RELATIONSHIPS June 23, 2003 Issue

The right relationship for you

By Pamela Guthman Kissock

A FEW YEARS AGO, some good friends and I were invited to help promote a newly developing tourism spot in Honduras. We visited exotic places, had a lot of fun, and were getting some great material.

One evening we joined the townspeople, our guides, and three other American tourists in the local night spot to enjoy the music, dancing, food, and drink of the region.

However, I soon felt out of place, unaccustomed as I was to hanging out in bars. I also began to feel deserted. My roommate and longtime friend spoke Spanish fluently and was having a great time dancing with everyone and freely communicating with the village people; our photographer and his wife were enjoying each other's company; and one of the other Americans we'd just met was being pretty loud and drinking a lot.