Honduras: Futbol = Loco

Well, I saved the most exciting (?), crazy story for last in these recap posts from our trip.

Besides finishing what we started, helping out around Jovenes, and spending precious quality time with the boys, we had the chance to attend a soccer game on Sunday afternoon.

Now, I know that soccer is different in Central and South America (and Great Britain) than it is here. Different than any sport here, actually.

I’ve seen Green Street Hooligans, and I know that the fans / gangs are often the worst part of the experience, and that their actions often have nothing to do with the outcome of the game.

Anyway, we went to the game with our Honduras friends and had a great time.

soccer

The game was exciting – both teams got SO close to scoring, but it never happened. One shot even bounced OFF the goal posts!

group

Here’s (L to R) Oscar, Walter, Bob and Cindy – Oscar was excited for the game  :)

soccer

Not only was the game exciting, but the views were beautiful. There aren’t many places where the soccer stadiums are enclosed by mountains.

soccer

Our Honduran friends were great to have with us – they knew everything about these two teams, which were apparently the 2 biggest rivals in Honduras: Olympia and Montagua.

dad

Hi Dad!  :)

All in all, the game was fun. No one scored, but there was no overtime, so we walked out from a 0-0 game and started heading to our van.

At first, everything was fine.

We saw a few fist fights, which I expected, but kept walking and eventually found Walter’s truck.

Well, we ended up never moving to the van.

We’re still not sure what started it, but the fans/gangs/groups from one of the teams were fighting with the police.

We couldn’t see anything (even though we were RIGHT by the gate they were coming out of), but we heard lots of gunshots (what we thought were fireworks since they had those in the stadium) and people were saying that rocks were being thrown.

Our Honduran friends forced all 8 of us into Walter’s truck to keep us safe. At that point, things were kind of crazy, but we still couldn’t see anything other than big groups of people running back and forth past the truck.

dadgabby

I even took my camera out to try to get a couple of shots of how we were crammed in – Nick was on my dad’s lap in the back seat, then Gabby, then Nick’s mom and I was on her lap in the seat behind the driver’s seat.

fronttruck

Walter was in the driver’s seat and Merle and Bob were crammed in the front seat with him, situated around the gear shifter.

I don’t think any of us realized how serious things were outside of the truck.

Tear gas had been set out by the police and shots were still going off.

Right after I took this picture and put my camera away, someone ran past the truck and hit Walter’s drivers side mirror, and then we heard (and I felt) this big bang on my door (the door behind the driver; my back was up against it and I was in Cindy’s lap in this seat). We all figured it was a rock that was thrown, since that had been happening right around us earlier.

By that time, we were just able to get out of there, but the only way to go was THROUGH everything. We couldn’t back up, so we had to drive through the tear gas clouds to get out of there.

We got back to the hotel, and everyone was safe and healthy and fine. But when we went around the side of the truck to see the dent from the rock, we saw this instead.

bullethole

Yeah, that’s not from a rock.

bullethole

The bullet went in the door and never came back out.

bullethole

If this had been shot from any other angle or height, it would have been in the truck and hit either me, Nick’s mom, or both of us.

3 people died in the craziness that happened after the game, and about 12 were injured. There was a lot on the news there the days after questioning how the police reacted, what started it, what else could have been done, etc. We heard a few things that might have started all of this, but we just don’t know for sure.

Our friends there even said that they go to games all the time and they had never seen anything this crazy before. Maybe all the political stress there is affecting the police force, maybe some things happened that no ones about except the people that were there. We don’t know.

There are some videos on youtube that show (what we think) is the cop who shot the truck and some of the stuff that was happening, but one part is not easy to watch and I didn’t want to post it. This wasn’t a movie or something exaggerated. This was real. Families are hurting, and people died who had nothing to do with what happened.

It’s scary knowing that something was so close to being fatal. I mean, I know anything can happen at any time, but it’s different seeing how close something got to you.

And just to prove that I’m really not making this up, I even have the bullet.

bullet

bullet

Do I plan on going back to Honduras? Yup. I hope many, many more times. As much as I can afford.

Do I plan on going back to a soccer game in Honduras? That….I’m not sure of   :) Or we’ll at least stay IN the stadium for at least 30 minutes and let everyone else head home first.

Have you ever had a close call?

24 comments

  1. i loved reading all your honduras recaps!

  2. Oh wow, that’s an amazing story, how scary!! I think it’s great that you have such a passion for this place that not even dodging bullets can deter you! :)

  3. Oh my gosh!! That’s scary! Glad you guys are okay!

  4. OMG! That’s the craziest story. I’m so glad nothing happened to you guys, and that you still want to go back to Honduras.

  5. Wow – that is crazy! I’m so glad nothing bad happened to you or your family.

  6. Totally crazy! I went to a Spanish Soccer game while on study abroad between the two rivals and saw a lot of fights but nothing this crazy.

    However in Brazil when I went on a missions trip we were almost run over on purpose because pedestrians don’t have right of way and people are hit and killed all the time. There are no hit and run laws.

    I’m so glad you are okay and it hasn’t deterred you from wanting to go back. You are doing amazing things there. :-)

  7. Wow. Thank God you guys are all okay!

  8. wow. that is CREEPS.

  9. Oh my goodness! I can’t believe that happened. I’m so glad you’re safe!

  10. Phewf! Wowzers. I’ve had some close calls…but never with a bullet. Glad you and your friends and fam are all safe.

  11. I’ve enjoyed reading your recaps and seeing the photos of the cute kids and of you and the other inspiring volunteers. This, however, had me holding my breath. I’m so glad you are ok, but I’m sorry that others weren’t. Wow. What a tale!

  12. OMG! Crazy scary about the bullet. I love reading your Honduras recaps – I would love to go there one day. Thanks for sharing!!

  13. Whoa!!!! Totally crazy story. Definitely had some close calls – I was in a car crash in India that could have ended much, much worse than it did (as well as a couple rickshaw accidents!)

    Thank goodness you guys are all okay!!

  14. Oh my gosh I’m so glad you are okay! That is so scary! I was in the bad part of Miami quite a few summers ago doing mission work for some kids that needed help. across the street from a church we were at before we left (we were having lunch) was an apt complex and some guy was carrying around an ak47 under a towel and gunshots were going off. i cried and cried as i hate guns (they killed my mom) and it was an awful experience. but we were okay and no one we knew got hurt.

    glad no one you knew got hurt either, but it is so tragic that people died and got injured! :(

    -muffy

  15. WHOA! Scary! Oh my god, you’re even holding the bullet in your hand! Insane! Poor thing. I’m so glad you’re okay!

  16. oh my gosh, what a story! i’m glad you’re alright! (and didn’t realize it was a bullet at the time)

  17. Wow. I wasn’t expecting that from the story at all! I’m so glad it turned out better for you and your company but it’s sobering to hear that this is going on and I wasn’t even aware of it.

    Thanks for sharing the story and opening our eyes.

  18. wow that is absolutely frightening! i’m glad you are okay.

  19. Nicely written, you are my hero. God provided us protection twice, once for Johnny and once for you, to show us He is always there.

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  21. Brandi! That is crazy!! God really had His hand over you and your group! So glad you are alright!

  22. Wow! That is crazy! Very scary! But know that God can protect no matter where you are or what the circumstances are. So glad you are all okay!

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