I live in Roatan. It is one of the Bay Islands off of the northern coast of Honduras. It is the biggest of the Bay Islands, but it is still small. Specifically, I live in a small community called "French Harbour," which started out as a fishing community. In the area of French Harbour that I live in, most of the people speak spanish, but on the other side, most of the people speak Island English. (Island English is kind of like a Creole english.)
The culture here is pretty cool. It is very tranquilo and relaxed most of the time, and the people are very friendly. The main industry of the island was fishing, but it is beginning to turn more to tourism, as a lot of Americans, Canadians, and Europeans like to visit. However, they normally stay on the west end of the island.
One of the things I really find cool about this place is all the food. Wherever you go, you will find people selling fruits, vegetables, and cooking meat on the side of the road. And let me tell you, the food is amazing! Islanders know how to cook...like seriously! A normal meal usually consists of some kind of meat, beans, rice, and platano. There's a lot of other variations, and they are fantastic. If you ever come to visit, you HAVE TO eat Baleadas. The best way I can explain it is heaven wrapped up in the warm hug of a tortilla. Baleadas consist of a freshly made tortilla, frijoles, queso or mantequilla, and you can also add eggs, aguacate, longaniza, or some kind of meat. Just trust me...it is AMAZING!
Continuing with this snippet of the life here, I thought I should give a brief look at the spanish here. If you speak spanish, you probably have noticed that different countries have their own ways of speaking the language. Here in Honduras, we have different caliche (or nicknames/slang) for certain things. Here are some of them:
1. Paja - a lie
2. Maje - dude (or fool)
3. Wirro/a - boy or girl
4. Tacos - cleats
Another things you should know about Honduran spanish is that they use something called "voseo," which is an informal way of speaking where they replace tu with vos. Honestly, when I first came here and would speak spanish with people, I would get so confused when people would speak to me in vos...but now I use it all the time, and I actually prefer it. I think it's easier sometimes than using tu.
Now, with all of this, I can't leave out some of the important things. Roatan is beautiful, and a great place I would recommend anyone to come and visit (or live). But just like every place has their richer and fancier areas, we also have the poorer areas as well. And these areas, in my opinion, are the best areas. Yes, it's nice to see all of the scenic places that you want to take a picture in front of, but to me, life truly exists in the areas where there isn't as much money. This is where life is real. Hondurans are strong people, and they are amazing people. They have a lot of heart, and a lot of spirit. Living here has really put into perspective the life people (me included) have in America.
Those from America, we are truly blessed to live where we do. We don't realize how blessed we are. Don't take anything you have for granted. Living life here has put my own life into perspective and seeing how blessed I was growing up, and my family was not even a well off family. There is so much I would love to say and impart, but I have to save some things for another time.
I would love to talk to you guys if you have any questions or would like to know more about life here. Have a great week, and God bless!
-Tim Tito
(Native Texan and Catrachigringo in training)
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