I had a terrible interview with a recent deportee today. I asked him for an interview and he obliged so I met him at the banana stand and set everything up. Setting up two cameras and two mics in a small village at the local banana stand is a big deal. Everyone is watching in curiosity and both the interviewer and interviewee get kind of nervous.
This guy answered everything with one word, it was horrible. But then his brother came up.
His brother has crossed into the U.S. 13 times. The rule is the more you are busted for trying to illegally enter the worse the sentence. Last time he crossed he spent 3 years in prison for it.
Three years in prison with a lot of hardened criminals is a big deal and a harsh sentence for anyone who is trying to migrate for better work. He was put on a sort of "probation". Basically after his release the government told him that if he gets busted within the next three years trying to cross he gets 6 years in prison.
The man was sharp, bilingual with slicked back hair. I could tell he used to have a tattoo on his neck that had been removed and I spent a good bit of time trying to decipher what the tattoo used to be. I also noticed he had had his throat slit at some point.
I have picked up a production assistant to aid in the interviews. Her name is Mina and she is about 12 years old. She is helping to transcribe as well. She has insisted in working for free but I have insisted otherwise as she has no idea what a pain in the ass transcribing can be.
Minimum wage in Honduras is roughly 20 lempiras. 20 lempiras = $1.00
I always argue that money is relative so for the sake of my own logic lets point out some basic costs.
1 bannana = 1 lempira = $0.05
1 avacodo = 5 lempiras = $0.50
36 eggs = 40 lempiras = $2.00
I gallon of Gasoline = $4.50
1 year of College (including books and utilities) = roughly 15000 lempiras = $750
So my relativity of money theory doesn't really hold up when it comes to gasoline. Hell it doesn't really hold up well when it comes to anything except bananas and college. I am only calloused by how much an education costs in the US so this cost makes sense to me.
I don't think I could get away with paying anyone 20 bananas an hour in the states.
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