It's Definitely Fleas

Well, I have been besieged with bug bites since I returned to Ollanta. At first, they seemed to like my ankles, then my right leg, then my shoulder/armpit area, then my back and stomach. Now, they just seem to like anywhere they can sink their teeth in. I was perplexed though, because they are not really looking like flea bites. They look like mosquito bites and itch like crazy. So I have been trying to figure out what kind of bug could be eating me alive. I thought maybe it was some kind of fly, but last night, I came to know the truth.

I was sitting on my bed checking my email when I felt something tickling on my chest. So I lifted up my shirt and lo and behold, a flea jumps right off my boob to my pants and then to God knows where. So, it is fleas. I must have some different reaction than other people to their bites to make them swollen. I regularly wake up in the middle of the night scratching the crap out of my ankles and legs due to the itchiness of the bites. I can't even count how many I have. I am now very paranoid about fleas in my clothes. I put my workout pants on the other day before doing my exercise and as I was doing the warm-up, I felt all little bites on my right thigh. So I dropped my pants right there and sure enough, I had been bitten about 12 times in that short amount of time. Ugggghhh, I hate bug bites that itch!!

Yesterday was a really fun family day. We all slept in a bit and it was nice and sunny when we woke up. Celestino cooked pancakes for us (more like crepes) and we had a good breakfast. After breakfast, Shura, Celestino and I bathed our dog, Sando. As we were finishing up with the bath, Celestino turned the hose onto Shura and I so the games began. Remember, it is the end of Carnavales right now so the water games are at a peak. Shura, Ana and I ran to get our buckets and we proceeded to douse Celestino time and time again. He was able to get some good ones on us, so we were all a bit wet, but he was drenched. He never stood a chance with 3 against 1.

I went for a nice hike after changing out of my wet clothes. After a shower, we had a great lunch and then just chilled out. I read for awhile and then we watched the movie 127 Hours. After dinner, I did some reading and then hit the sack. We really all had a great day just playing and chatting and laughing. It was a lot of fun. Shura and I finished up the invitations and envelopes for Fabricio's birthday party. We also made the list of all the things we need to buy for the party. I can't believe they are about to spend over 800 soles on this party. Considering minimum wage for a month's work is 600 soles, that should let you know what they are spending. I plan on helping out with the party.

Today I am heading out to the Yanahaura posta to see how the last day of a dental campaign with US dentists is going. I've been trying to round up Peruvians to go, but no one is interested. They don't really like the dentist here. Probably because they only go when they need a tooth pulled due to decay.

Hope everyone has a good week. Sunny is back so I will be able to focus on the Posta. I have a birthday party to attend for Hallie's old host brother Alex, on Friday. He is turning 11. I bought him a soccer ball. Now he won't have to share with his brother, Luis!