Every day is an adventure inside the walls of El Hogar, but
last week, I had my first adventure outside the walls. I had the opportunity to travel to Tela, a
town on the north coast of Honduras, with the soccer and volleyball teams from
the Technical Institute and the Agricultural School. They were participating in
a tournament against the other Episcopal Schools in Honduras.
Early (and I mean before
the boys woke up!) on Thursday I made my way to the Technical Institute in the
Amarateca Valley, about 30-40 minutes outside of Tegucigalpa (the length of
time depends on who is driving…), in the van with all of the teachers who
carpool out from the city. While the
boys travelled in on a bus, I travelled the rest of the way with Lazaro, the
director of the Technical Institute and his three sons who came along to help.
We got on highway CA-5 and drove on winding roads up, down
and through the mountains, passing small towns, tiendas, kids walking along the
highway to school, men on horseback, cattle being herded, banana trees growing
out the side of mountains and people (including heavily armed military
personnel) riding in the back of pick up trucks. Seatbelts, lane markers, motorcycle helmets
and speed limits seem to be a mere suggestion…
The drive took about 5 hours with a stop for a cup of coffee
at a rest stop just outside of Amarateca where toucans, monkeys and parrots
kept us company. We caught up to the bus
and met the boys for lunch.
The further north we got, the hotter it got and the greener
everything seemed though it is the peak of dry season. We passed fertile land growing coffee and
fruit. We even passed a Dole plantation
– so many pineapples!
We arrived at the host school where Lazaro and the coach
gave them a pep talk before they got changed and warmed up.
The volleyball tournament started at 3:00 pm, but there was
only one court and at least 10 teams (both boys and girls) to compete. The Institute didn’t play their first game
until around 7:00 pm (after dinner of beans and eggs of course). They won their first two game and made it to
the final (which was played at 11:30 pm…) against the host school. They put up a great fight and came in second
place over all. Apparently their best
ranking in volleyball so far. Well
done!!!
Nobody knew what time the soccer tournament started the next
day, or what time anyone was playing, so we aimed to be there for 8:30. A few of us stayed in a small hotel downtown and
were spoiled with air conditioning our rooms.
I had a comfortable sleep, but when we were up for breakfast at 7:00, I
walked out of my room and instantly started sweating. As we made our 5 minute walk to the soccer
field, I found myself missing the snow (or at least the higher altitude and
cool mornings in Tegucigalpa)… My Viking blood does not handle this climate
very well! I overheard some others from
the city talking about the temperature, which made me feel slightly better
about my lack of ability to tolerate the heat, but I was still hoping that we
would find a spot in the shade…
The boys from the Agricultural School (who had joined us the
night before and caught some of the volleyball games) played the first
game. They did really well, and placed 2nd
overall!
The boys from the Technical School played really well, but
were eliminated before the tournament ended.
Once their games were over, we loaded onto the bus (a stinky
event as there more than 20 teenage boys who had been playing soccer in the 35+
degree C weather) and went out for lunch at a Chinese restaurant, and then
headed to the beach for some much deserved fun and relaxation.
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