Land Of Parasites!

Today as I was walking all over town, I felt a dull pain in the bottom of my foot. It felt like a splinter and a thought came into my head that I may finally have what everyone has been talking about. Something no one likes getting but that sometimes is unavoidable no matter how much you wear your shoes and scrub your feet. Something that finds you, especially when it´s been really dry and there´s no rain to wash them away. Something that is a little painful but it´s not the pain that bothers you, it´s the fact that it invades you and makes a nest out of your foot......a parasite called Pique. (prounounced Peekay)

Pique is a tiny black insect that crawls into your foot, whereever it wants. It plants inself below your skin, makes an egg sack and then lays it´s eggs in your foot. When the eggs form a white circle around the black spot and this is how you know you have it. When the eggs hatch, they crawl out of your foot and find new hosts to lay more eggs. This is why it´s always a good idea to never go barefoot. I don´t think I have gone barefoot but it is still possible to get them wearing sandals.

When I got home, i took off my shoes and inspected my foot. I was disturbed to see the black dot with the white egg sack but kind of excited at the same time. All the fear and suspense of getting this dreaded parasite and here I finally had it and it wasn´t that bad after all. I went into my host family´s house and showed it to my host mom. She started laughing and said "yep, it´s pique, i´ll take it out for you". I debated whether or not i should let her take it out or wait until i went into Asuncion next week and have the Peace Corp doctor take it out. I decided with 5 kids she must be pro at taking these things out so i let her.

She told me not to worry because i had it in the best possible spot, the middle of my sole. Between the toenails would be a lot more painful. I steralized a needle and within a few min she had the the little sucker out. I put some neosporin on it and am parasite free once again. There was something very satisfying about taking it out, and I almost kinda liked it. I am not going to go out of my way to get more but i have heard about volunteers having competitions to see who can get the most! Animals carry these little parasites and the fact that we raise pigs tells me it´s very likely i will be getting many more during the next 2 years.

My host sister actually has pique right now as well but doesn´t want to take it out yet. She wants the eggs to grow a bit bigger so she can see it puss out when she takes it out! Pique can be very entertaining when there is nothing to do for fun around here.....haha. If there are any volunteers reading this right now in Paraguay.......Pique competition anyone????