A typical day in Honduras

This news is now a month old but I thought I'd put it on the blog anyway.

October 12th

The day started well.   Tracey was being very positive about her ear infection and was keen to go for a swim, using my swimming cap and ear plugs to keep her ears dry.   I stayed at home for some alone time and Glenn and Tracey went off to the beach on their bikes.   Glenn took his backpack for his towel, hat and sunglasses and Tracey her new bag from Guatemala.  I had a lovely restful morning until 11am when Glenn came rushing in the door, mumbled something very quickly and told me how both their bags had been stolen from the beach.   They'd left their bikes locked together around a pole on the beach.

Unfortunately Tracey had been watched as she took a couple of photos and put her new camera into her bag. before she had a swim.   

Glenn and Tracey came out of the water and sat on the beach for less than a minute.   When they turned around their 2 bags had been stolen!

There was no-one to be seen on the beach and the only signs left by the thief were footprints.   Tracey lost a special pair of track pants ideal for teaching dance at school, her  new camera and bag and my ear plugs, Glenn lost his new prescription sunglasses and the key to the lock for the bikes.   A couple of men nearby were very concerned about the theft and insisted they would look after their bikes until they came back.   That meant a frantic taxi trip to the house to get the key.  Luckily their bikes were still there when they got back.

We decided to go out to tea after the shocks of the day and joined the crowds in Tela.   It was the night of the big soccer games.  United States was playing Costa Rica and Honduras was playing El Salvador.   If Honduras won against El Salvador they could be in the World cup but only if United States beat Costa Rica.   The suspense for the Honduran players must have been horrendous and they beat El Salvador by only 1 goal.   They didn't find out that Costa Rica had drawn with United States until they finished the game.    This meant they were in the World Cup.   After all the horrible publicity there'd been with the political situation, there was at last some good news for CNN to report about Honduras.   Tela went mad with excitement with long lines of cars filled with supporters carrying banners, trumpets etc and very emotional people driving erratically around the streets of Tela.    Apparently in Tegucigalpa, the capital, the crowds were very emotional and grown men were crying in the streets. 

The next day was declared a national holiday for all of Honduras.     It was the first time Honduras has reached the World cup for 30 years.   Meanwhile the political situation continues to be ridiculous.   The American government has been against the ousting of Mel Zelaya all along.  President Obama has supported Mel all along, even though he's a good friend of Chavez from Venezuela, both leaders with communist beliefs.    The United States senate party, after 6 months of condemnation against Michelletti, has now come out into the open and stated that Mel was replaced legally, he had committed crimes and misused government funds for his own purpose.  

Meanwhile there have been no tourists in Honduras for 6 months and most of the hotels are empty.