I will have to tell her that she is a very popular subject on the Internet. That will bring out a smile.

I think Costa Rican time is very similar to Panama time. It is always much later than I expect.

I have been very fortunate that as many people read this blog as they do. More than that I happy that so many take the time to leave a comment. I think it is easy for the comments to provide more information than the blog itself.

I was only speculating as to why they do not return phone calls–(we should add) to North Americans. Not much question that you and La Gringa are generally correct about that. The real question is why don’t they?

Ah, cultural differences, indeed. I once asked a Costa Rican to meet me at a certain time, and he replied, “Do you mean gringo time or Costa Rican time?”

By the way, Don Ray, you do get a good response to your blog. I know two people who publish very good (political/economic) blogs and hardly ever get a response.

Anyhow, I’ll shut up now until your next trip to the barbers.

Tom

Returning phone calls has nothing to do with not wanting to call strangers. When I complain about the problem to local Panamanians they tell me to get used to it. They say on one returns calls to cell phones and seldom to local non cell phone numbers.

As for cleaning my own house and eating TV dinners, I’ll pass. But if it is good for you, then have at it.

It is interesting that you all assume that I’ve never lived in Latin America. I have, indeed.

No question, the cultures are different, but money is a motivating factor. There is no other explanation as to why young Central Americans suffer so much in Florida in order to provide a better life for their families back home. And, to reiterate, they do suffer, painfully.

As for the phone calls, Don Ray shed some light on that in a different blog.
Rural Latin Americans just are not big on using phones with strangers; neither am I for that matter.

Just do like Snake Eyes; clean your own house and buy TV dinners.

Also in Panama if you call a cell phone then the person calling pays for both parties charges. No one ever calls me on my cell number. They will call once, maybe, hang up before I answer so it is listed as a missed call. Then they expect me to call back.

I have gotten in the habit of calling back and letting it ring once.

I’m La Gringa and I pay EXACTLY what the going rate is, sometimes more; always more if you consider the fact that I don’t make the maids work as many hours in a day or 6 or 7 days a week as most Hondurans do.

For one girl who was previously living and working in a small town, we gave her her own room, private bathroom, TV, 3 meals a day, AND increased her salary by 88% (eighty-eight not eight.eight) to pay the going rate here in La Ceiba, with a promise for further increases if she did a good job. She left after 2 months.

Two maids never returned to work after I told them that I was giving them a raise. I can tell you that money is not a motivator, as strange as that sounds to us North Americans. “That simple rule of economics” doesn’t apply here in Honduras.

An extreme example is when we were building our house. We would call about a bid for materials, either with questions about their bid or to tell them we wanted to do business with them. If the person we needed to talk to wasn’t available, they would never call us back. Ever, in 2 years of construction. So they would risk a $10-20-50,000 contract because they didn’t want to spend $1 on a phone call. And this was after they had gone to the trouble to quote the work or materials. Explain that one to me?

Sorry, Tom, until you’ve lived here, you can’t possibly understand. You are assuming that every culture is motivated by money like the U.S. and it just isn’t so.

Every Honduran family I know (from the not wealthy at all to the very wealthy) has the same problem keeping a maid. Not only that, do you know what they tell me my problem is? They say that a maid will not respect me because I treat them TOO NICE! They say that I cannot treat them like an equal.

So, Tom, you just don’t know what you are talking about.