Home Sweet Honduras

If you’re interested in earthquakes, government coups, or anything  that happened to me this summer in Honduras, check out http://shhdutilh.tumblr.com/ to read my personal blog.

I’ve been home in Virginia since July 3rd, and it’s been difficult. I’ve been frequently commenting on how many white people I see walking around and how strange it is not to flush the toilet paper. I also comment on how terrific my last five weeks were and how much I miss the people of Progreso, staff and Hondurans alike.

This summer, I interned with Students Helping Honduras, a completely student founded and run non-profit that is based out of El Progreso, Honduras, a developing city that is in dire need of support. I spent five weeks teaching English, visiting orphanages, conducting surveys, and getting to have some input in the organization that has drastically changed my outlook on life.

Today, I was lucky enough to recapture a glimpse of Honduras in my North American life. I went to the Honduras vs. America soccer game at RFK Stadium in DC, wrapped in my finest Honduras jersey that I bought several weeks ago on the streets of Progreso.

My worlds collided today. The crowd was nicely split between gringos (Americans) and catrachos (Hondurans), which mimicked how I felt. I got high fives, smiles, and cheers from Honduran spectators, and confused looks from the die-hard USA fans. Wearing a Honduran jersey at a game is the easiest way to make friends, and a great way to practice Spanish. Everyone wanted to know what I was about, so I told the story of SHH a couple times to curious, bright-eyed audiences, who were stunned that I had even heard of Progreso, let alone lived there for five weeks. Although I never met anyone from Progreso at the game, I did meet people from Tela, San Pedro, Puerto Cortez, and Tegucigalpa, but I’m sure someone in that stadium had to be from my town, accustomed to the same dusty dirty air.

Tonight made me feel whole. This time, I was not an outsider in a foreign land, but an odd situation where I was the outsider in my own land, a feeling I probably won’t experience until the next game I go to, which will hopefully be very soon.