity decisions (because remember, public school in Honduras is online). I’ll have to bite my tongue on Sunday, too, when I go back to work at the pharmacy for the first time and deal with anti-vax/COVID conspiracy patients again. Getting the vaccine and having access to healthcare is a privilege, yet so many people in the States simply don’t care. For some people in Honduras, you can’t take a chance getting sick. You get that vaccine and wear that mask regardless of what you think, because if you die, or worse, get sick/injured and need expensive care, you have just devastated your family financially. I didn’t realize just how privileged and ignorant people were really acting before. Yet as I write this, it feels almost… patronizing? White woman comes back from a trip “enlightened?” Please know that I don’t mean it in that way. I want to just share that my outlook on some things has changed, especially regarding how good many of us have it. We all go through struggles in our life, but being mindful of what we have will not only ground us, but also help us appreciate it more.

I also had the chance to visit many of the incredible places and try the delicious foods Honduras has that few know about. So often Costa Rica and specific parts of Mexico are made the hub of tourism in Central America, and while I am sure they are also lovely, it is sad to realize how much others miss out on, not to mention a boost in the tourism industry would most likely be great for the economy there. Soon I think I’ll write a little guide to visiting Honduras and some of the places I liked best, what to do, etc., but know that if you wish to explore Central America, Honduras inexcusably needs to be one of your stops. As for the cuisine, [here] is a post I made going over what is eaten there on the daily. Forgive me for putting things off here, but I also want to make some separate posts with recipes I’ve gathered, so once it is done I will drop the links.

I am going to wrap this up here. The TLDR; is that Honduras is lovely, I feel weird being back in the States, and I have a lot of new coming up for me that I am excited and terrified for at the same time. If someone is actually reading this, I hope you have a nice rest of your day, and thank you for virtually following me on my adventures.

Happy reading,
-Beppa