When drug gangs have more firepower than police and aren’t afraid to use it, poverty is such that two-thirds of its citizens live on less than $1.25 a day, only a quarter of children complete middle school and even those individuals who aren’t gang-affiliated tend to rely on violent crime for survival rather than choosing another path, what is a country to do?

I wish I knew. So does Honduras.

In a country that even on its best days is seemingly half-controlled by gangs (they formally control the highways and airports in several Honduran states, and charge for ‘free’ public parking in cities), there doesn’t seem to be many answers. Politicians are mostly corrupt, and who can blame them? In their view, they face a choice in many cases to give into gang wishes and be compensated for it, or face assured assassination. So they do what most people would do and look out for number one.

The civilians who do not choose the gang life still have access to assault weapons, and who can blame them for resorting to use them? In their view, they are subject to the AK-47 backed will of the gangs anyway, so why not use the same tactics to get what they can?

It is now believed that drug trafficking accounts for 13 percent of Honduras’ gross domestic product, with three-quarters of U.S.-bound cocaine passing through the country.

The result of all of this, of course, is distinction as the most violent country in the world. Honduras suffers 91 homicides per 100,000 people, and last year, the U.S. Peace Corps even made the decision to leave after one of its members was shot while riding a bus.

As a result, a huge ordeal has been made of the United States Soccer team’s appearance here later today, in San Pedro Sula (currently the most violent city in the world with 159 murders per 100,000 people), to play Honduras in a 2014 World Cup qualifying match. While teams on the road typically have a chance to eat out and shop in their down time, the U.S. squad will have no such luxuries. Their extent of having visited San Pedro Sula will be what they can see from the window of their armored bus between the team’s hotel and the stadium, and the hysteria of the match itself, for which Honduras has declared a national holiday so citizens can watch.

It is depressing that it must come to such security measures though, and I’m hopeful that something in this country can change for the better. Many people compare it to Colombia of the 1980s, which was virtually controlled by drug cartels who provided better answers for peoples’ poverty than the government was able to. Colombia was able to dig itself out of that hole, and today is far from perfect, but light years ahead of where it was three decades ago.

There is hope for Honduras, but right now it is difficult to see it.

Every business in San Pedro Sula has armed guards watching

Armed guards have been added to city buses

For whatever China lacks in cleanliness (seeing children peeing on the street is a common sight here), it makes up for in freshness. In the West, it is common for families to go grocery shopping once a week, if that, and stock up on preservative-packed food that can last them through a storm. Here, though, people are likely to buy whatever they need for one or two meals, and then return to the market the next day.

While there are traditional supermarkets (here called hypermarkets), meat, produce and a variety of other things are typically bought and sold at wet markets. A stroll through one of these is not for the faint of heart, so we’ve put together a little list of tips to help you navigate the wet market like a pro.

How to Navigate the Wet Market

1. Make sure you have small money with you:  If you are a foreigner, you’re likely to get ripped off a little (or a lot)—more on this later. But things are still generally very cheap at the wet market, and vendors won’t make change for large bills. They don’t need your business that bad.
2. Bring your own bag:  Yes, vendors will give you small plastic bags. But they are likely to break, particularly with all of the elbows and shoulders you’re likely to receive, so best to bring your own.
3. Listen closely:  Yes, if you aren’t Chinese, you will be expected to pay more. If you’re really concerned about this and want to get a fair price, then either go with someone local, or try your best to listen to what other people around you are being charged. Everything is negotiable in China, so if your listening skills are good (and you can muster up the courage to speak a bit of Mandarin), you’ll save yourself a few yuan.
4. Look outside for fruits:  While you may only see vegetables, meats and fish in the actual market, there are still plenty of fruits available. These are only sold seasonally, and may be more prominent being sold on the streets adjacent to the wet market.
5. Wash EVERYTHING:  And then wash it again. While everything is amazingly fresh here, everything is also amazingly dirty. The bushels of rice have people running their hands through all day in deciding which rice to buy. The pork you buy will likely still have hairs and bone fragments in it—understandable considering it was probably alive earlier that day. The produce is likely to have flies touching it all day. Just wash everything.
6. Stay cool:  Don’t be alarmed that the meat isn’t refrigerated. It was likely alive earlier that day, and is meant to be eaten immediately. Fresh is the key word here.
7. Eat with caution!:  There are no boneless pigs or chickens or fish in the world. And there are no boneless pork or chicken or fish dishes in China. I can’t emphasize enough to be careful before you dig in—don’t choke on a bone!

