Jan 7 2010

Sorry I forgot to post my Jan 7th blog! Here it is:

So today was a pretty typical day. Lunch with San Miguel, we taught the kids the game of Spud, and did what we do every day. O wait… NO TYPICAL AT ALL! So we were havin a great time cleaning this morning. Mary had her alternative music playin on her iPod and I had my country. We were jamming out while we swept and mopped and performed all of our daily chores. I started doing dishes and made quite a mess with the water so I grabbed the dish rag and began to dry myself off. As I ran the towel over my arm I felt a prick and an immediate burning sensation. I ran to the bathroom to try and wash off whatever was irritating my skin. After a few seconds of constant pain I yelled to Mary to check the towel and see if something was in it. My guesses were a thorn, allergic reaction to the detergent (we had just had the towel washed), ant, or fly. As I was freakin out in the bathroom, Mary suddenly got real quit and said, “Hannah, it was a scorpion. Let’s go.” Well that didn’t freak me out at all! I’m in South America and I just got stung by a SCORPION! Go figure. The burning in my forearm spread to my elbow and my wrist as we ran to the office to get Chris. I never saw the creature and tried not to look at my wound. Chris, Mary, and I ran to Casa Esperanza where Mama Jheanny apparently knew a lot about first aid. She rushed me to the bathroom where she proceeded to pinch and squeeze to try and get some of the poisoned blood out of my veins. Since my veins had already sealed Mama Jheanny suggested we go to the hospital. By this point I’m so freaked out, my arm is in so much pain, and Mama Jheanny’s squeezing was so painful it made me nauseous. In the end I sucked it up and told them I’d be fine without going to the clinic. We, after a long search, finally found the evil little thing and one of its buddies. We received a window wash to kill any more compadres. In the midst of our eventful morning we made a new friend. Kirk, another 18 year old who is staying here for 3 months, has a great first impression of me. Complete with puffy eyes and a wounded arm. GREAT! Since I am already in self-pitty mode I will continue. To complement my Nutella Goldfish addiction I occasionally snack on Trix cereal. Today I was eating out of the box and was apparently too tired to hold it upright. OF COURSE the entire box of delicious fruity cereal spilled onto the floor. It was a shining moment for me. But despite all of this, the day was good. One of the little boys in Kantuta house gave me a kiss on the cheek today and it made my week. In such a short amount of time, they care so much. Their ability to trust and love is astounding and is something I strive to mirror. I heard there was a snow day in Nashville… that would also figure that I am on the other side of the globe on a Snow Day. Hope everyone was safe and had fun! I miss you all! Chao