San Pedro Sula: The City

We got a taste of everything in Honduras. We stayed in the city, we stayed in the mountains and we stayed on the beach.

We stayed in the city first. This was a good thing. We saved the better things for later. Here's a shot of us on our first morning in the city.

The city itself is kind of small as far as cities go. There aren't too many tall buildings. But there are paved roads. Once you get outside of the city, say 5 minutes or so outside, you come to dirt roads. Here's a typical street in the city:

And here's a typical street in the "suburbs".

I was a little shocked by it all. I guess you don't really understand the terms "poverty" and "third-world country" until you actually see it with your own eyes. I found myself asking Zack specific questions about his living conditions on his mission while we were there. "So, did you have a floor where you lived?" "Did you have windows?" "Plumbing?" "What was the square footage of your apartment? (Apartment: Shed in the back of a lady's house.)

We pretty much just drove through the city. I didn't feel safe just walking around. We did go to Gaumilito which is a market of sorts. It's where the Hondurans go to get souvenirs. And where we got some real steals on some cool stuff!

After a day of the city we decided to cut our city tour short and head to the mountains a day early. Which we did. And we made a wise choice. I'll get to that later. After our mountain tour, we had to go back to the city to catch a plane. While we were there we decided to go to McDonald's. Sometimes you just need some familiar food. Here's a picture of the handicapped parking there:

In case you can't discern the sign in front, I took a close-up.Exclusive parking for pregnant ladies ....aaaaaand cleaning ladies.

Then we had to stop at a gas station to fill the rental car up with gas and that's where I saw THIS little gem on the side of a truck.

Okay, so they're trying to sell chicken here. I understand that they're showing you how you can use their chicken to have a fun family barbecue. Soooo, why is there a clown at the barbecue? I don't know what Hondurans think about clowns, but if a clown showed up at my family barbecue and just made himself at home with our chicken, I think I'd have nightmares for a long time after. I think I'm worried about having nightmares after just looking at this picture.

All in all, I am really really glad I got to see San Pedro Sula. It's a beautiful city and has some wonderful people.