Parasites

So unfortunately it finally happened. After being here a little less than 2 months, I got parasites. Unpleasant to say the least. Also unfortunately, I’m pretty sure I know how I got them. Last weekend the 5 of us left to go to San Marcos at about 12:30. Great timing for getting to the lake early, but it meant we had to skip lunch which is served between 1-2 pm at the home. Instead we decide to purchase food along the way. I TOTALLY forgot how hungry I was until we were on the bus. Very unfortunate. However, luckily for me (or unluckily I should say…) at most bus stops, vendors will get on and off the bus selling various goodies from bags of peanuts to tamales to tortillas, fresh fruit to bags of chips and sodas. After taking one look at the mangos I realized I was starving and asked for a bag of precut fruit.

Normally, the mangos here are DELICIOUS. Why anyone would decide to tamper with the delicious taste of a mango? I haven’t a clue. I was so stoked for my mango, and then I took the first bite. It was covered in cinnamon and something that tasted a little bit like peanut butter. Why would you EVER put peanut butter on a MANGO??? I think it was one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever eaten, but alas, there were no more vendors and I was still hungry…what could be the harm?

What could be the harm I thought?? Parasites. That’s what. The next day was when I got quite sick in San Marcos, and since then I’ve been sick every few days – apparently one of the symptoms of parasites here – sick for a day, fine for 2, sick for a day, fine again. BOO. Fortunately, my roommates were well versed in the world of parasites and came fully equipped with medicine – 2 days of pills and I’m parasite free! Woo!

Luckily I haven’t missed any school, but instead I’ve missed a lot of really cool happenings at NPH. This week was the “Dia del muerte de Padre Wasson,” that is, the Death date of Padre Wasson, the founder of all the NPH homes. On September 16th every year since his death in 2004, our home takes the opportunity to honor the man that gave his life to creating homes for everyone here. There is a mass and the children create pieces of art to show their love of Padre Wasson, whom they all adore and think of as their own father.

In addition, I missed the festivities on Friday, the Aniversario del Escuela (school’s anniversary), which included a big baile (dance) where each of the grades presented different dances they had worked on in class, and then fun outdoor games including…toss the water balloons, potato sack races, more dancing, futbol games, giant tic tac toe, and even an arm wrestling table (because what party would be complete without an arm wrestling table??) Regardless, I’ve been quite upset about missing so many awesome things (although there was ONE day that I didn’t miss – look out for that blog post!), but I’m quite happy to finally have figured out exactly why I’ve been so sick.

So what’s the moral of this ridiculously long story? NEVER buy fruit on a bus in Guatemala.