Saturday, September 29, 2012
The team met at the church so that we could depart at 1:00am for Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. It was, of course, dark outside and it was very chilly too. But we were ready to go and away we went!
We were driven to O'Hare on a large school bus!
The driver, Peggy, is the mother of two of our team members and she works for the bus company! SWEET!!
Yes, Ben, we're really on our way!!
Hmm, ... I guess there ARE advantages to travelling so early in the morning.
Once we arrived at the airport in Honduras, we could already tell we weren’t in the USA anymore. As we waited at the baggage claim for our trunks, we watched as airport employees jumped over, walked on and went through the various conveyors fetching bags, suitcases and boxes that were unloading from the airplanes. In my experiences, we have always waited calmly and ‘mostly patiently’ as bags went by on the conveyor … when I’d spot my bag, I’d grab it before it passed me by. In Honduras, it was more of a frenzy of workers proactively hunting down the items. Several of WGO’s (World Gospel Outreach) staff met us at the airport and assisted us as we gathered all that we brought along with us.
As we walked out of the airport, there was immediate “culture shock” as there were uniformed men with machine guns and weapons I am not familiar with walking around or standing by. (We are told that we should not take photographs of this so I was mostly really good about that but at one point I just couldn't help myself and I took this photo as the man's back was to me - it's not the best photo but it was through the window of the bus)
There is barbed wire everywhere, something else I am not accustomed to seeing. Most homes and buildings, especially within the city, are surrounded by high walls and the tops of the walls are lined with circulating barbed wire. Some walls are even lined with electrical wires and many have nails and shards of broken bottles and glass cemented along the top facing upwards. Obviously, there is a need to deter people from attempting to go over the walls.
I wish I would have videoed the traffic in Honduras but I believe the video would have been difficult to view as I’m sure I would not have been able to hold the camera still enough … although, then you might have been able to REALLY get the idea. There is A LOT of traffic and it is coming from all directions … sometimes LITERALLY! People, even little children, ride in the backs of pick-up trucks, … some sit and some stand, some within the bed of the truck and others sitting along the edge. This freaked me out a bit! Seat belts are optional and there are no car seats for children. There are lots of people on motorcycles and while it does seem quite advantageous to maneuver the traffic in this way (especially when it is at a stand-still), it was also alarming to watch as they careened in and out of the traffic, around buses and trucks, and alongside other vehicles. Sometimes they traveled with traffic and sometimes they went against traffic. There were some motorcyclists who had multiple riders, even children, most with helmets but some without. Helmets are required in Honduras, however, the looseness of the law was evident as some wore mere bicycle helmets, some only partially on and would clearly fall off in the event of an accident. Vehicles pass each other and cut in front of one another and maneuver cross-traffic in ways that I would never have imagined! Learning to drive there would be a whole new kind of education!!
Tegucigalpa is actually at the bottom of a giant bowl! No kidding! The city is surrounded by mountains; homes cascade the mountainside and the roads are winding like a spiral staircase! The population is 1,126,534 and unemployment is at 41%; those who work barely live on $2/day. The typical Honduran education is up to 6th grade; only those who would be considered wealthy get further education and will probably be bi-lingual.
When I looked around and as we travelled through the city, I took in my surroundings and simply put, Tegucigalpa, Honduras, is Beauty amidst Chaos. ... deep sigh ...
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