We had a funny moment last night. We were watching the Honduran news and I was sort of doing a Sudoku puzzle during commercials and when I couldn't understand the speakers. I think I comprehend about half of the news, maybe more. I do recognize most of the politicians, sometimes more than other Hondurans do. Hahah!
Some people just talk so fast that it's really hard for me. I can usually understand most of the top politicians, experts, and interviewers, but when they interview "the man on the street," it sounds to me like they are speaking Chinese.
Some of the Honduran news programs are really bad. Besides looking like a 1950's TV show, sometimes the voices don't match the video and some stations have so much static that it's almost impossible for me to understand anything.
My favorite is Canal 10 news. I'm hoping it isn't too biased − though I've heard that all of the Honduran media is biased and some, or most, are owned by the corruptos. The Canal 10 news is very clear, they often have interviews with top guys involved in the stories, and it's done very professionally, although they do tend to waste a lot of news time on their nightly polls or counting the rest of the days, minutes, and seconds until the end of the year (for what purpose, I have no idea).
At least they don't show quite so much gory stuff as some of the other channels. For example, if someone gets their head cut off (sorry, but it happens more Honduras than you might think), there is one station that will show the head to you, or uncover a pile of mangled, bloody bodies for people to see, etc. It just seems so disrespectful of the dead and so horribly inconsiderate of their family members. El Jefe says that lots of people laugh when they see these bodies. I can't understand that.
(Sidebar: Last night's poll was: How would you characterize the US's contribution to Honduras? Positive or negative. It was a phone in poll and the last count I saw was 80% positive and 20% negative.)
Back to the funny part: They started interviewing someone. He was an economic expert who I hadn't seen before. He was saying that the Honduran food supply wasn't in bad shape, that there was an amply supply of food being produced in the county, blah, blah, blah. (− yeah, but can anyone afford to buy it anymore?) I was so impressed with his Spanish. He spoke so clearly. I loved it.
I said, "I wish all Hondurans talked like that! Then I could understand all of the news."
El Jefe started roaring with laughter and almost fell out of his chair. He said, "He's a GRING-GOOOOOOO!!"
Oh.
I didn't know. :-/
El Jefe did admit, under duress, that the guy's Spanish was very good, but there was no mistaking his accent for a Honduran − for El Jefe anyway.
For those who live in Honduras, aren't the Mrs. Pickford margarine commercials a hoot? Actually, I haven't seen any for a long time so I don't know if they are still showing them, but I'll never forget them!
For those who don't live here, this gringo in heavily (what sounds like) Okie from Oklahoma-accented Spanish, if you can imagine that, tells people how delicious the margarine is. It might possibly be the worst accented Spanish I've ever heard. But funny!
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