Al Mundial!

I just had a very memorable, crazy time in Tegucigalpa (the capital city) last night. I happened to be in the capital for our yearly physical exams the same time Honduras was playing against El Salvador in their final attempt to go to the World Cup. A group of around 10 friends and I went to a restaurant and watched the Honduras/El Salvador game as the Costa Rica/USA game was going on at the same time. In order for Honduras to qualify to go to the World Cup, the USA would have had to beat or tie Costa Rica (because Honduras lost against the US last Saturday 3-2), and Honduras had to win against El Salvador.
The tension was crazy in the restaurant as Honduras was winning 1-0 with 2 minutes left in the 45 minute half. It was hard to find someone who knew what was going on with the USA/Costa Rica game-the last time I had checked the US was down 2-1...then, as the Honduras game came to an end, the restaurant exploded with the sounds of screams, chants, noise makers, and people crying. Apparently, the US had scored off a corner kick in the over-time minutes to tie the game. Honduras had qualified and was going to go to the World Cup in South Africa 2010.
So as the restaurant exploded in chaos, storms of people rushed out of the resturant and other surrounding buildings into the street. Thousands of people were all of a sudden in their cars, on motocycles, and running/dancing in the middle of the streets--horns were honking, people were screaming into their cell phones, others were hugging anyone with open arms. Beds of trucks were over-filled with people waving flags, wearing their Honduras Selecion uniform shirts. Others were hanging out of windows of cars or jumping on the hood of cars as they made their way down the street through the swarms of people. Chants of HON-DUR-AS held as the heartbeat of the crowds of people that walked down the street in a sort of parade-type assembly. My friends and I became a source of attention as many of us looked very much like "gringos," and were given many "thanks yous" because the US won their game against Costa Rica. We gave a lot of high-fives (which was interesting because it's not very common in the Honduran culture) and some of the more friendly-feeling of us gave out a lot of hugs. The excitement was contagous as we walked down the street trying to avoid getting hit by cars and motocycles. We heard fireworks as our phones went off with congradulations and ecstatic messages from friends back in our communities and around Honduras. I passed the rest of the night dancing with my friends and taking in the amazing experience that I know I could never forget. I have to say that it was 10 times the experience I had on Lawrence's Mass Street with KU won the NCAA national tournament in 2008.

Viva Honduras y La Selecion!

For those who would be interested, Honduras has not been to a World Cup since 1982.