El Congreso

Tuesday was very interesting. We got to go to the Congress building on downtown Tegus. It did not go as planned because of a protest that was going on. I am not completely sure what the protest was about, but this is what I understand: A while ago there was a hunger strike. The district attorneys were involved somehow. During the strike one of the attorneys was shot, but not killed. Now a group for justice was protesting that the criminal be tried and sent to jail for life. The court systems here are known for having a lot of problems. I met another district attorney who was at the protest. There were ropes and police men all around the protest. At first I thought it was to keep other protesters from coming, but I found out it was to protect the protesters. We were given a tour of the building. We went to the office of the president of Congress. The tour guide told us we could sit at his desk, so I was the first to jump at that opportunity. Then we went to the Congressional auditorium. In the front there were some evangelicals praying for I am not sure what. Some of the people there were members of Congress. While waiting for them to be done we were able to go down to the protest. There were tons of reporters and cameras. I am looking for myself in the newspapers here “Gringos come to protest at Congress.” No such luck yet. After, we met with one of the Congress members. Our professor told us that because she was so popular and involved with the protest, she would not be able to talk to us long. When she was done talking she took us down to the protest herself. A whole bunch of gringos with a popular congress woman defiantly made a scene. Afterwards we returned to the school, where we ate. The rest of the afternoon was a nonevent. Katie and I are defiantly in the habit of taking the bus home. For only 18 cents, it’s worth it. At the end of the day we are tired and do not want to walk up hill in the mid day sun.

Wednesday was rather uneventful. On our walk to school there was the stray dog that was following us. We have been more than warned to avoid animals. I am not dog lover, but I defiantly felt bad for this dog. There are a lot of wild dogs in Honduras. No surprise here, but I have found my addictive coffee drink here. I am not sure what the translation to English would be, but it’s from a coffee shop we have on campus, and other places, called Espresso Americano. Class was normal. We have our first exam Friday. I came home Wednesday and found my room cleaned again. Mi mama organizes my desk, remakes my bed, and cleans my bathroom every day. Also she gave me back some of my laundry today. I had a pair of blue pj pants that I had bought right before coming here, so they not had been washed yet..oops. The blue dyed some of my clothes. I did not ask, but I hope it did not dye any of theirs. Mi mama felt bad. She told me she did not know why that happened. Thursday should be fun because we are going to the US Embassy, where we get to talk English. To be honest, it is getting harder and harder to only speak English, especially after this past weekend where we all spoke a lot of English. It is just so much quicker to talk in English, and yet I know that it’s far more beneficial to speak Spanish. I have noticed that I understand more now, but I still nod my head and say sí a lot.