Illness at the edge of civilization.

We're a puny family. We moved to the jungle but needed no malaria or amebas or poisoned bites to get us down. No, in the last 2 weeks all four of us have been put on antibiotics for simple things like ear infections and strep throat. But it really has proven that these “simple” things can be a bit difficult when one takes into account the proximity to medical care, the lack of luxuries – like say a bath – that one so longs for with a 104 fever, an allergic reaction to amaxacillian by the little one – that led to days of hives for her and nights of no sleep for me – the feverish one. Oh yeah, don't forget this all started on our drive up here, which was followed the next day by the arrival of 15 teenagers and adults from a church in Indiana – who shared our living space through the entire ordeal. Jason asked us recently how we are liking it here and I just gave him a blank stare. I have no idea how I will like it here in a “normal” week.... oh dear Lord I hope these haven't been normal weeks. All in all, apart from the sicknesses I thin things are going better than we expected. Dru seems to be thriving here... already making great friends in the community and loves to work with the short term teams. Jude seems to love it.. all though we have been keeping his activity down. And well, Lucy got a tooth in the midst of it all and seems to love licking the dirt off of our floors (And there has been plenty of it with over 20 muddy sweaty people traipsing through for each and every meal – or just to “stay hydrated”). Amazingly one can stay hydrated from the water that comes out of my kitchen sink!!! Which is astounding for this part of the world (Thanks team). Also, today I just got shelving put up in a pantry, which is a rarity as well (Thanks Nate) – but such a necessity as keeping things off of the floor is one of the best ways to help inhibit mold growth. And does mold grow! It seems that half the food we brought up already molded.. so we are still looking for a solution to that. And the humidity is caused by incessant evening showers that pound so hard on the tin roof I can barely hear myself think. It will take some getting used to. Then maybe we can get to work. All of this to say that had I written this blog 48 hrs ago we would have been at a C- but a lowered temperature, a clearing rash, and a teenager who is starting to show initiative bring us back up into the B's.