Mexico V
Entry posted by Etcetere
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I've just returned from my fifth trip to Mexico. I haven't been on BZP for so long because I've been fasting in preparation for it. And I don't think I'll be very active on BZP from now on, though I'm not abondoning it or anything.
Anyways, this past week has been astounding. Astonishing. Incredible. Spectacular. But in all the ways that aren't allowed to be particularly mentioned on BZP. It's basically the same thing that we did way back in October, but doubled. The group was about 5 members larger than October as well.
We were able to make a much closer bond with the students we were staying there with, like Carlos and Dani (aka Panke) and Lalo (aka Eddy) and Tomas and Jossue, and also the interens like Debbie, Rhema, Nick, and Monica. Carlos kept stealing my hat, and it didn't help that the Carlos from our team assisted in him bugging me. But still, me and Carlos had a tight bond, despite the times we'd shout "tu quiete" to eachother. "I love you, Stephen" he'd say in an accent while he stood on the other side of a car, avoiding me. "Yo te amo tambien, Carlos," I'd reply in a worse accent.
All the youth from my group was really really 100% into what they were doing. In each of the dramas we did, everybody poured their best effort, regardless of how talented they were. Believe me, we had many instances to be lazy, or complain, or fight. But our focus was on what really mattered. Some of us were thrown into roles in dramas and skits that we had only seen a couple times and never practiced, but everyone pulled their assignments off flawlessly. Even when there were acting errors, mostly slipping or missing a cue, we played through it. Like the times where I was the boyfriend and slipped while walking arm in arm with my "chica" Michelle, or when Ashley slapped Billy before he even said his line. Or when I jumped a little too hard and twisted my ankle.
One of our more interesting stories involved our female audience. The girls, mostly at the middle schools we went to, would scream and cheer every time Will or I walked onstage. After the presentations, they would swarm around us as we tried to pass out flyers with their cell phones and questions about e-mails and names and una photo por favors. One school was out of control, so I grabbed Will and we ran into the guy's bathroom. The next school was even worse. As we walked back to the bus, the girls crowded around Will and were literally trying to grab him - I'm not even slightly exaggerating. He just ducked and ran through them all, but I used a tactic my pastor jokingly suggested. I stuck my finger way up into my nose, making sure all the girls could see the glob I pulled out and stuck into my mouth. It worked, a little. The crowd around me suddenly grew less interested, but the cell phone cameras still clicked. I wonder how many girls in Nuevo Laredo are showing off their photographs of Etcetere picking his nose. At least it served to get rid of the distraction that blocked the message of what we were there for. In the schools that followed, Will and I specifically prayed for a more mature female audience. Go ahead and label whatever coincedences you want on it, but it really helped. Anyway, I've thankfully had enough celebrity attention. I'm back in America, back to being a nerd.
Back to more serious matters, Wednesday night was one of my most amazing experiences I've ever had, though I'm limited in what I can share on this privately owned website.
I learned more Spanish in this week, and grew closer to my fellow youth members. But there's a more important thing that was achieved this spring break - over 6200 people reached with some very, very good news.
(o)
Anyways, this past week has been astounding. Astonishing. Incredible. Spectacular. But in all the ways that aren't allowed to be particularly mentioned on BZP. It's basically the same thing that we did way back in October, but doubled. The group was about 5 members larger than October as well.
We were able to make a much closer bond with the students we were staying there with, like Carlos and Dani (aka Panke) and Lalo (aka Eddy) and Tomas and Jossue, and also the interens like Debbie, Rhema, Nick, and Monica. Carlos kept stealing my hat, and it didn't help that the Carlos from our team assisted in him bugging me. But still, me and Carlos had a tight bond, despite the times we'd shout "tu quiete" to eachother. "I love you, Stephen" he'd say in an accent while he stood on the other side of a car, avoiding me. "Yo te amo tambien, Carlos," I'd reply in a worse accent.
All the youth from my group was really really 100% into what they were doing. In each of the dramas we did, everybody poured their best effort, regardless of how talented they were. Believe me, we had many instances to be lazy, or complain, or fight. But our focus was on what really mattered. Some of us were thrown into roles in dramas and skits that we had only seen a couple times and never practiced, but everyone pulled their assignments off flawlessly. Even when there were acting errors, mostly slipping or missing a cue, we played through it. Like the times where I was the boyfriend and slipped while walking arm in arm with my "chica" Michelle, or when Ashley slapped Billy before he even said his line. Or when I jumped a little too hard and twisted my ankle.
One of our more interesting stories involved our female audience. The girls, mostly at the middle schools we went to, would scream and cheer every time Will or I walked onstage. After the presentations, they would swarm around us as we tried to pass out flyers with their cell phones and questions about e-mails and names and una photo por favors. One school was out of control, so I grabbed Will and we ran into the guy's bathroom. The next school was even worse. As we walked back to the bus, the girls crowded around Will and were literally trying to grab him - I'm not even slightly exaggerating. He just ducked and ran through them all, but I used a tactic my pastor jokingly suggested. I stuck my finger way up into my nose, making sure all the girls could see the glob I pulled out and stuck into my mouth. It worked, a little. The crowd around me suddenly grew less interested, but the cell phone cameras still clicked. I wonder how many girls in Nuevo Laredo are showing off their photographs of Etcetere picking his nose. At least it served to get rid of the distraction that blocked the message of what we were there for. In the schools that followed, Will and I specifically prayed for a more mature female audience. Go ahead and label whatever coincedences you want on it, but it really helped. Anyway, I've thankfully had enough celebrity attention. I'm back in America, back to being a nerd.
Back to more serious matters, Wednesday night was one of my most amazing experiences I've ever had, though I'm limited in what I can share on this privately owned website.
I learned more Spanish in this week, and grew closer to my fellow youth members. But there's a more important thing that was achieved this spring break - over 6200 people reached with some very, very good news.
(o)
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