Roatan has been my home so long, the little quirks about living here just seem normal. But sometimes I hear comments that make me remember the things that work a little differently here.
Many of the community here use Facebook groups to communicate- to buy and sell goods, to keep up with events, to post news, crime etc. There's one group called Ask Anything Roatan, and sometimes there are some funny posts in there. Recently there was a post with a pic of small little poops, asking what these were from (geckos).
Driving on the island can require a bit of patience. There's one main road, with one lane of traffic in either direction, so if there's a super slow backhoe going up the road, or an accident, traffic can get way backed up. No street names, addresses are just description of where your close to (for example, we're in Sandy Bay by Solgas, turn down the side dirt road and we're the 5th house on the left). No mail delivery to your home: the Honduran postal system is extremely slow so I never bother, but if you do get something sent here, it goes to the post office in Coxen Hole, where you just have to randomly check to see if you have anything. Bills do get delivered to your home though: the water bill, the electric bill, cell phone bill, internet bill- the companies send someone around in a scooter dropping them off.
Banking is another thing that can require patience, especially if you don't plan well (or have something unexpected come up) and have to visit the bank at the 1st or 15th of the month when it's just been pay day- the lines can be a couple of hours! (special line for seniors and pregnant women- good incentive to get pregnant or buy one of those baby belly strap-on pillows- though the bank would probably start to get wise on that if you were indefinitely pregnant :) ). Most of the banks won't change US$ to lempira for you if you don't have a bank account with them. Not sure on the theory behind that, as anyone visiting might want some local currency and obviously won't have a bank account here! They're very fussy about the condition of US bills- so if you wonder why your server wouldn't take your ratty US bill, now you know why. Even a small tear will make it unacceptable at the bank. If you're getting really settled in to the island and want to arrange some financing, that's another eye opener. Interest rates are exceedingly high here. Want to get a credit card? I just recently got one: it required that I 'freeze' the funds for what I wanted my limit to be (so if you want a limit of 15,000 lemp, the bank holds that in a special account for you for the whole time you have your card). You'd maybe understand this principle if they have a lot of people not paying back their cards, but as they have your money already, what's not understandable is the interest rate for the card: it's 69%!!! My jaw dropped when I read the conditions of my card. I'm making super sure to pay it every month!
Living here has gotten way easier than it used to be. For example: most people cook with propane tanks attached to their stoves (similar to what you'd use with a BBQ), and when I got here, the only place to fill your tank was way up in French Harbour. Now, there's also fill stations in Sandy Bay and Coxen Hole, as well as a gas truck that drives around filling tanks, and guys on scooters that will come to your house to pick up your tank for you. Phones used to be impossible to get- there were no cell phones until maybe 10-12 years ago, and there wasn't infrastructure for more land lines, there was about 1 land line for every 50 houses. If you needed to make or receive a call, you got to know the neighbour that had the phone :) Internet was super expensive, as it was a long-distance call to the mainland to get connected: internet is still pricey here compared to North America, and much slower, but it's infinitely more accessible than it was!
Things going off. Sometimes the milk goes off even before it's reached its expiration date (and stores sell products with just a couple days left to go, so it's important to look at those dates). Sometimes the power goes off for a few hours at a time. Sometimes the water goes off. Sometimes all the neighbourhood dogs go off, a cacophony of barking!
You get used to critters. More types of ants than you ever thought imaginable, cockroaches, spiders (including big, hairy tarantulas), bats, mice, lots of lizards- it can be a battle keeping the 'neighbours' out of your house.
Things melt. Don't make the mistake of leaving a chocolate in your bag, it'll be a gooey mess! Make up will melt down your face, any attempts to beautify your hair by curling or straightening it will usually be gone within an hour. You'll sweat in areas you didn't know produced sweat. And then when things cool down and rainy season comes, it's the battle of mildew. Sometimes clothes in your closet can get a fine layer of mildew growing on them!
The stars are absolutely spectacular. Without all the lights that a city has, you can see the beautiful night array of stars. In the day, things are also beautiful- vivid greenery, bright tropical flowers, gorgeous blending shades of the sea. There are also great smells- pungent floral scents of lilies and blooming night jasmine, the inviting waft of freshly made tortillas, the heavenly scent of cashews being roasted.
