I have Piojos

This morning I came to the conclusion that I have lice.  I have been expecting this day to come, considering that the children and even the mothers of the Breakfast Program all have lice.  I don't want to wear my hair up every single day of my life - the kids hug me at church on Sundays too, so I decided a long time ago that if I got lice I would deal with it.

I figure I did pretty well.  In a couple weeks it will have been a year and 1/2 of lice free hugging.  I am trying to stay mellow about it.  I asked Marlin to check me before we went to the airport to say goodbye to the Sarmientos.  She confirmed my belief.  I think I am pretty infested because she found a bunch and I am itching a lot.  I never had lice before.  I didn't realize how intensely it itches.

When I told Eunice she couldn't stop laughing.  I'm glad I am a constant source of comic relief for her.  I've asked a couple of people from the states who have had to deal with this.  Everyone is telling me to wash everything in hot water and dry it on high heat.  Well folks, I do not live in North America.  That is not possible for me.  The worst part is that it's been cold so I have a lot of bedding on my bed and it is all freshly clean  :(  My Aunt is telling me to bag it up for a month.  I may freeze to death before I get rid of these darn things.  But now I have a better idea of why the Moms in Los Pinos can't get rid of them.

So tomorrow I will head (hahaha, I wrote that without thinking) down to the Breakfast Program early, stop and buy a bottle of some sort of lice shampoo and a fine toothed comb, which I have now learned to say correctly.  Comb and the male genitalia have very similar names and I think I said it wrong today to the head of the church elders.  In fact I am sure I said it wrong to her.  Anyway.  Marlin is going to shampoo me and comb out my hair.  Thank God for Marlin.  She said she finds 3 lice every night in her daughter's hair.  Gosh.  What a crappy thing to deal with every single day.

BUT it has distracted me from the difficulty of saying goodbye to the Sarmientos.  They were all very strong and positive.  We took lots of pictures which I will upload tomorrow.  Lourdes's mom was even  very strong.  I think it will be hardest on her brother, Nestor.  They almost missed their plane.  At the third and final call to board the flight, Lourdes was still wrapped in her sister's arms and had yet to pass through security.  Luckily we were the only ones in the airport.  We said goodbye on one side, then ran to the other so we could wave at them from the top of the stairs after they passed through security and walked down the glass hallway to the gate.  I love it when Jairo does that for me, so I wanted to be sure we stood and waved to them.

I talked to Samuel Matute about a bunch of cool ideas he has for the Breakfast Program.  He wants the kids to go to a soccer field on Saturday mornings and get trained by a professional trainer!  He also wants to offer music lessons to some of the kids from Los Pinos.  He said anything else we can think of to enrich their lives, he would love to know.  I asked if he will be able to meet my pastor who is visiting from the US next weekend.  He said yes, and he was going to ask my pastor to send 4 more of me to serve at Iglesia en Transformación.  That was a nice compliment.

Walter's mechanic has been gone for over a week and I want my car to be running well when Lad (my US pastor)  gets here, so I think I am going to have to go to the agencia (dealership).  It will cost more, but we don't know when the guy we trust is ever coming back.  I don't want to leave the car with someone we don't trust and hope that it gets done before next Thursday.

I figure this is a very fitting day for me to get lice.  It makes me feel like I officially fit in to the Breakfast Program at a time when so much is up in the air.  Wish me luck getting rid of it.  Any advice is surely appreciated!