Paraguay Entry #2 October 27, 2007
Pike (pronounced peekay). One little tiny bug that has struck fear into all of our (norte) hearts. Basically, the female flea more or less. So you may be thinking what danger/fear could this small mite-like creature hold, well I guess it depends on how long you let it burrow into you. Yes, that's right, burrow. Let's start with the whole process. So, a pretty pike finds a nice soft spot on your body, usually around your toenail but this can happen on any part of your body that is soft and tender, then she burrows in until she's comfortable, by the way you don't feel her yet. But then she decides to start a family, so what does a pike do to start a family? It lays eggs. Lots of eggs. At this point you may think you have a small blister (this is day two by the way). On day three you see a small white blister with a tiny black dot in the center. At this point a Paraguayan would know what they had and dig it out. But as an all-knowing American (sarcasim) we believe this must be a recent development from walking everywhere like a maniac so we continue on. Day 5: our foot/feet hurt like hell and a small limp is developing. We want to show the doctor, but our feet are so ugly from all the walking, flip-flops, red-dirt, and mosquito bites, we hope the ugly blister will go away. Day 10: Shit, the once semi-present limp is now a semi-lame foot. Also, the now pea-size blister has a yelloish tint towards the center. We notice this on our way to the doctor and have an "ahhahh!" moment. It must be infected that is what the yellow stuff is and why it hurts so bad, all we need is neosporin, and sadly we turn back toward our houses and think about ways to make a crutch. Day 15: OK, this is out of hand, people are asking what happened to our leg. We're so confused because it's only the size of a pea, a swollen white/yellowish pea. Eventually, you decide to take off the gym shoes, which you started wearing to hide it, and show your host mom. As you nervously limp toward her (she looks concerned) you pick up your foot with the upmost confusion. She looks at it for about 3 1/2 seconds and bursts into hysterical laughter. She then proceeds to call in the rest of the family to look. Then taking an unsterilized needle she prods into your foot digging for who knows what. What is unbeknownst to us is she is actually digging out the egg sack taking precaution not to rupture the sack, for if that were to happen tiny pike would swarm out and reinfest the foot, starting the whole process over. After about 5 minutes of holding back tears she pulls out a peanut sized yellow sack (not an infection after all). Now there is a peanut sized hole in our feet. Welcome to Paraguay.