As most of you already know, our little one scared us the other week when it looked like he was coming into the world early. Things have calmed down since then and I am happy to anounce that we have made it to 34 weeks! After the steroid shots and a little extra time cooking in the oven, he should be in good shape now for whenever he pops out (if only it were that easy). We are still hanging out in the city and Jenna is still taking it easy and is on bed rest. Some of the ladies here threw her a shower. All I know about the party is now we have lots of clothes... lots and lots of baby clothes!
In between taking care of Jenna, I have been busy helping with a group of 8 students from Palm Beach Atlantic University who are down here over their spring break. The first three nights they spent staying at our place out in Pailon and working out in the Poza Verde comunity. Each day I drove out to help direct a variety of projects we had going out there. They helped fix up a house for an Ayoreo pastor who is moving into the community, dug a pit for an outhouse, put in posts for a chicken run, clear brush from the Soy field (they loved using machettes), and ran some kid programs. Not only did I enjoy having the slave labor for a few days but it was fun watching them love on the kids of the community. It has also been encouraging watching them as their eyes have been opened to some of the needs in the world. It is one thing to hear about broken people, it is another to see and experience what they go through. Watching the college group has reminded me of my own journey to where I am now and of why I am here. It has also been fun pretending to be in college again, hanging out until 2am chatting. 
*WARNING* This next segment could be disturbing to those grossed out by the idea of parasites and their removal from body parts. Discretion is advised.
In the past month I have had enough parasite experiences to last quite a while. The first was what I thought was a small splinter in my little toe. I poked at it a bit but when it did not come out, I figured it would work its way out. In a day or so it started to look a little infected but still nothing to worry about until it kept growing and I could not seem to pop it out. One day I decided to show the missionary doctor here and when I took my sock off, a bunch of small eggs were falling out of my toe. Niguas! Small fleas that burrow into your skin and start reproducing. Mine had been there long enough to start several generations of young and quite a collection of eggs. Doctor Toni kindly removed the colony from my toe. Next, our dog Simon came down with a nasty case of Mange, also a parasite. After changing his diet and frequently bathing him, we were able to get the mange under control, but not before another visitor took up residence. One day I noticed two large holes in the side of his face with squirming creatures inside. Bot Fly larva! I covered the holes with gel to force the larva to come up for air where I could then pop them out. There are supposed to be 1 maybe 2 larva per hole. I pulled a total of 7 out of two holes! To wrap up the month of parasites, I discovered I had amoebas living in my digestive system. Gotta love the tropics!
Some of the bot fly larva I pulled from Simon's face
1 comment:
Ewwwwww!
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