Is that a ZIT????

(WARNING: NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART)

First, it resembled any other facial irritation. Zit? Ingrown hair? Bug bite? Hard to tell. But a few passing days left one of our volunteers, Ben, worried his face might be home to something more.

It started with the unusual swelling and was followed with colorful discharge. Eventually the swelling went down, but sharp sporadic pain continued. No amount of South American-grade antibiotics seem to take any effect.

Any guesses?

I wouldn't have known either- at least not until Ben went to wipe his face one morning and discovered dead black larvae.

Still no guesses?

A BOTFLY! There were two to be exact. The first expelled, a small black larva, was the dead twin of a very large, very alive botfly larva still at home in Ben's face.

For a quick lesson, botfly's are fairly common insects slightly larger than mosquitos. They use this size to pin down mosquitos and lay their eggs on them. The mosquitos then deposit the eggs in their next meal. The larvae grow inside the animal, or human, until they have cocooned themselves. (Not to fret, they excreet antibiotics that keep their environment immaculate and healthy). After cocooning, they expel themselves and eventually become an adult botfly.

So for the next two days we tried vaseline, tape, tobacco, and more to asphyxiate and lure the beast out of its den in Ben's face. (Check the videos out). Ben and I spent the better part of 3 hours playing something resembling Whack-a-Mole as the larva poked its backside in and out in search air, but the creature was too fast.

Look closely, you'll see it peeking out.

Sofía trying to smoke it out

Finally, at the suggestion of our secretary, Katya, we gave some veterinary substance a go. Sure enough, the now-lethargic larva was peaking out in 30 minutes after applying the magical substance. One quick pinch with the tweezers, and the creature below was unearthed from Ben's face.

Victorious!! (Sorry I missed the actual removal, I was in the middle of a call)

  

The little brown rings? Those are spikes. The black things up top? Teeth.

The Magic Potion

Recently single and happy.

And the sunset of the month!!

WAR EAGLEEE!!!!!

Awesome game. War Damn Eagle! Even the bartender at the Araña seemed to appreciate the win (although that might have been due to the unusual Monday night business).

Still, WAR EAGLE!!!



Happy New Years

Before I go into the New Years celebration, I have one comment. Alabama´s influence in Ecuador has either a.) grown since the last time I was here, or b.) I've become more observant. "b" might be a bit of a stretch...

ANYWAYS, I spotted yet another great shirt from good ole dixieland.



And, for all you Camp Mac alumni, do you remember "Movie Call"? That song that sounded like someone trying to imitate popcorn on the keyboard?  Well, it's in Ecuador. Some fellow had it popping right out of his phone (quick side note: many Ecuadorians AREN'T fans of headphones, instead opting to share their music with everyone in the vicinity). So, like I said, Alabama has some pull in Ecuadorian culture, intended or not.

Now onto the New Year's celebration.

In order to celebrate the new year and the passing of the old year, Ecuadorians make life-size and bigger paper maché or stuffed manikins called monigotes or años viejos (old years). These años viejos wear masks representing people who have done something bad, good, funny, or just about anything else over the year.

At midnight, they burn the años viejos to usher in the new year. All the while, las viudas (the widows) of the años viejos are represented by men running around in drag. They often string rope across roads, demanding a small toll from any vehicle wishing to pass. I've added some pics of the festivities below.

Not sure who the centaur represents, just thought it was pretty awesome.

 Below are two años viejos of President Rafeal Correa, a common choice to burn because of the dramatic "attempted coup" a few months back. These were two of my favorite

KILL ME MY FRIENDS!!!

One of the "viudas"

Don't worry, it stopped.

This was only half the supply at one store, and it was ALL EMPTY at 7:00 PM 

Some of the años viejos on my street.

Miner (?) heading towards an unhappy ending.

One of the burnings.



At the stroke of midnight, the años viejos were burned, people hugged (sorry guys, New Years kiss isn't tradition down here), and dancing proceded until the wee hours of the morning. Not a bad way to usher in the New Year.

My resolutions? I have a couple. 1. No more soda (except the occasional mixed drink- it's tougher than you'd think in this heat). 2. Do a better job of letting people know what they mean to me. Easy enough, right? Nothing that guayusa and guayusa ceremonies can't help me achieve.

To wrap up this entry, a compare and contrast with my sis' life.

Ryne has fires to warm the spirit and ward off -40 degree (farenheit or celsius) temps. We have fires to burn off old spirits and, honestly, they don´t change the temp that much.

Happy 2011 to everyone!