08.03 Fri - The moment you get to a new village

Tojolobal: Plan de Ayala/A Gonzalez de LeonThe moment you arrive at an indigenous jungle village is often a mixture of eager anticipation, uncertainty, and apprehension. There are more unknowns than knowns. You have reason to believe things will go well, especially if it's a village Nathan or Steven has frequented before. And Mexicans are pretty friendly and usually quick to crack a smile and say hello after the strange tall gringo takes the first step and says "buenos diaz!"But you don't really know, as you step out of the vehicles to the stares of a few curious onlookers, how it's going to go. Is anybody going to come to the clinic? Or children's program? Will anybody want a water filter? Am I making an utter fool of myself?One of the first things we typically do is find the chief village authority and request permission to use a public place for the med clinic and other activities (usually granted). This time, while we were waiting for the authority to appear, a drunk gentleman sauntered over to us and began serenading Steven. A couple or so kids regarded us from a cautious distance with curious stares. They were easily spooked by the sight of a camera. Shortly thereafter permission for the clinic was granted, the med team set up shop, the announcement about a clinic blared from the town loudspeaker, kids began to show up and kick an unusually flabby soccer ball around, and patients began to line up.

Before long the clinic had snowballed to an overflow crowd with the doctor, Reuben, Tessa, Allison, and others working straight through lunch.  Meanwhile, our soccer friends gathered under an overhang to hear a story in the pounding rain. The kids were still spooked by cameras. They reportedly were averse to becoming poster children for government projects. However, curiosity won out and Rose soon secured another crowd of nervously excited subjects. As the clinic wound down, Aria, Julie, Hannah and others formed a violin-bottle-and-spoons pickup band, which was observed by the locals with great interest either for its artistic value or bizarre freak appeal, or some combination of both.We left the town glad for the chance to visit and enriched by the joy of our new friendships.-Chris