Hiding in the hills...

Hola a todos,

Hope everyone had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner last week with family and friends.  Although we didn’t get turkey, stuffing, and gravy we did have our first face-to-face meeting with the musicians for whom we’ve been searching during the past two weeks. 

Due to local issues the band has been hiding in a small aldea (village) about 2 hours north of our city.  The aldea is rustic and beautiful but lacks electricity and running water.  The road to get there was treacherous, with mud, rocks and potholes that would have swallowed Pichi, our somewhat faithful 1999 Kia Delta, whole.

Since inheriting Pichi we’ve had to change her battery, fuel filter, spark plugs, and her tires, one of which almost fell off while driving on the highway.  A fuse must be changed every time we roll the windows up or down. 

The impassable road forced us to hop into our contact’s pickup truck to finish the final leg of our journey to the aldea.  Even the truck, with it’s all-terrain tires and four wheel drive, struggled to make it up hills with over a foot of mud at 45 degree angles. 

Just before heading into the mountains.

When we finally reached the village of about 500 people, our contact brought us to the bandleader’s home.  Some initial hostility proved that we wouldn’t have been well received if we hadn’t arrived with our contact.  Not long after jumping out of the truck though, we were being serenaded by ranchera-style guitars and the lyrics of our band’s catchy narcocorridos.

The musicians, their families, and their friends began to tell us how they started playing together and how they quickly rose to fame in Honduras.  But they also told us of the group’s recent political troubles that have caused them to change trajectories.  There is a fascinating story to be told here, and we can’t wait to get started filming.

We hope everyone is getting ready for a happy holiday season.  Saludos, and keep on the lookout for more updates.