Taking a Break

In case it hasn’t been clear thus far, Honduran culture is different from American culture. Part of my job as a PCV is to share those differences with you all, just as I share bits of American culture with the people here. The cultural differences I’ve alluded to (or haven’t yet) regarding work are true, especially in a small town. Being on time, working hard, keeping company time and personal time separate, and taking breaks are all included in these differences. This point on keeping company time and personal time separate works both ways. I’m currently listening to my office compañero telling a story about being at church or playing soccer on a Sunday and being asked to come in to the office to do some paperwork. By the way, they do work Monday through Saturday in this office.

Now you can know all of this information before entering a different culture and then spend nearly three months learning about these differences and even experiencing them to a degree, but culture has this way of ingraining itself into you. You may want to change these aspects; you may even need to change them, but for some reason it doesn’t make a difference.

In reading through some Peace Corps material about culture before arriving in Honduras, the distinction between culture and personality was made. A person must first understand the culture of a people before being able to appreciate the individual differences that make them individuals within a culture. That is to say, if you understand the overarching cultural norms, you can begin to distinguish what makes someone an individual apart from those norms. There are more finite levels as well; including family culture that distinguishes a person in addition to the community culture. And understanding a culture takes time. Understanding a person takes a lifetime. And understanding myself…?

This last week was Student Week, whatever the heck that’s supposed to mean. I think the subtitle is Spring Break #2. I was thinking about the last time I had a vacation. Even though I’ve been moving around and seeing cool things and having lots of free time, that doesn’t exactly constitute a vacation for me. I realized I haven’t really had a vacation in a long while, at least since I started training. Granted, we’ve had days off, but like I said, it’s just not the same. So no school, and I need to get reset my perspective. It’s good to do that every so often so you can come back and appreciate what you have. So I called up a friend on the North Coast and took a couple days to spend relaxing on the beach. There was also some work involved, and though I don’t want to further perpetuate the Cuerpo de Paseo (Traveling Corps), I think it’s important to explore and understand the different parts of Honduras. But here I am, even now defending my free time! My American work ethic constantly hounds me for any time spent unproductively. This is the part that is so difficult to change.

I’ve been here a month to the day and the question nags at me: What have you done? I’m not sure how to answer myself. I think maybe it’s best that I don’t. But rather that I take a deep breath, let down my defensive instinct, and revel in taking a break. One of the reasons I love being here is the relaxed culture. I hope it grows on me more and that guilt will fade away. Things happen slower in this culture, and I really have accomplished quite a bit as far as integrating into a community, developing a routine, understanding a community’s needs and desires.

I’m recalling a sermon I once heard, talking about our time off as a well-deserved reward vs. a starting point. Are we striving through the week to “earn” ourselves the weekend, or do we operate out of a place of rest through which we can move forward with the week? I think that’s an important question for every person.

So, American culture, I know you’re there waiting to ask us what we’ve accomplished, threatening to bring guilt if our answer is insufficient. 

Well, I don’t have an answer for you. I’m at the beach.