Mission in Mexico - Part 3

Doing Improv

This is another in a group of posts to keep you all up to date on what I’m doing in Mexico.

I’ve been learning to improvise. There is no WiFi available here yet, although they say they used to have it — one more thing that doesn’t work. So I’m using a hotspot from my phone to get my laptop online. It is painfully slow, and my connection gets even slower if I hit my maximum data allowance for a day, but if you’re reading this, it worked.

I wanted to create some handouts for the groups I’m leading at the orphanage, but I don’t have a printer, so I formatted them as best I could and then sent them by WhatsApp (everyone here uses WhatsApp) to one of the pastors who has access to a printer. They turned out fine.

Then I was trying to find some magazines that had pictures of people in them, so kids could try to identify different emotions from the pictures. No luck. I know everything has gone online, but they still print Time and People, right? Anyway, none of the stores within my limited walking distance had any magazines. I was about ready to give up when I found some coloring books in the supermarket. The faces in the books (both the animals and the people) should work.

I put together some Bible questions, which don’t challenge the children much — they are very good here at teaching the basics. (Quick: Who were Daniel’s three friends? A: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.) Anyway, I couldn’t find a way to print them on card stock, so we’ll do some kind of oral speed test.

The locked door.

One morning I was in a kindergarten age class and one of the kids shut the door. When the teacher tried to open it, the handle just turned freely, and the door didn’t budge. Two children were outside pounding on the door. Some of the students asked, “Can we get out?” The teacher distracted the kids with a new lesson, and I used a pair of scissors to take apart the lock. It was a ninety degree day and I was sweating from heat and stress. After 20 minutes when I finally got the door open, I felt like MacGyver from the old TV show.

What I’m learning is that people here improvise every day. And they make things work.

I’m ending all these posts the same way:

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