I promised a few people I would keep them updated on any nasty creepy crawlies that I acquire here. So far it’s been pleasantly uneventful. But here’s a little anecdote.

I noticed a few days ago that one of my toes was a little bit sore. I check it out, and there’s a little bit of a what looks like a blood blister near the nail, so I assume that I stubbed it, and thought nothing more of it. The next day, it was still hurting, and the pain was a little worse, which led me to believe it was not a mere stubbed toe I was dealing with. So our cleaning lady/friend Regina is over doing her thing, and I’m like ‘Regina, what’s going on with my toe?’ She takes one look at it, starts cracking up, and says ‘E uma pulga! E grande esta pulga!’

Everyone has warned me about pulgas, apparently, when the cold arrives, all 70 degrees F of it, so do these little bugs. They’re about the size of a grain of sand and when you walk in the sand, they can get into your toenails. Apparently everyone gets them, our neighbor boy loooves to tell us stories of how the volunteer before us got pulgas and thought he had to go the hospital and everyone laughed at him.
So back to Regina. She’s still going on about how this pulga is huuuge and why did I not come to her earlier and it is eating good in my foot, on and on… And I’m like ‘just get it out! That’s disgusting!’ So she goes away , still laughing, and comes back with a crab claw and tells me to sit down. She takes my foot and begins to tear away all the skin in like a half cm range of the tiny blood blister thing.

R:Oooh yeah, it’s a big one, it’s sucking the blood, yes it is
S: Oooww
R: HAHAHA she’s going to cry (then speaking to her 4 year old daughter) just like you, when I pulled out your pulga!
S: I am not going to cry but is it really necessary to remove a chunk of my skin?
R:Oooh, here come the children!
S (look down to see white puss stuff coming out of my toe, can’t even explain how gross it was)
R: There it is! Yes, that’s a big one, it was eating good!

And she pulled this white slug type thing out of my toe, leaving a huge bloody cavity at the top of my toe that is going to take forever to heal. So that is my first gross Africa bug living inside me story. But have many more pulgas to look forward to in my time here, apparently! Still not as gross as Brenna’s Giardia. Sick.

I’ve been in a list making mood lately, so here’s some of what’s been on my mind.
Stuff I miss from home:
-Peanut M&Ms
-Delivery pizza
-Starbucks
-Reality Television
-Resources! I miss the library so much.
-Dressing up to go out
-Happy hour
-Wireless internet
-Haircuts
-Going to a gym. Or not having people stare at you when you’re working out.
-Celebrating holidays and birthdays
-Oh yeah, and I guess I miss my family and friends…just a little bit..

Why I love it here:
-People wear shirts with ridiculously inappropriate English words/sayings (old lady in the market “too hot to handle”, kid at school trying to look all gangster complete with bling wearing a girls shirt declaring ‘sporty chick’)
-Helpful people, if my students see me carrying anything, they always offer to help
-Beautiful trees, perfect beaches
-Heated arguments that end in the exclamation ‘pa!’
-Awkward conversations that end in “estamos juntos”
-Kids can make toys out of ANYTHING
-Everyone can dance so well! I think they come dancing out of the womb…
-People shouting bad English “I am FINE and YOOOU.” And just laughing if you respond.
-10 second phone conversations are perfectly acceptable, even desirable! When you’re using prepaid phone credit, you say what you need to say and you get off the phone. I like this.
-Everyone holds hands. Not at all weird to see two guys holding hands and walking to school. It makes me smile.

Changes, for better or for worse…
-I will be the cheapest person ever when I get home. Living on a Peace Corps budget is definitely taking its toll.
-I’ve become such a litterbug. There are no garbage cans here or waste disposal system. I now just throw things on the ground and don’t even flinch about it anymore. Probably not a good habit to bring home.
-I love cooking, it is amazing how happy food makes me here. And I have a whole new appreciation for in season fruits and veggies.
-I think every guy that I meet to is hitting on me. But to be fair, they usually are. I think I’m going to be really full of myself when I go home. And then it’ll all be crushed when no one is offering to marry me on a daily basis.