Where are they coming from?

Typical house, Rancho Lima, La Ceiba, Honduras

El Jefe and I were absolutely incredulous to find that the houses in colonia Rancho Lima had increased in price by about 30% since we were there in February.

We also wonder where all the people are coming from and where the money is coming from. La Ceiba has actually lost industries in the past seven years, not gained them, except possibly a few more stores than in the past. I just don't think that there has been any sort of large increase in jobs. Wages have increased, but don't even keep pace with the cost of living.

New colonias are popping up everywhere! I mean everywhere. Some are large, some are small. Some are very expensive, many are middle-class range, and some are very small, two or three room starter-type houses. But very few are the type that you would expect someone who has been living in a tin shack by the river could afford, so where are they coming from? The houses seem to fill as soon as they are built.

I don't get around all that much, so I notice the change more. One day there is an empty field. The next time I see it, 50 houses are being built. The next time, it is a full blown colonia with landscaping, kids outside playing, people washing their cars − as if it had been there forever.

It's not as if El Centro was empty and everyone has moved to the suburbs. It's also not as if people are moving here from the country for jobs, because there just aren't that many jobs in La Ceiba. I have a terrible feeling that it has to do with credit and that the overextending of credit is going to crash Honduras down worse than Hurricane Mitch. Most Honduran people just don't understand credit and in my opinion the banks are making it way too easy for people to overextend themselves at very high interest rates. (Credit card rates run around 60% annual interest.)

Our US brother- and sister-in-law were crushed to find out that these houses ran from US $81,000 to $102,000. These are nice houses, don't get me wrong, but they are very small 3-bedroom, 2-bath homes with almost no property other than a small front yard. The smallest house is 98 square meters or 1,055 sq. ft. The largest is 141 square meters or 1,518 sq. ft. − that is a small house by US standards.

The interest rate on a 20-year mortgage is 10.5% in Rancho Lima, with 10% down. I haven't heard that 30-year mortgages are available in Honduras. The sales rep said that 10.5% was the best rate that can be had in Honduras and that it was way down from 20-22% a few years ago.

He calculated the payment, after some strange wranglings with a "discount" and a "reserve", to be US $917 per month with a 20-year mortgage or $1,015 with a 15-year mortgage. That is L.17,331 (or L.19,184 on the 15-year loan) in a country where an average middle class salary is, oh, around L.7-10,000 per month and a salary of L.17,000 per month is considered very good. It is much less common for both the husband and wife to work in Honduras than it is in the US.

Okay, I know Bob will bring this up and I've mentioned it before: There is a lot of speculation that drug money is behind the construction boom in La Ceiba. I don't doubt that at all, but I don't think that everyone is involved with narcotrafficking. It just can't be....Can it?

Another aspect is the remesas (cash remittances) from family members in the US. Those funds coming from the US allow many families to live way beyond what they could ever hope for, working or not. The sales representative implied that many of the homes were being purchased by Hondurans working in the US and foreigners from other countries. A million of those Hondurans live in the US very tenuously and could lose their job or be sent home at any time. Unless their house is paid for before they move back to Honduras, they'll have a very tough time replacing that US salary in La Ceiba.

Our architect told us once that real estate never loses value in (mainland) Honduras. I kind of chuckled at the time, but who knows? The price of construction materials has had huge increases since we built our house. The price of concrete alone, one of the biggest expenses, had more than doubled and the cost of iron has increased tremendously.

It's all very confusing to me. The country is poor, people are starving, there are no jobs, yet in a blink of an eye, thousands of new houses are sold and paid for at huge interest rates. What is going on?

Wow. I wonder what our house is worth? It must be worth about 5 million by now − lempiras that is, not dollars. :-D

1950's La Ceiba: Horseback riding and teen clothing

The following is another guest blog from Ed who spent his teen years in La Ceiba in the 1950's when his stepfather brought the family to Honduras to work for Standard Fruit Company:

(Not Ed, but the closest I could find)

I had the use of one of the company's horses (a pony actually) and all I had to do was show up, saddle him, and ride. The ranch hands took care of all the menial tasks, feeding, mucking the stables, etc. This was an old, but wise, pony to the saddle procedure. My job was to cinch up the belly band snug enough to prevent the saddle from moving while riding. The pony had ideas of his own. He would take a deep breath, expand his belly as I cinched, and I would mount, ride off and in a few steps the saddle (and me) would slip off to one side. And the process would be repeated.

