2010 - So Far, So good

2010, or Twenty Ten as I have decided to say it, came in with a bang. Lots and lots of bangs...from guns, firecrackers, fireworks and anything else that would make noise. I was at a friend's house for New Years and she has a magnificent hillside view of Tegucigalpa. In every direction you could see fireworks displays. The celebration began at about 11:55 and didn't stop for about 3 hours. It sounded like a war zone. Holy Sonic Boom, Batman! Several times I felt like I should take cover...the bangs, booms and crackles were so close! At times it even sounded like small bombs going off. The same thing happened on Christmas Eve...hours of noisemaking with anything that would go boom. Definately a huge change from the serene type of celebration on Christmas Eve that I'm used to.

Politically, things are, on the surface, calm. Craig Kelly paid a visit to Tegucigalpa last week and had meetings with Micheletti and Zelaya. The newspapers are reporting all kinds of things, most of which are probably not true. The most bizarre is that the US is offering money to Micheletti to resign and give Zelaya full amnesty. My maid told me she read that in one of the newspapers here in Tegucigalpa and there's also been discussions of it on local online discussion groups. I just don't see that happening. The only thing I can think of that might have been discussed would be economic assistance as an incentive for the resignation and amnesty. But I don't believe Micheletti will agree to anything that gives Zelaya full amnesty (political, that is). Even if he were to be given political amnesty, Zelaya would still have to answer to the other charges against him.

We'll see. I doubt 2010 is shaping up to be a good year for Tegucigalpa's own version of Punxsutawney Phil. When will Mel stick his head out and see if he has 6 more weeks of living in the Brazilian embassy? Ooops..since it's been reported that he has been told he must be out by Jan. 27th, inauguration day, he only has a week and a half left there. What Mel will do is anyone's guess right now.

What I do know for sure is that I have just a little over 4 months left of my tour here. On May 20, I leave for my home leave. I'll fly to Kauai to visit my son, his wife and my 3 grandsons for about 2 weeks. Then on to Fort Worth for a couple of weeks to spend time with my Dad and my friends. Then to Washington DC for some training and on July 18th I fly off to Muscat, Oman. It's a long flight with an overnight stay in Frankfurt, Germany. My 2010 sounds a whole lot better than Citizen Zelaya's!