Traffic Jams and Culture

October 5, 2007
Yesterday as I was leaving the city, I saw an interesting sight. The traffic going my direction was practically stopped and looking ahead, it seemed like the wait would be long. I guessed that probably there had been an accident. The road that leaves the city has approximately 3 lanes going each direction. It is not limited access though so the left lane can come to a stand still because of people turning left and the right lane can have parked cars so you never really know what it will be like on any given day. Well, I looked over at the opposing traffic on the other side and noticed that some of the cars traveling my direction were over there. Of course this meant that the opposing traffic was jammed up too. I thought to myself that I would not want to be the lead car that was going against the proper flow of traffic. We continued to creep along at a slow pace, as did the traffic going my way on the other side. I eventually saw some police but no sign of an accident and then the road cleared and we were moving again. I cannot say the same for the traffic on the other side. They were creeping along still because there had never been any policemen directing the cars to change over to that lane. Someone had simply decided to try a quicker route and other followed suit. But now that lead car was head to head with the oncoming traffic and had to wait until one by one the cars merged over into the right lanes. It was going to be a slow go for those cars.
The incident reminded me of culture though, and the very common cultural clashes and misunderstandings that can happen when in another country or place. Yesterday morning I had met with a woman in leadership in the church to have her review and proofread the program I am sharing tomorrow with deacons from the church while they are at camp. It was a very helpful meeting because I needed to reword things or express my ideas in such a way that they could be understood from the Honduran culture. One of the challenges of my work is to learn how to share the gospel of Jesus Christ, His work in my life, and a love for God’s creation in a way that fits with the Honduran culture and brings out the best of their culture.