Once upon a time, in the lovely Japanese village of Kyoto, an ogre dressed up in disguise and approached the home of an old widow. He had with him a magic mallet, and with it, he made a beautiful kimono—the most beautiful kimono she had ever seen. While she knew it was wrong, the beauty of the kimono got the best of her, and the widow decided she would steal the kimono. So she got the ogre drunk, making him lose his wits, and made her move on the kimono. Except that she didn’t stop with the kimono. Since that was so easy, she figured, why not go for the magic mallet also?

Surprised by the woman’s overzealous greed, the ogre got himself together, and then decided to shed his disguise to reveal what he really was. The old widow initially froze with fear, and then was overcome with hysteria. She grabbed the first thing she could find to start throwing at the ogre, a bunch of beans she had handy in the kitchen, and he fled. She didn’t get her kimono or magic mallet, but she learned learned an important lesson about greed, becoming healthier and wiser as a result of the ogre’s lesson.

And so a tradition began. The Bean Throwing Ceremony, or Setsubun, occurs every year in Japan on the day before Spring (Risshun). Throughout the country, people throw dried soybeans out their front door while chanting “Demons out! Luck in!” It is believed that these tossed beans purify the home by eliminating evil spirits. To bring the luck in, they then pick up and eat the exact number of beans to correspond with the person’s present age.

Bean throwing is the main event of Setsubun, but there are others as well. First, everyone will eat a special nori maki, or sushi roll, while facing a particular “lucky” direction, which varies year by year (last year was Southwest, this year is South-Southeast). To add to the fun, the person cannot say a word while eating the entire nori maki, which isn’t as easy as it may seem. In most cases, the roll is about 20 centimeters long, and think as well! But it is believed that those who complete this task are promised good luck with their business and health.

Getting ready for Setsubun in Tokyo…

Germans are earth-conscious. They recycle…a lot. And that’s good. What’s not so good, however, is the process of figuring out exactly how to abide by the strict recycling guidelines if you aren’t from here.

Being one of the world’s pioneers in recycling, Germans have it down to a science—evident in the many colors of bins you’ll see for recycling throughout any city you walk through. One for plastic, one for metal, one for tin, one for a different kind of plastic, one for green-tinted glass, one for yellow-brown tinted glass, one for clear glass, one for paper, one for…it can be quite a confusing ordeal. And with the army of recycling men running around collecting and managing these things, not to mention the “observant” locals not-so-subtly shaking their head at your ignorance as you make your bin selection, quite an intimidating one too!

Make sure you know what goes where…

And don’t let the size intimidate you!

And that’s just at the park. Let’s not forget the refund machines in many supermarkets that collect certain types of glass bottles for some money back. You have to look for a particular logo on your bottle, and if it’s not there, no matter how much all the glass may seem alike, you won’t get your 50 cents for it. But more importantly, you’ll draw the ire of the people lined up behind you, who just lugged 10 kilos worth of bottles to the store to walk away with their euros!

Try to navigate the instructions…’

Put the bottle in…

And collect your cash!

I’m glad the Germans are this way—we should all learn from their example. But perhaps a tutorial on the flight over would make life a little easier for all of us :).

Even their clothes donation bins can be intimidating!

As we outlined previously, French people do not necessarily dislike their American counterparts. In fact, as with most of the world, many young French people are heavily influenced by American pop culture, given the prevalence of American music and film on the global stage. This wasn’t always the case, though, and I wanted to share a really interesting story I remember my Strategic Marketing professor telling me about how McDonald’s began the infiltration of American culture into France.

When McDonald’s emerged in France in 1979, the country didn’t have fast food. It was a new concept. As highlighted in another post, the French and eating fast typically don’t mix. Secondly, the audience McDonald’s market research team found that the people it should target initially were those old enough to remember World War 2, as they were the sector of the French population who liked America, which McDonald’s represented, the most. These older people simply didn’t understand the concept of eating with their hands. So the marketing task became a matter of educating their target market first on the process of ordering without being served by a waiter, then seating themselves, and finally that they could actually touch food with their hands—a huge taboo in traditional French culture.

