US v. Honduras

13 hour bus ride from Managua to San Pedro Sula. Once in San Pedro Sula, I found plenty of people at the hostel going to the game, which was a huge relief.
We got to the game four hours before it began, which was a good thing because it took us three hours to get through the gate. I got pick-pocketed by a little kid in one of the huge crowds of people - everyone was pressed up against each other and you couldn´t feel a thing. At the time, it was a huge dissapointment; but the game turned out to be such an amazing experience, I hardly remember being robbed when reflecting on the game.
Once inside, a group of Hondurans slid around and made room for us in their section, which was just to the side of mid-field, about 30 rows up. Incredible seats. The two guys I went to the game with, Brian and J.D. (which, honest to god, stands for James Dean, his actual name), were the only gringos in sight. There was so much energy and noise inside the stadium, it was incredible. The Honduran national anthem is sung A cappella. A person starts the song from the field, then turns off the mic and the crowd takes over. The entire stadium belted the national anthem with so much pride, the stadium was pulsing with music. It was beautiful.
The Hondurans were so gracious to us throughout the game. The U.S. won 3-2. After the game, one of the Hondurans next to us gave J.D. his Honduran flag. Everyone congratulated us. I cared about the game and rooted for the U.S., but the game meant so much more to the Hondurans. We ended up feeling a little bad about the victory. Honduras has not made the world cup since 1982. However, that guilt was washed away two nights ago when Honduras qualified by the U.S. tying Costa Rica in the final minute of the game.
Anyway, the game was a beautiful experience. Now I am on Utila in the Bay Islands. Yesterday I became a certified open water diver, after four days of classes and dives. Tomorrow I start courses to get my advanced diver certification. SCUBA diving is amazing. Breathing underwater and being weightless are amazing feelings. I love the water so much, and being able to breathe and explore the underwater world is just too much fun. One of the dives I do for the advanced course is underwater photography, so hopefully I get some good pictures for the blog. Sorry for not posting more recently, the SCUBA course and Utila have been keeping me pretty busy. Too much fun.