To Honduras and Back... Mexican Style

I went to Honduras last Christmas, the first time I'd been there since having lived in Mexico. I have LOVED Honduras from the moment I first set foot there, until the present, and will continue to love it... But I definitely noticed A LOT of contrast between going to Honduras as a Gringa, and going as a Mexican...

Things that NEVER frustrated me in Honduras before began to frustrate me. I couldn't find tomatillos (green small tomatoes) for the life of me, which took away all options for me making anything with green sauce. (This is unacceptable for a mexican cook!) I wanted 1 kilo of chicken breast, but they sold it by the pound, so that meant I had no idea how much chicken breast I really wanted. I made a typical mexican dish with pieces of chicke, carrot, and potato cooked in a tomato sauce. I adde THREE round pieces of those pickled jalapeño peppers the the entire meal - which was to serve about 5 people. Now, these are those jalapeño pieces that normal people eat on pizza and nachos. I can pop several of them into my mouth and chew quite happily. I blended in THREE of these with my tomato sauce... I tasted it and apologized to my family for the lack of flavor in the meal. They tasted it and said it was spicy enough to clear sinuses. Hijole. Going to the small store down the road was an experience in how NOT to do etiquette in Mexico... Franklin and I went to a small store to buy cokes. This store is surprisinly NOT owned by a relative of his, and he's not friends with the owners. We walked up to the store window and no one was there, but the store was open. Now, in QRO when this happens, I stick my head in the window and say "Buenas tardes!" in a kind of loud voice. If they don't come I say it louder (this means "good afternoon.") Fran pounded his hand up and down on the window frame and YELLED "Vendame!" (SERVE US!!!!!!!!) I was horrified and wanted to shrink away but apparently it's okay...

However, there are still MANY things about Honduras that I REALLY miss in QRO. For example, discounts. I personally know two bus drivers in Tegus. I wouldn't actually consider them to be my friends, but I know them. I don't ever have to pay to ride on either of those busses, and they're busses that go past my house frequently. I go to a certain internet business to use the phone to call USA for 2 Lempira per minute. (The cheapest you can call the US from an internet phone in QRO?? 3 pesos per minute - like 6 Lempira, or 30 cents of dollar! And I only know of like 3 places in the whole city where you can do that!!) The flamboyantly gay owner of the shop gives me a discount and I pay 1.50 Lempira per minute to use the phone, and half price for internet. This may have something to do with the fact that he knows my brothers and thinks they're cute... It's a discount none the less.
I know my neighbors in Honduras. I have spent a total of maybe four months there, but I know almost all my neighbors. I can walk a through our whole neighborhood without having one man whistle or yell at me (happens on 20-basis in QRO). This is because everyone knows which family I belong too. Most of the guys my age in the neighborhood are either friends with my brothers, or our cousins, so they just don't bother me. I also get lots of offers for rides to my house when coming home from down the hill. Paty, Claudia, Delmer, Carlos, Luis, they'll all let me pile into their vehicles to get me home. I live in a block of 70 town-houses in QRO. My house is physically connected to four other homes. Do I know these neighbors? Well, I think the man of the family to the left of us is named Luis, but I'm not sure... And... well... that's it. That's all the people I know out of the 70 hooked-together homes in my mexican neighborhood. Oh, I go to the same store a few times a week, and the man in the store refers to me behind my back as "la guerita gringa" (the blonde gringa), and I refer to him as "Peje," because he looks like the presidential candidate with that nickname. I've been going to this store for a year and a half, don't have any idea what El Peje's real name is, nor have I ever received a discount...

But then, I get strange looks for "talking mexican" in Honduras. I asked a waiter for a "popote" (straw, in mexican spanish) in Tegus, and got a weird look. Hmmm, I remember that happening when I first moved to QRO and asked a waiter there for a "pajilla" (straw, in honduran spanish). The phrase "no manches" (no way!) is such a part of my daily vocabulary that I would be really rich if I got 1 Lempira for every time I use it... What does it mean in Honduras? That you're a Mexican. NO ONE says it there, it is exclusively used when people try to talk like mexicans! I got back into the habit that I had broken in Mexico of sayin "pucha" for "shoot." Perfectly acceptable among young people in Honduras, it sounds like a really bad word in Mexico, and also is a vulgar term for something you don't even want to know. For "pucha," I've learned to say "chin," which is a shortened bad word in Mexico, but the word isn't as bad in Honduras, in fact, my honduran brothers tell me to "ch****te" and it means "knock it off" or "get outta here." If I used that term in Mexico I'd be banished from my house!

I don't know if it's better to tell Hondurans that I'm from Mexico or from the US. If I say I'm from the US, they talk to me in "dumbed down" spanish, and I actually speak and understand spanish quite well, so that's exteremely frustrating to me. However, the general populus of Tegus has some respect for gringos. If I say I'm from Mexico, I get a sneer and the person usually quits talking with me anymore than is necesary. Mexicans aren't looked upon highly by Hondurans, and it is of no fault of us Queretanos, but more likely of the Chapanecos on the Mexico-Guatemala border, that give the bad impression for Mexicans to Central Americans.

I still long for a good pupusa with chismol and repollo, red beans from Church's Chicken, requezon, torrejas, and baleadas from Honduras. I miss my family, the best neighbors in the whole world (Fonsecas!!!!!!!!), an incredible sense of family, benefits because of who you know, and the un-stressfulness of life.
However, I live in Mexico, and therefore I must not pretend to be a Honduran. God has changed my lifestyle and the things I love to reflect where He has put me. In Honduras, I longed to have mole, green enchiladas (that are SPICY!!), gorditas, elotes, and in general, food with actual flavor in it. I missed my church, I missed being able to go to the Centro by myself without having to worry about getting robbed or worse. I missed having running water in the kitchen sink. I actually HAVE told nosey taxi drivers that I'm from Honduras when they ask! But I live in Mexico for now, so I appreciate my mexican-ness. But I also appreciate the honduran-ness that I have stored away for the moment. I can bring that out on my trips there, or if God ever has us move to Honduras! I Love having three cultures!