So when McDonald’s first started marketing in France, their advertisements introduced an elderly couple demonstrating a range of “firsts” in the country: walking into the McDonald’s lobby (which was vastly different from competing cafes), standing in line (a new concept), reviewing the menu (French cafes at the time—besides obvious tourists ones— didn’t have a menu, as the French genetically understand what is on a café’s menu), ordering with a smiling server (French restaurant staff rarely smile), and bringing their own food back to the table (French cafes always had a gausson, or waiter). When the couple was set to eat, they realized that they didn’t know how to eat the hamburger, reaching for a knife and fork (as touching food was unthinkable in France). Finally, a group of teenagers spotted the couple, approached them and demonstrated how to pick up and unwrap the burger.

McDonald’s became popular in France, and the French had become American without even knowing it!

I’m going to get into a lot of trouble with this post, but as the aim of Initial Descent is to offer a true glimpse into every culture, I can’t mince words. To put it simply, if you are a guy who has trouble with personality, you lack personal style, you’re a little on the chubby side without charm to compensate, or struggle with the opposite sex for any other reason, then Dubai is the place for you. The men who live in Dubai , though very diverse, all seem to have one thing in common: a girlfriend (or three) who would be way out of their league in their country of origin.

See, Dubai (along with counterparts Abu Dhabi, Doha and to some extent, virtually every other major Middle Eastern city for which this post would also apply) is a transitional place for most. It is a place people, mostly men, come from far and wide to make more money than they are probably worth, live a higher class lifestyle than they are probably accustomed to, flirt with more beautiful girls than they would be capable of meeting anywhere else, and ultimately return to their home countries a few years later—with more wealth and more notches on the bedpost. Oh, and in some cases a wife who, as referenced above, would otherwise be out of their league.

On the flip side, Dubai is full of women who come to follow dreams—specifically, in the tourism industry. While not many men do, there are women all over the world who dream of becoming a flight attendant, which in many cultures is considered to be among the more glamorous jobs, or working in an international hotel.  Often, it is a dream that has lingered since childhood, influenced by visions of seeing Paris, New York and Rome—and getting paid for it. This is quite convenient for the men of Dubai (including those male flight attendants who seem to have figured the “fringe benefits” of the job out), as the city happens to be home to one of the largest and fastest-growing airlines in the world. And, having worked for one before, I’d be remiss to say that physical appearance is not one of the critical criteria that goes into the hiring decisions of most Middle Eastern airlines. On top of the thousands of girls Emirates employs, there are the countless hotel and other tourism staff, who have jobs that constitute the next best thing (to flying) for most.

While the simple concentration of attractive women here is the main factor working in men’s favor, the other major piece of the puzzle is that, inevitably, everyone who moves to Dubai for work—thousands of miles away from home for most—gets lonely. No matter where you are from, there is a culture shock, and not many comforts of home. And when loneliness sets in, and we don’t have our closest friends or family to cuddle up with, it’s human nature that we simply are drawn to another warm body to help distract us from our loneliness.  Apply this homesickness to the beautiful women here, who often see the men that chase them around as “comfort zones” that happen to be in Dubai when they need someone in Dubai, and typical evaluation processes take a back seat. The women become attached emotionally; the men seem to be much more motivated by other factors, and usually the result isn’t pretty. But where else on earth do situations exist where men are actually treating women who are actually above their league as completely disposable? This is one of the more amazing elements of expatriate culture here. And yes, as with anything in life, there are exceptions to the general observations expressed in this post.

While there certainly are beautiful people of both genders in Dubai, much more of these happen to be of the female gender, many of whom are lonely, missing home, and looking for emotional support. Do the math, and it means that no matter what a guy may or may not have to offer, he more than likely has a model-looking girl on his arm. 

Every country has their own local beers—as the drink is enjoyed virtually all around the world. If you’re like me, you like to sample them as well, enjoying your Sapporo in Japan, your Brahma in Brasil, or your Guinness in Ireland. But few beer manufacturers anywhere enjoy quite the prominence that Efes (short for Ephesus) has in its native Turkey.

