July 29th, 2011
So I have gotten some requests to talk about how much things cost here, today is actually the perfect day to talk about this topic because we went on a little bit of adventure today. Our mission today was a little similar to the show amazing race, we were split up into three different teams of 5 people each and all sent to get into Teguz by ourselves where we would find one of our language teachers at a predetermined bus station. I say it was only kind of because it was not a competition or at least no one else besides me and my team knew it was a competition. So anyways, we started off the day taking the bus into Teguz as opposed to usually getting a ride from the Peace Corps staff, this is all part of our training as we will rely on public transit throughout our experience here. The public transit here as I believe I have previously stated are school buses from the states. We got on the bus at 7 a.m. and we rode into Teguz and got off at one of the hospitals in town. This around 45 minute drive cost us 15 lempiras (Just for everyone’s info the exchange rate for dollars to Lempiras is around 1:19ish. Rough estimates are easy done by saying 20 Lempiras to a dollar. So in other words the bus ride cost around 75 cents. Another bit of information that I feel is important to know is that we are given 58 lempiras per day so right around 3 dollars per day).
When we got to the hospital our next task was to take a taxi to bus station where we would meet our Spanish teacher. Taxis here are not like in the U.S. one major difference is they are all white instead of yellow and the driver sets the price of the ride, that means you can negotiate whatever price you want with the driver. We were told that at most to get from the hospital to the bus station should be 80 Lempiras (around 4 dollars). Of course when we talked to the cab driver he started off at 90 Lempiras because most likely he thought of us a rich Americas who he could get a few extra Lempiras off of. We tried to get him down to 70 but we could only get him to 80. So we got in and began talking to him, he was a very nice man and we found out that he had actually lived and worked in the states for 7 years as a roofer. He dropped us off at the bus station where we met our teacher. From there we walked around to lots of other bus stations all within a few blocks to find out where the bus company went, their hours of operation, and what they cost. The thought behind this is that these are the buses that we will be using to get around to our sites, etc. so we needed this information. The prices all varied depending on how far away you were going but the most expensive price I saw was 239 Lempiras (12 dollars) and that was for a ticket to La Ceiba which is on the North coast and far away from us. After we had gone to most of the local bus stations we again got a cab with our Spanish teacher to take us to the market. This taxi ride cost us 70 Lempiras (3.50) and took us right in front of the national station where the Honduran national soccer team plays as well as two of the most popular soccer teams in Honduras, Olympia and Montagua (sp?).
We arrived at the market and it is a HUGE open air market with an unreal amount of venders (I wish I had my camera to take some pictures but we were told not to bring anything with us, dress casual, and not wear jewelry etc. as a safety precaution). We were supposed to be shopping for things that our host families needed at the market however my host family did not need anything so I did not have to do any shopping. At the market you can find any kind of fruit or vegetable you want as well as coffee, beans, sugar, meats, lots of cheese, and just about any other food product you can think of. As is the case with almost anything here in Honduras, prices are mere starting points and haggling is the status quo so it was good to be able to practice my haggling skills in Spanish. As for some of the prices for the local produce (all of these prices are not haggled prices) you can get 6 bananas for 10 Lempiras (50 cents), watermelon for 30 Lempiras (1.50) a pineapple for 25 Lempiras (1.25), 4 oranges for 5 Lempiras (25 cents), 3 corn for 20 Lempiras (1 dollar, take that Keller’s, I think?), 5 pounds of beans for 95 Lempiras (4.75), sugar for 7 Lempiras (less than 50 cents), meat cuts for 40 Lempiras (2 dollars), a bag of water for 2 Lempiras (10 cents), and any type of pop (usually 1.25 liters) for less than 20 Lempiras (1 dollar). After we were done checking out the market and finding all of the prices for different things we walked back to the Peace Corps office which is around 5 or 6 blocks from the market.
We then spend the rest of the day at the Peace Corps office where we went over some really exciting heath presentations etc. We finally ended the day heading back to our town with the Peace Corps staff, no bus ride home unfortunately for me and my knees. On the way back we stopped at a Wendy’s (yes they have them here), which has become a Friday tradition to get frostys. A small frosty costs 20 Lempiras (1 dollar), from what I can tell all of the prices seem to be way lower here with the exception of the fast food places. They all seem to have the same prices, large fries for examples cost 34 Lempiras (1.75). The one other product that I have noticed cost about the same here or actually more is gas, gas usually costs around 88 Lempiras (4.50). So you guys think gas is expensive there in the states imagine paying 4.50 for a gallon! I don’t feel as though I have anything really insightful to say during this blog post unfortunately. I usually like to add an interesting thought or say something meaningful at the end of each blog however I just don’t think I have anything today. Maybe next blog post!
New pictures (unfortunately none from today):
New pictures (unfortunately none from today):
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