The Attack of the Allergies!!!

Good morning, friends! It actually feels a bit more like afternoon to me, even thought it's not yet 10am. That's mainly because I've been up since 5:15... Allow me to fill you in...

Last week, I had that crazy episode of hives and got to explore a Haitian pharmacy, an interesting world in which you don't need a prescription for anything and the pharmacist doesn't know his numbers in English great so you may not know exactly which doses you're getting (totally understandable, after all, i need to learn Creole and i can still look at the bottle :o). Thankfully, I've been pretty much hive free since Monday, when my area director made a House-like diagnosis. :o) As many of you know, House, MD, is my least favorite medical TV show... mainly because some information is withheld until the last 5 minutes of the show, so House looks awesome and smart and the poor PA following the show would never have guessed that diagnosis without that very important clue. Well, props to Dan Irvine, my amazing area director!! Monday night, he informed me that the mosquito netting on my bed is treated to ward off bugs, and as soon as we removed it, my hives went away!! So, I thought that we had solved the mystery... until now.

A little more background... This has been a interesting week for language! I found some Christian Creole music videos and have been loving them!! Here's my favorite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6WyA-f3JdI&feature=related, and it's called "Where's your Bible?". I don't understand much else, but it's been fun to watch and I learn a little more each time I see it. I went from picking out words to understanding some phrases. And-- my favorite part-- it totally counts as my homework!! :o) If only all of my schooling growing up included youtube!! :o)

I've also been practicing with Esther every day. Esther is the 16 year old niece of our housekeeper, and she lives here in Port with her aunt to go to school. Her family is back on LaGonave, the island where I'll be headed for most of my time here in Haiti. Esther and I have formed a mutual admiration society/homework help group, and I'm proud to call her my first friend! ;o) I really felt like we were friends when last night, she asked if she could come visit me over Christmas break, when we'll both be on LaGonave. Soooo fun! So, mainly, we meet up every evening, and she helps me with Creole and I've been helping her with her English and Spanish homework... Yeah, you read that right-- Spanish!!! At first, I thought my brain was going to shortcircuit teaching my second language in my third, but it was actually really neat! And she is so patient with me Creole! I am so blessed to know her!

Last night, she told me about some several reactions that she has to mosquito bites, a terribly unfortunate allergy to have when you live in Haiti! She gets really bad hives, especially on her face. It was neat to be able to write down for her the names of some medicines that may help ease off her reactions. Also, I've been praying for ways to bless her and encourage her to love God more. Maya shared with us yesterday the huge need for youth ministry in Haiti, as over 50% of the population is under the age of 20!!! Any youth pastors wanna come join me? So, I feel like Esther is a little part of the reason that I'm here. Also, last night, it was amazing and peaceful to feel like I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be and doing exactly what I'm supposed to be doing. Such a neat feeling to sense that you're doing what you were created to do!! I highly encourage it! :o)  It was awesome to be able to communicate with Esther, love on her, and help her out a little medically.

So, I fell asleep last night praying for Esther, and woke up this morning around 5am looking like this...

That's me gettin' ready to fight that reaction with some Prednisone and Benadryl! Good stuff! And it was as much as I could open my eyes! And my whole right cheek was one giant hive! Well, the good side is that none of it itches, and hopefully the mosquitos will stay away from me today! :o) The not so good side is that I'm still not sure of the cause and my allergic reactions seem to be getting a little worse. Here's a little reminder of what I should look like! :o)

That's Maya and I in the kitchen hanging out... like normal people who can open their eyes! :o)~

So far, the meds are kicking in and I can open both eyes again and actually have both contacts in again! Hooray!! But I'm calling on all you wonderful people who pray!! Please join me in praying for allergy-free days and discovering their source! Thank you!!!

Once again, I had a great time with the Lord this morning as He encouraged me that His presence and peace are available even when I can't see (literally). My devotional reading for this morning talked about how ever since His resurrection, when Jesus showed up, He encouraged His followers with the works "Peace be unto you" and that "I will never leave you or forsake you". So, I am so thankful for His peace and presence in the midst of this battle with reactions. Even though it's still a little hard to see, I can still study Creole by listening to those awesome music videos! Watch out, allergies, I'm ready to fight!!