Today when Karla and Jose got home they asked why I wasn´t watching the news. I had watched the news at noon and saw the all of Al Centro (downtown) is closed because they were expecting lots of protests, but at the time nothing had happened yet.
Karla sat down in my bedroom with a piece of paper and recounted how she had spent the last hours. People at work told her she wouldn´t be able to get home because the buses weren´t running, but she always takes taxis. She said people had been protesting outside of the bank all day, but she believes the bank is the safest building in the city. The windows are bullet proof and the bank was surrounded by the military (it´s an international bank), the police, and the bank´s own security. She left her work he in a cab to meet Jose at the babysitters. However, as she entered Plaza Miraflores, where Karina and I took the bus on Saturday, they saw a mass of protesters in the streets. Traffic was stopped. Then the protesters set fire to a bus in front of her. The cab managed to get away from the bus, but told her she must get out because he would not drive her any further. Before she had time to exit the cab, he drove away while she still had one leg in the car, knocking her over.
She started to run toward the babysitter´s house, but a mass of people were running against her, leaving the businesses in Plaza Miraflores. Behind her she heard explosions the air turned black. The protestors had set fire to a Popeye´s right where the cab had let her out. She couldn´t see through the black smoke, but she continued to run. Finally she decided that running against the herds of people was too hard, so she turned toward the main street, which was eerily vacant, except for police up on a bridge. She thought the police would shoot her. She started crying and wrapped her head in her hands to try to escape the smoke. Then she counted to 3 and darted across the street and up a hill. When she looked back all she could see was black smoke. She ran on that side street and saw a few blocks later that police had barracaded the main st, but by taking the side street she was able to pass. Then she had to cut back into the crowd to get to the babysitters. She called Jose. He said he was running in the streets too, and was close by. When she turned her head he was behind her. They got to the babysitters. The house was all closed up and the kids were all gathered in one room. The baby sitter, who is also a good friend, begged them not to leave, but they managed to get a cab and came home.
When I saw everything on the news tonight I couldn´t believe it. They showed the bus catching fire and burning to a shell. They showed the Popeye´s, first there and fine, then a cloud of black smoke. It all seemed to happen so fast.
After my experience yesterday, I was so glad I was not in Karla´s shoes today. She is so strong and brave, she was hardly upset by the time she got home. I am so grateful that she is safe.
There are rumors of worse things to come. The country is supposed to shut down completely on Thursday according to the neighbor (who has a daughter was fathered by Roberto Micheletti).
I will post about yesterday´s adventures later. We are going to watch a movie and it will be my last chance to watch a movie with my Honduran family. Tomorrow we are having a going away party. Then I leave Thursday if the airport is open.
