On The Loose: Day 7, Thursday, Empalme Once Again

"One more beautiful morning in Mexico!

Brenda and her crew fed us a delicious breakfast...similar to lasagne, but made with tortillas instead of pasta and salsa instead of marinara sauce, and topped with lots of mozzarella. Yum!

Toward the end of the mission, we're all getting a little punchy. I caught Jessica and Dr. Juan (who often treated Jessica years ago when she was a tiny blonde, chubby little patient!) making shadow puppets at breakfast with the horizontal morning sun behind them.

It's wonderful to see how the mission forges intergenerational friendships! Lucas and Curt, who are about the right age span to be grandson & grandfather, have developed a close relationship this trip:

Our location today was another part of the city of Empalme. This time we set up in a commercial plaza which is often rented out for parties, wedding receptions, quincineras, etc. This was our cleanest space yet, and once again we enjoyed the luxury of running water!

A sign had been posted for several days in advance to announce our clinic, so the local people knew we were coming.

Another day with our usual set-up and ministry stations. But this day had a very special addition. A local pastor, Pastor Alfredo, and his wife Estela, wanted to show their support for our mission and to be a part of it. Estela saved her money for most of the year to buy the ingredients to make 350 sandwiches and buy 350 bottles of water to share with the team and with all the local people who came for medical care. What a beautiful sacrifice! We offered to reimburse her from the ministry funds, but she would have nothing to do with that idea. This was a gift she worked all year to provide, and it was beautiful to see the smiles on the faces of the waiting patients as we offered them tortas y agua.

Estela had also made a beautiful fresh salad for the team to eat in the trailer...

...with ALL the fixin's: shredded chicken, mixed nuts, croutons and dressings. What a treat!

One thing most people notice immediately upon entering Mexico is the amount of litter all over the place. The Mexican people are simply not as tuned into keeping the land clean as those of us in the U.S. are. So after a lunch like this in the public square, there were plastic bags, bottles and peanut shells everywhere. We thought we'd wait until everyone left and then clean up after them. But two sweet young senoritas took it upon themselves to clean up after their neighbors. They located a broom and dustpan, and moved around the entire plaza several times cleaning up all the trash and discarded food. And after they started that, I noticed more of the people looking around for a garbage can to deposit their trash. It reminded me that sometimes words or lectures aren't needed; all it takes is a small, positive action on someone's part.