Honduras Celebrates!

Here is a photo taken from the local paper, El Heraldo. This was the scene here in Tegucigalpa today. You see, today is a National Holiday! A holiday that was created last night by the current president Roberto Micheletti to celebrate the victory of the National Futbol team over El Salvador, securing a seat in the World Cup. Last week there were photos just like this one but they were of protestors who were intent on disrupting the peaceful progress of this small nation. But today, todo cheque! (everything great). Unfortunately, even though it was a national holiday, we still had school.

Many students and teachers broke the dress code and wore their Honduras futbol jerseys. Reportedly even teachers were late to school; there were celebrations all over the city. The city had been planning a fireworks show for Christmas, well let's just say that if there were fireworks last night for that holiday in our not so distant furure, today they are gone...

This morning, as I reported for my 7:15 "before school recess duty", my assistant and I caught up on the previous night's events. We had watched and listened from our balcony as our colonia and the entire city partied until the wee hours of the morning. We retired at about 10 pm and slept soundly despite the noise. However, for the majority of Hondurenos, the night played out a little differently. My assistant, a 50-something woman, was doing shots of tequila because she figured school would be cancelled because of the declaration of a national holiday by Micheletti. However, the superintendent emailed/texted all staff at 9:15 pm to notify us that despite the fact that a majority of Hondurenos would have the day off on Thursday, we would have to be at work. So, my assistant had one more shot, just for good measure.

As she and I talked, a second grade boy ran up to us with the daily newspaper. He proudly showed us the front page, which showed a picture of a tear-streaked player, Pavon, hugging another teammate. This little boy beamed as he held onto a newspaper he might keep for the rest of his life. When the bell rang to line up, one of my students ran up to me with the Honduran flag draped over his shoulders, asking my if I seen the game last night. Then moments later, as the Honduran pledge was being said, one of my students said to me "Miss, I am so happy I could cry."

If a nation ever needed a pick-me-up, it was Honduras. And we got it last night. Since our arrival in July, this country has seen it's share of turmoil, frustration, curfews, and disruptions of every day life. But last night, we experienced and were a part of the kind of experience that we had hoped on finding - to be a part of a different group of people that gathered and celebrated something that is not familiar to us, yet very tangible. I imagine that our kids will always have a keen interest in futbol, not football. They will learn that an entire country - albeit small - can come together on a common thread and forget all the crap that comes with daily life. We will all know to appreciate the small things, like a 90 minute futbol game that can change the tenor of a nation.