The Last Day of School?

I wish I could tell you what the last day of school was like but honestly, I was not there for it so I have no idea! Believe it or not, it was torturous for me to miss it and I almost had a meltdown over the ordeal. Here is my Honduran-last-day story:

My mom flew into Honduras Thursday, the second to last day of school, just in time to meet the students that she sponsors and my little kiddos. I got permission to take the day off in order to go pick her up from the airport and transport her back to La Unión. I was meticulously prepared for my day off from school and journey to San Pedro Sula, and all was going as planned, until half an hour away from the airport. Randomly the truck I was in completely broke down. We’re not talking a flat tire or an easy fix here, it broke broke down.  The two men that were accompanying me got out to lift up the hood and solve the problem themselves, but it was quickly evident that whatever went wrong was too big for them to handle alone. Elbin (the driver) decided to walk along the side of the road until he came to the nearest town to find help. He was gone for about an hour while I was dying in the sweltering heat waiting for him. In the meantime, my mom had already landed and was surely starting to wonder or even panic over my whereabouts. Thankfully, I had talked to her that morning on the phone and told her to sit in the food court if anything were to go wrong and I was not there when she got off the plane, and know that I was on my way.

Finally, I could see Elbin, very mirage-like, walking towards us on the road! There was no mechanic with him but he was carrying something in his hands so I was hopeful… wrong. He had only brought back water for us to share. At this point the men made the decision that they truly needed professional help but could also see the worry on my face, so they flagged down a taxi to take me to the airport while they would wait for the tow truck to bring them into the city. I eventually made it to the airport and sprinted towards my mother once I found her! It was terrifying to leave her there alone without being able to contact her (or vice versa) or let her know that I was alive and safe.

About an hour after sitting around at the airport (and eating a long-anticipated Wendy’s cheeseburger), Elbin called me to let me know that the tow truck did show up and brought them to a repair shop in San Pedro; he said it would be about an hour until his truck was fixed. Jokingly, I told my mom that ‘an hour’ really means at least three hours to all Hondurans… little did I know I should not have made that joke. “Just another hour,” “fifteen more minutes,” “they’re handing me the keys right now” all turned into sitting at the airport for a total of 6 hours that afternoon and the truck never actually being fixed, which also meant we were not getting back to La Unión. That’s when my panic set in. The next day was the last day of school and I HAD to be there! Mom and I started weighing our options: renting a car and having Elbin drives us back that night, taking a bus to Santa Barbara to get us as close to La Unión as possible and then having someone else pick us up in their truck the next morning, having someone drive all the way out to San Pedro that night and drive us back in the same trip. Elbin finally made his way to the airport to pick us up and bring us to a hotel that he was staying at for the night. He assured me that his brother would be coming to get my mom and me by 7 in the morning to take us back to La Unión, so I decided to trust him and spend the night in San Pedro.

After a rather scary taxi ride through the dangerous streets of downtown San Pedro Sula, we finally arrived at a semi-safe-looking hotel (it had a gate in the entrance and bars on the windows) and booked a room for the night. As soon as Mom and I got into our room, we unanimously decided to not leave that room under any circumstances. (For those of you who do not know, San Pedro Sula is rated THE more dangerous city in the world to live in right now. Welcome to Honduras, Mom!) We had a delicious dinner of granola bars, fruit leathers, chocolate and water. We barricaded the door with a table and our suitcases and settled in for the night.

Elbin told us to be ready by 7 the next morning, and we were! However, no one else was. We waited in our hotel room until 9:30; thankfully we had tv and air-conditioning to make the wait bearable, until the power went out and we were left to just sit in the dark and work on some patience. At last a man showed up in a new truck to pick us all up and we thought we were home-free. Nope! We drove some more very shady side streets and alleys until we arrived at the ‘repair shop’ which was really just someone’s driveway and garage. Good Lord what was going on?! We waited for another half an hour until someone finally got a move on to bring us back to La Unión. By the time we left, stopped for breakfast, drove with no haste whatsoever (I’m not sure they realized it was the last day of school), Mom and I finally made it back to school for the last hour of the day. (At one point I was certain that we were not going to make it and I was not going to be able to say goodbye to my little kiddos, which was the worst thought I could conjure.) But as soon as we rolled up my students rushed towards us and squeezed so much love into us. I cannot get enough of those little guys! We scrambled to have Mom meet everyone and to hand out all the gifts she brought with her, but we managed it. I made it to be part of the last day of school, even if only for half an hour.

I am so thankful to all my co-teachers who watched over my students for that last day and kept them busy while we were racing to get back. I am very grateful for the love my students showed both my mom and I when we did finally make it, they are too great for words! And I am even more blessed to have a Father who (tested my patience) got me back to La Unión for even just a moment of the last day of school.