Almost Famous

My class had an exciting opportunity this week. The entire 5th grade was selected to accompany the wives of diplomats who were coming to Honduras to participate in the Organization of American States Convention. I had never heard of this before but it is apparently a big deal. The presidents and other ambassadors from countries in the Americas get together once a year to discuss important issues. This year the theme was non-violence and the convention took place in Honduras. So while the important people were meeting in San Pedro Sula, their wives and people accompaning them came to tour the ruins and have a luncheon in Copan Ruinas which was hosted by the first lady of Honduras.We heard that Hilary Clinton was going to be at the conference so the million dollar question was whether or not she would have someone at the event here in Copan. Turns out Bill didn't make it.

To make a long story short about our place in all of this, they wanted some students to be at the ruins to walk with the ladies and bring them water and talk to them. So they chose our students because they are bilingual and we spent our Tuesday meeting some almost famous people.

Here are the 5th graders all dressed up in their typical clothes. This is in the morning as we are waiting for people to arrive. What is the best thing to give kids at 8am...oh yes Coca Cola. Only in Honduras.
After an hour and a half of waiting we finally got a call that they were almost arriving. My students lined up to welcome the important guests. After they were welcomed we walked through the park to a place where they had a little buffet set up and a typical dance company performing while we all ate. After that we set off on the tour. There were about 15 important ladies there and then about 20 police men, some fire men and then people in white shirts whose job was to make sure the ladies were in the shade and had all they needed. I laughed when I saw this. Our students just had to go along with them. Oh and I almost forgot, lots of tv cameras and newspapers. We later saw ourselves on tv as they broadcast the entire event. After the tour of the ruins Tammi (the other 5th grade teacher), Ada (the Honduran teacher that teaches our kids Spanish and Social Studies) and I were invited to the luncheon. It was beautiful and was decorated better than any event I have ever previously been to in Honduras. I also was impressed at the efficiency of the service in the event. Efficiency is definitely not one of Honduras' strengths. At last, just when we were getting ready to leave, we heard that the first lady was going to arrive. You would think that someone who hosts an event would show up and be there. Well she arrived at the very end and made a grand entrance, gave a short speech and then took some pictures. Here is a picture of the special guests along with some of our students in front and the girls in fancy dresses on the sides. The first lady is in the center with the orange and yellow shirt on. The lady to the let is the mayor of Copan's wife and the mayor is standing right behind the first lady. The lady in front of him in the black hat is apparently the wife of the secretary general of the OAS. My students were so excited to meet the first lady. I guess you could say they felt almost famous too.