I finally learned to wait until the pony exhaled..then harden up the cinch. This animal only had two speeds (when leaving the ranch) slow and stop. It was a different story on the return trip. Once he realized that he was homeward bound, he would break into a gallop that I couldn't control. Couldn't stop or turn him. He was headed to the barn, and that was it. I was just along for the ride. Frightening experience!

My rides were usually to a small river southwest of La Ceiba in the direction of Pico Bonito. The stream was crystal clear. One could see all the way to the sandy bottom, 10 feet below. Near the opposite shore was a large rock; great for climbing up and jumping into the water.

Miracle Fruit, Sideroxylon dulcificum, from Wikipedia

Also on that shore lived a man and his family. He tended a large grove of lemon trees. Once he offered me a small piece of fruit to eat. About the size of a kidney bean with red skin and a large seed. I was encouraged to eat the pulp. Mild panic set in as I chewed the pulp, and then that of another. What in the world was this man doing to me! He was all smiles and assured me that all was okay. A few minutes later, he picked a lemon, cut it open and offered me a slice. Fully expecting the acid tang of the lemon, I bit. Imagine my surprise when that lemon was as sweet as sugar! I have no idea what that red fruit was to this day. For the rest of the day, everything I put into my mouth tasted sweet.

Once before riding to the river I decided to wear just swimming trunks, rather than changing into them at the stream. All was well on the ride out. It was a different story after the ride back. Valuable lesson learned that day....never ride horseback in a wet bathing suit! I couldn't sit down for several days without wincing.

As a growing boy, I was in constant need of new and larger clothes. At that time there were no malls or department stores in which to shop. If one wanted clothing, one went to a tailor for custom mades. Bolts of cloth were there for your selection in colors and prints. My choices were not guided by parental advise, and they were my own whims. Looking back, my taste (as it were) ran to the garish. A far cry from the preppy looks of later years. Most of my shirts were along the lines of a guyabera with short sleeves.

Shoes were handmade by a local cobbler. No pictures, no catalogs. The cobbler would trace the outline of the left and right foot on a piece of paper, I would tell him what style and color of shoe I wanted, and in a couple of days, they would be ready. I wore jodhpurs, mimicking my hero the BSA rider. I didn't have the motorcycle, but perhaps people would see me as a rider anyway. I don't remember the cost, but I'm sure they were inexpensive. No man made materials, either, all leather. The leather heels made a very macho click when walking on hard surfaces. Very appealing to a boy with no small amount of ego.

I have the answer to your question, Ed! You ate matasabor (kill the flavor), also called Miracle Fruit. I had one of those bushes but one of the workers ripped it out by the roots and it didn't survive the transplant. I want to get another one. You can read my article about matasabor here.

Thanks for the article, Ed. For anyone wishing to read more about 1950's La Ceiba, check out Ed's other articles under the "guest bloggers" topic in the sidebar.

Now there are two

Puma
Photo: US Fish and Wildlife Service

Breaking news:

One of Los Pumas was murdered tonight in La Ceiba. Roving reporter El Jefe was going to the gas station around 9:45 p.m. and was surprised by a mile long traffic jam − very rare in La Ceiba for that time of night.

Curious, he followed past the gas station and saw a crowd of about a hundred people alongside the highway. A bullet-ridden pickup truck with a body in the driver's seat was in the ditch alongside the highway.

Several spectators in the crowd were lamenting the death of one of Los Pumas. Two people told El Jefe, "This isn't over. When (name of brother) finds out, there will be more killing." El Jefe said that people seemed scared, rather than just gawking as usual. Some were predicting mass revenge killings. He was also told that three other people from the pickup were taken to the hospital.

La Prensa was there so there may be more information in the newspaper tomorrow or Saturday.

I feel sad. La Ceiba has lost a legend. Now there are only two.



P.S. Check out the comments on the Legend of Los Pumas article. Most of them were from people living in Honduras and all believed the legend to be true.