Well, our internet was down for a week, and we had lots of "fun" during that week. Kevin got really sick last Tuesday, and though a malaria test showed negative we started him on the medication on Wednesday, when I realized that if he got any sicker I'd have to take him to the hospital. So, he started treatment and within 24 hours showed noticeable improvement. He couldn't eat anything without throwing up for 3 days, though, and lost 8 pounds. He was pleased to be back to the weight he was when we married 17 years ago! At the same time, he had a nasty infection in his leg from a deep wound sustained during a small motorcycle accident the week before. I started treating that with a broad-spectrum antibiotic but after 4 days it really was not much better. A call to a local missionary doctor revealed that it was probably a staph infection, so a new antibiotic was in order. Today, 2 weeks after the accident, it is much better, though still swollen. We continue to hope it will improve and not have to be opened up and cleaned out!
Meanwhile, Benjamin had a nasty case of impetigo and had blisters and sores all over his body. Remember the photo of him with the purple spots? It got much worse than that. Started with ringworm and turned into the bacterial infection. It was itchy and nasty, and he shared it with Toby and I. Toby's spots seemed to not be spreading, but then a few days ago a whole new colony broke out in the other armpit and now he is also on antibiotics (which Ben ended up starting last week).
At the same time, Ben and I were locked in battle in the "vegetable wars". For two years, he's refused to eat veggies and finally I'd had enough. Needless to say, it was ugly but after 2 days of not eating, I won. He is just as stubborn as I am (Kevin says) but I am wilier. for now, anyway. I had a stomach bug all through this and Ben and I continue have upset tummies. We've been a mess!
Here is a photo of Toby and Ben's playhouse. Nice, huh? It was built by one of our guards, Carlos.
Next is our tire swing and water tank. The tank catches rainwater from the garage roof and is used for all the outside washing and watering. We could hook it up to the house and use it inside but that would take more work than we are willing to do right now. Plus the tank isn't big enough to take care of our needs during the dry season.
This lovely mango spider was in our backyard this morning. It is as big as my hand. Ick! However, I am told they don't bite and Toby spent a lot of time last year with little friends catching them. Ugh.
I decided to post a few photos of our backyard, which is looking rather more lush these days. Why no grass, you ask? It breeds mosquitoes. I'd rather have just the dirt and have fewer mosquitoes around. Just with the trees and shrubs, we've noticed a lot more mosquitoes this year. We have to keep our bed nets well tucked in at night to keep them out.
We constructed an arbor across the back porch to grow passion fruit vines and shield the porch from sun and from the rain that drives in. We've already got some fruit going and I look forward to making some juice! In our yard are also papaya trees, banana trees (we've been enjoying those lately), an orange tree, mango tree, and guava tree. Also something called "coracao de boi" or "heart of ox" which I really don't like at all but Kevin does.
Our backyard is full of flowers, zinnias. Right now. Fernando knows how much I love flowers so he plants them all over the place. They are great for making a bouquet and taking to a friend.
And lastly, here's a photo of Fernando, our guard, playing with Ben. He is really such a nice man and the kids love him. it is very rare for an adult man to play with children here, but he is good-humored about it when Ben takes his hand and asks him to play. We go out and save him after a few minutes! - Cami
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