ROATAN, HONDURAS- An absolutely wild place that I am still struggling to understand. A 30-mile long, skinny island off the Caribbean coast of Honduras, about 1.5 hour ferry ride from the closest mainland port, La Ceiba. It is almost nothing like I had imagined except that the beaches are gorgeous, tropical fruits and flowers grow wild everywhere, and the weather is hot! My biggest surprise has been that the few parts of the island I have seen so far are much more developed than I had expected. I have spent the last 5 days comparing everything to the Dominican villages I worked in last year, which were homogenously rural, primitive and quite impoverished. Here, there are multiple classes of people ranging from the very wealthy to the extremely poor. I think the socioeconomic stratification of the island has been exacerbated in recent years by a massive spike in tourism. Less than a decade ago, the island's economy was primarily fishing-based; what a change from now! Resort developments are springing up left and right; cruise ships, which used to be a novelty (evidenced by the fact that the Spanish speakers call them "cruise ships" because they had never seen any before and didn’t have a Spanish word for them!), stop on the island multiple times each week. I’m sure this story sounds as familiar to you as it does to me…the touristification J of a tropical island…the rapid change in economic priorities…the resulting rich-poor gap…local culture and goods replaced by plastic lawn chairs and cheap souvenirs. It feels like Roatan is in the beginning stages of this unfortunate transition, and the only people who enjoy the change are (obviously) those who are making dinero!
THE PEOPLE (who I have heard of or met so far)-
1. The “islanders” or the “locals” are the black or dark-skinned people who speak English with a crazy Creole drawl- dey sound lik dis mon! End dey very hahd da undastand at fuhst (They sound like this man! And they very hard to understand at first J). The island was originally owned by the British and I think at least some of them are the descendents of slaves who came from the Cayman islands during the first half of the 19th century. Others may be Black afro-Carib. The internet is down, so I can’t look it up! Edits to come I’m sure… Anyways, so far I have spent most of my time hanging out with islanders in the West End, one of the two most touristy areas of the island and more of a backpacker’s budget spot. It seems that work comes and goes for many of my new friends, and that their jobs largely depend on tourism- construction, waitressing; if they own a boat, they can take tourists on the water to fish or taxi. I have seen some islanders with nicer houses for island standards, and others who come from poorer neighborhoods that I gather are not quite as bad as the shanty towns.
2. The “Spaniards” are the people who immigrated from mainland Honduras after Britain gave the island to Honduras in….the mid 1900s?? These are the lighter-skinned Hispanic people who speak only Spanish. Apparently Honduras left Roatan to its own resources for many years before realizing the economic potential of the island’s coral reefs and beautiful beaches. More resources from Honduras created tourism, which created jobs, which spurred the movement of people from mainland Honduras to Roatan. Most of the Spaniards I have come in contact with drive taxis or work in the resorts. They seem to be poorer than the islanders, but it's hard to generalize. I have heard they tend to live inland in the poorer barrios and shanty towns- i.e.: La Colonia or El Swampo (yes, El Swampo = the swamp, named as such because it is apparently one huge valley of mud during the rainy season)
3. White islanders. I think there is a small group of white local island dwellers who have been here for generations. Haven’t met any yet, but I think they're here somewhere...
4. Random people who have settled here, mostly the white hippie type from the U.S. or Europe. (i.e.: Carl, a white guy with an American accent who plays volleyball with the islanders most nights despite their endless and ruthless taunting about his lack of coordination, who built his own submarine and runs submarine tours for a living. Hah!)
5. Tourists!!
OF NOTE ON THE PEOPLE- There is a lot of tension between the islanders and the Spaniards. I have been told that the islanders feel invaded and want the Spaniards to go back to the mainland. Roatan’s government, controlled by the islanders, has apparently made this sentiment clear by neglecting the Spaniard neighborhoods. La Colonia is a Spaniard shanty town that has grown from population 300 to 3,000 in less than 5 years and sits across from my apartment in Sandy Bay. The entire community did not have running water until a Texan couple (the guy happened to be the “pastor” at a crazy church service I attended on Sunday!), started an NGO 2 years ago called Living Water for Roatan. The people of La Colonia now get water for 3 hrs each week. The doctor at Miss Peggy’s Clinic in Sandy Bay says that even with such a limited water supply, the public health situation of La Colonia has been exponentially improved. Anyways, I guess the point is that it was an American couple, not the Roatanian government, who brought water up to La Colonia. Then again, the only public hospital in Roatan (which is where I work and write from today) does not have running water either. Yes! The public HOSPITAL does NOT have running WATER. It is incredible. Anyways, I'll leave the health care and hospital stories for later after I have spent more time here…
STORIES-
Snorkeling was just about the most amazing experience ever. Seriously, Nemo, Dori and all of their friends live about a 5 minute swim from my apartment. What an incredible and fascinating little world that I have never seen before!! NOW i know what people mean when they say "the reef."
I went for a swim yesterday just to get some exercise (You can't run on the beach because the wild dogs will chase and bite you. You can't run on the roads because the cars will hit you. So...I swam!). I stayed close to the beaches in the grass where there are a few fish but not nearly as many as the reef... I wasn't even swimming to see the fish, but off to my left about halfway through the swim, I saw a familiar looking black shape flop right past me- a sting ray! hah!! Exercise here is so much more entertaining than an ipod and treadmill :-)
On Saturday, I stumbled upon the birthday party of a 3 year old Sandy Bay local islander named Wendel (the second cousin of my friend). It was a giant affair for which Wendel's mom cooked mounds of food for nearly 100 kids...plus random guests like myself who happened to be passing by. There were about 8 yellow "bombas" (balloons) and 10 plastic chairs lined up along the fence of the property as I passed by on my way home. 20 mintues later, hoards of children were being dropped off the back of pick up trucks, some carrying wrapped gifts. they piled inside a tiny patio area and screened porch to sit and eat- Conch soup (spicy and amazing!), arroz con pollo (also fantastically delicious), spiral pasta with a mayo sauce and huge juicy shrimps ("shrimp salad"), the island version of enchiladas- open-faced deliciousness piled on homemade fried tortillas, soda and strawberry cupcakes from a box topped with green frosting! HAH! Local food at its finest. Of course, the seafood is plucked from the ocean just steps away straight onto the plate! And despite eating local food like this and more, I have YET to experience any sort of indigestion...
FUTURE PLANS- This evening, I plan to work with the kids of Sandy Bay in an after-school program called S.O.L., which is currently being organized by two young guys from Ireland who are here for 8 months. Outside of the clinic, it sounds like I can make myself most useful in the poor barrio of La Colonia. They need everything, including health care education and a system for trash pick-up. Perhaps I will focus on these 2 items during my month on the island.
TO CONCLUDE- Yikes! This is taking forever. There is no running water at the hospital so the bathroom is a pour-a-bucket-of-water-in-the-toilet-and-hope-it-goes-down ticket, so I can't stay here much longer if I want to avoid that! I know this update is mostly island history, background and people, but with the hospital closed for the holiday and weekend, I really have spent most of my time learning what I've written above through word of mouth. My next update will hopefully focus more on my work in the clinic and community.
