Si se puede!

So football....yesterday was perhaps the most random day I’ve had for a while.

Yesterday Honduras played USA for a qualifying place in the World Cup, it was the most important game. The match started at 8pm and the gates opened at 2pm.

I set off with Jaime, Adelson and Kike at 11am and we stopped off at the lake for lunch. Here the randomness began. We stopped into the ‘cafe’ – and as it’s by the lake the only option is fish – and you go to the fridge and choose which fish you would like. They are gutted and have the scales taken off and are then left in the fridge. They cook ‘your’ fish. We sat overlooking the lake eating our tortillas with a new kind of cheese (freshly made straight from the cows milk – no pasteurising or anything – I’d never tried anything like it – and could probably survive not eating it again!) The fish arrived – still very fish like staring up at me from my plate – and we tuck in. Easier to eat with fingers than the fork and so you just pull it apart. When Jaime started pulling the head apart to check for any extra meat I just found myself laughing. There I was on the way to football with some of my closest friends, discussing football, in Spanish and pulling a fish apart. It was all just too weird.

We went back on our way again, with Jaime still blowing the football horn at every single person we passed.

We made it to the stadium by 2.30pm and joined the incredibly long queue. We managed to get in by 3pm and found Fredi, Zuko, Adony etc – a whole load of guys from church. We then had the next 5 hours to wait for it to start. By 5pm the stadium was completely full – and still another 3 hours til it started. I was so sad I had left my camera in the car, when we arrived it was raining and we figured it’d just get too wet. The waiting wasn’t to bad – as it was the most important game they had a marching band in the stadium and as we got closer to the starting time there were fireworks - and even 3 men parachuted into the stadium with the Honduran flag flying behind them! This game was important to the World Cup and also because it was what the Hondurans were looking forward to to raise the spirits of everyone amongst this political crisis. America is involved with our politics, has withdrawn aid from us – but we were going to win at the football.

Kike bought his facepaints and so we dedicatedly had the flags drawn on us. My face was half white and half blue. Fredi’s wife Belquis did it and so it actually looked good! The match was great – until it was 3:2 to the USA and we had a free kick – and missed! Yes..we lost! The silence in the stadium was phenomenal.

At the final whistle I suddenly felt like I was at a giant funeral. Fredi’s car load all rushed off and as I turned round Jaime was fighting back his tears and sat looking forlorn and Adelson was just sat crying! This meant everything to them in so many ways and everyone was devastated. Now, I like football and yes felt bad we lost, but this was a whole new thing. I didn’t know what to say. Everyone filed out of the stadium quietly. Kike drove back and the car ride was like I was going to a funeral. They were just so devastated. We got home about 1am.

The last match is in El Salvador on Wednesday, but we don’t have much hope apparently. One thing is for sure I won’t be watching with my friends – I can’t take the disappointment afterwards!!