Crispy...

Howdy family, friends and whomever might be stopping by.

It's a balmy Friday night here in Cerro Azul. For some reason, I fell tired on the way home from work this evening. I have been going like a bat out of hell the last week, so rather than do a few improvised exercises on the Swedish ball, I elected to eat early and do some surfing on the net. Then it dawned on me that this would be a good time to shoot the bull on the blog.

The sun is out in force these summer days in Peru. More so when you're on antibiotics... All five rotations that I've been down here, some form of antibiotic has been a part of my daily caloric intake at times. Typically it's for my aching belly...this time it was for "small pox"...It seems that Luis and I both got some "pox" at the same time. He went to a "doctor" (note the frequent use of the quotes here) and was told he had virula...small pox! Since we both landed the bumps at the same time, I thought that it must be the case. Flashbacks of 3rd grade social studies class came rushing back into my mind...I remembered the terrible ills that befell the pilgrims and the explorers as they sailed West...whooping cough, rickets, scurvy...small pox! For a short while I thought I was doomed...Doomed until I decided to go see the site doctor myself. The night before I felt as though the "pox" got the best of me. I was beleaguered, tired, hot, cold, restless. I woke up the next day a bit more chipper, but far from the form I know to call 100 percent. The doc took a look and determined immediately that it wasn't pox but a few bug bites! Something must have snuck in from the beach or the site. Whatever it was, it packed a good punch....

Where this all leads is that I was given an antibiotic to clear up the bites and all...the bites went away as planned, and so did any resistance I had to the sun. Holy smokes. 20 minutes on a side to get a nice first go at the South American sun and I was fried like that chicken from Popeyes. I've gone through the molting process the last few days and should be dawning a completely new epidermis by the time I wake up tomorrow. Moral of the story folks...if you want to get some sun, don't pop an antibiotic with the morning Centrum....bad news lurks ahead.

That said, I'm heading to the beach tomorrow...but this time I'm more than prepared...NO antibiotics (no more bug bites) and the SPF 50 will be close at hand. After an early morning run, I'm meeting up with some friends from Lima at a beach just outside the city. As a token of my thanks for the invite, I'm taking a 20 lb watermelon and a bottle of pisco. Let the good times roll!

So, that's about it from this end. Amidst the children screaming and playing through the wee hours of the night, the weekly power outages, the water shortages and the crawling critters, things are fine and dandy down here.

Until next time, you guys and gals take care...get some good laughs in this weekend.

Scotty