Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Monday, November 23, 2009

Our Welfare



In the U.S, there exists a federal program found nationwide that hands out cash to those who would otherwise, and in many cases, still are living on the street and hungry. We call this welfare. This program, though riddled with problems, at the very least sends a message from the government that it knows the poor and marginalized, who also happen to be the sector of any society that is often times victim of the judicial and educational system, that they are recognized. But even, in the most basic function, welfare provides at least a starting point at empowering people to support themselves. Because, when I look at the causes of theft and petty crime here, though, in recent times, petty seems to mean that no one was killed, people commit crimes due to a lack of opportunity. Now, here I will mention, that this is certainly not the only reason why crime is so prevalent here. The root of most of our issues here: corruption. We are chasing our tails and running to the NRA convention because the cops, in many cases, are the burglars, murderers, gangsters. They don’t generally commit the crime themselves, though, without a transparent and effective judicial system it really doesn’t matter. Instead they accept bribes to basically protect any and all criminals. This is no secret to any of us who have been here for a significant amount of time, especially since those on the fringes of society and morality have taken liberties to accelerate their thievery because even more so than ever, there is not a recognized leader in the entire country. When the cat is away, the mice, will play.


I say this with conviction not only because these stories of corruption are the norm, but also due to the fact that in my daily life, I see this. I see this extreme denial of personal accountability, seemingly innate in certain folks. Many of the sayings are in passive voice, ‘ I didn’t drop the lamp, it just fell’. I have been studying the body language in my daily interactions, at the bank, on the street, with professionals. You will never be looked directly in the eye by someone who is stirring the muck of truth.They are either ignorant of, afraid of, or embarrassed it. Hey, here is an idea, just do stuff you are proud of talking about!!!! But who is going to set that example for us? The teachers’ unions here, call off school if the wind picks up. No, actually, if that were true public school kids would have probably had at least 100 of the 200 days they were supposed to have had last school year. But due to the absolute foolishness that abides, public school children only attended 40% of the school days that are required by Honduran law to complete a year.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Friday, November 6, 2009

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

God Bless the American Halloween

That night we had fun. This past weekend, myself along with the SBAS students and teachers, other Americans and Islanders living on the island celebrated Halloween. This holiday and the customs of dressing up and eating gobs of candy, I have learned, is very unique to the United States. And I can say that I was proud to be an American. It seems that most Americans will dress up, extroverted, introverted, whatever. The most unsuspecting people become wild, sexy, scary or funny characters for that day. This is not a tradition shared by most of the rest of the world. My friends here from the UK, Canada, Honduras, Australia and most everywhere else, haven't the interest or the GUTS to wrap their mid-drifts in spandex and cut up an old pair of boxers to make a mean batman mask.


I mean it, we Americans really take pride in our mystery, our tom-foolery, our fake boobs and false teeth. It makes me proud, because we only do it for one reason, to have fun.

Monday, November 2, 2009

You Don't Want to Know the half of it.


Cleo and friends on Halloween at Flanagan's Pub-We missed you dad!