The pilsen beer is not only known in Turkey, as it is the 5^th most popular European beer based on production and the 8^th-most popular by sales volume. But within Turkey, the brand enjoys an astonishing 82 percent market share, and sponsors seemingly everything, including the national basketball team and the first Turkish futsal league.

While the majority of consumption is of its flagship pilsener, the Efes portfolio includes Efes Dark, Efes Light, Efes Xtra, Efes Ice and Efes Dark Brown.

So when you’re here, make sure you enjoy an Efes, because you’ll be hard-pressed to find anything else!

Independent now for just over 50 years, Ghana has become a model for the world in the area of religious tolerance. With a population nearly equally divided among Christianity, Islam and traditional religions, it is truly remarkable how Ghanaians are both so passionate about their individual religions—celebrations are very outward here—but tolerant of others. The mantra that it doesn’t matter where one comes from or what he or she believes in—when in Ghana he or she will be welcomed and treated as Ghanaian—is something this nation lives and breathes every day.

It is even common to have a peaceful religious divide within families—traditional parents with Christian children who are happy for their Muslim cousins’ success. This harmony is evident  from the top-down as well, with a government that for the past half-century has strongly supported religious freedom. While Christian holidays like Christmas and Easter are national holidays here, as they are in many countries, so are Muslim holidays like  the Idul Fitr and Idul Adhia. Because they are acknowledged and people here have a basic knowledge and understanding of another belief, there is not the fear and impending hysteria it has created in much of the world.

This is thanks in large part also to the Ghana Peace Council, which was created by the government to raise awareness surrounding the use of nonviolent strategies in response to conflict through networking, coordination and campaigning. The 11 members include the most prominent members of the Catholic, Muslim and traditional religions in Ghana, as well as some top legal and business professionals, academics and youth representatives. During its existence, this group has built an impressive track record, with one of its most important duties being to decide otherwise-deadlocked national elections. In one notable example, the leader of the group—the head of a Muslim mission—made a deciding vote against the political party he personally supported, because through deliberations with the entire group it was evident that the opposing party would better serve Ghana at the time. Such sacrifice of one’s personal beliefs for the betterment of a nation surely has a trickle-down effect, providing an example that is difficult for individuals to go against.

Ghana may have its share of problems, but when it comes to religious tolerance, it is truly a nation to behold.

Next time you hear someone cry out “Che!” while you’re walking down the street in Argentina, no, you don’t need to start looking around for the guy you’ve seen on all of those t-shirts and posters in your college dorm. Che Guevara has not returned from the dead, and you can probably just ignore it, unless, of course, that cry is directed towards you.

See, “che” doesn’t only refer to the famous 20^th-century Argentine revolutionary, and in Argentina, that association is made very rarely. Instead, “che” is used informally much in the same way native English speakers use “dude”, or ‘hey”, as an attention-grabber. Especially among friends or family, the phrase can refer to someone specifically or rhetorically, so while you don’t need to excitedly whip your head around looking for the real Che, make sure nobody is talking to you either before ignoring the call.

While the origins of the word to the Argentine culture (as well as neighboring Uruguay, where it is also very popular) is unclear—linguists often argue whether it stems from an indigenous language to the region or whether it was brought along with northern Italian immigrants—that it is hugely popular in Argentina today is not.

“Hi, how are you doing?” 

Waiting for the light to change so I could cross Burrard Street in downtown Vancouver on a quiet Tuesday morning, a voice of familiarity is the last thing I expected to hear.

I turned my head to the side, and it turns out it wasn’t a voice of familiarity at all. Instead, this complete stranger had said hello and asked me how my day was. Before I could comprehend what had just happened and gather the words to reply, the light changed and he was on his merry way.

This may be foreign to many of us, but it is common here in Canada. In this case, it was just two of us at the intersection, a situation that most of us try so hard to deny the reality of. We pretend that the other person isn’t there, bury our faces into our phones, and if the situation lingers long enough, it becomes totally awkward.

That doesn’t exist in Canada, where a simple greeting to a complete stranger who’s path we cross is nothing unusual. And certainly nothing to be threatened by, fearful of or looking to avoid. Perhaps another thing the rest of us can learn from!