Life is simpler, life is better, life is happy. My island home of Roatan, no place I'd rather be.
Many of the community here use Facebook groups to communicate- to buy and sell goods, to keep up with events, to post news, crime etc. There's one group called Ask Anything Roatan, and sometimes there are some funny posts in there. Recently there was a post with a pic of small little poops, asking what these were from (geckos).
Driving on the island can require a bit of patience. There's one main road, with one lane of traffic in either direction, so if there's a super slow backhoe going up the road, or an accident, traffic can get way backed up. No street names, addresses are just description of where your close to (for example, we're in Sandy Bay by Solgas, turn down the side dirt road and we're the 5th house on the left). No mail delivery to your home: the Honduran postal system is extremely slow so I never bother, but if you do get something sent here, it goes to the post office in Coxen Hole, where you just have to randomly check to see if you have anything. Bills do get delivered to your home though: the water bill, the electric bill, cell phone bill, internet bill- the companies send someone around in a scooter dropping them off.
Banking is another thing that can require patience, especially if you don't plan well (or have something unexpected come up) and have to visit the bank at the 1st or 15th of the month when it's just been pay day- the lines can be a couple of hours! (special line for seniors and pregnant women- good incentive to get pregnant or buy one of those baby belly strap-on pillows- though the bank would probably start to get wise on that if you were indefinitely pregnant :) ). Most of the banks won't change US$ to lempira for you if you don't have a bank account with them. Not sure on the theory behind that, as anyone visiting might want some local currency and obviously won't have a bank account here! They're very fussy about the condition of US bills- so if you wonder why your server wouldn't take your ratty US bill, now you know why. Even a small tear will make it unacceptable at the bank. If you're getting really settled in to the island and want to arrange some financing, that's another eye opener. Interest rates are exceedingly high here. Want to get a credit card? I just recently got one: it required that I 'freeze' the funds for what I wanted my limit to be (so if you want a limit of 15,000 lemp, the bank holds that in a special account for you for the whole time you have your card). You'd maybe understand this principle if they have a lot of people not paying back their cards, but as they have your money already, what's not understandable is the interest rate for the card: it's 69%!!! My jaw dropped when I read the conditions of my card. I'm making super sure to pay it every month!
Living here has gotten way easier than it used to be. For example: most people cook with propane tanks attached to their stoves (similar to what you'd use with a BBQ), and when I got here, the only place to fill your tank was way up in French Harbour. Now, there's also fill stations in Sandy Bay and Coxen Hole, as well as a gas truck that drives around filling tanks, and guys on scooters that will come to your house to pick up your tank for you. Phones used to be impossible to get- there were no cell phones until maybe 10-12 years ago, and there wasn't infrastructure for more land lines, there was about 1 land line for every 50 houses. If you needed to make or receive a call, you got to know the neighbour that had the phone :) Internet was super expensive, as it was a long-distance call to the mainland to get connected: internet is still pricey here compared to North America, and much slower, but it's infinitely more accessible than it was!
Things going off. Sometimes the milk goes off even before it's reached its expiration date (and stores sell products with just a couple days left to go, so it's important to look at those dates). Sometimes the power goes off for a few hours at a time. Sometimes the water goes off. Sometimes all the neighbourhood dogs go off, a cacophony of barking!
You get used to critters. More types of ants than you ever thought imaginable, cockroaches, spiders (including big, hairy tarantulas), bats, mice, lots of lizards- it can be a battle keeping the 'neighbours' out of your house.
Things melt. Don't make the mistake of leaving a chocolate in your bag, it'll be a gooey mess! Make up will melt down your face, any attempts to beautify your hair by curling or straightening it will usually be gone within an hour. You'll sweat in areas you didn't know produced sweat. And then when things cool down and rainy season comes, it's the battle of mildew. Sometimes clothes in your closet can get a fine layer of mildew growing on them!
The stars are absolutely spectacular. Without all the lights that a city has, you can see the beautiful night array of stars. In the day, things are also beautiful- vivid greenery, bright tropical flowers, gorgeous blending shades of the sea. There are also great smells- pungent floral scents of lilies and blooming night jasmine, the inviting waft of freshly made tortillas, the heavenly scent of cashews being roasted.
Life is simpler, life is better, life is happy. My island home of Roatan, no place I'd rather be.
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