A Funny List

Brazil has been great.  But for some reason fate or karma has made my stay here a little... uncomfortable, from time to time.  A few minor ailments have come upon me little by little in the time I have been here, and they didn't seem like that big of a deal in the time they happened, but when a friend pointed out to me yesterday, they make kind of a funny list when told together all at once.  So I thought I'd list out some of them.

• While the group was getting ready to leave the apartment one night, I had to go to the bathroom real quick.  On my way out, the hallway was pitch dark, and I didn't know where the light switch was (Brazilian houses have them in the most random spots sometimes), so I just decided to go by faith.  Unfortunately there was a wall in front of me which I did not see, into which I cracked my forehead and my big toe.  My forehead missed a nail that was sticking out of the wall by about an inch, which was lucky, but my big toenail broke.  We were in such a big hurry that I didn't make any mention of it to the group, but while we were walking I noticed that it started bleeding quite a bit.  
• While playing in the waves on the beach, there is a long, barnacle-covered rock halfway up the tide that a friend and I decided to go to.  I decided to sit down on the far side of it, which sloped down towards the ocean.  While I was sitting, a big wave came and literally pushed me back up the rock, sliding me on my back and arm.  Needless to say, the barnacles didn't sit too well with my bare skin.
• At night, sleeping in a hammock was starting to wear down my back, and I was waking up feeling like an old man, so I decided to sleep on a mattress next to Jaren.  Taking advantage of the situation, local mosquitoes/spiders/bedbugs/some other fourth thing decided to execute an attack on my newly-exposed legs.  They succeeded in getting pretty much everywhere that wasn't covered by gym shorts, but for some reason they picked one spot on my left leg, right in the back of the knee, where they seemed to have a kind of a little blood fest, so that part turned out looking like it has some kind of a disease.
• I started sneezing pretty profusely in the mornings, until it finally broke the morning barrier and lasted throughout the day.  My nose started omitting a never-ending stream of mucous, which I tried stopping with tissues like a bloody nose, until my host family decided that what I most needed to cure my ailments was some honey mixed with garlic.  Literally, chopped up garlic put into a container of honey.  Eaten by the spoonful.  The taste was so repugnant that after one day I told them their concoction had miraculously cured me, and I tried to make my sneezing not so obvious.
• I'm not sure if it was due to the garlic honey or some other thing, but my lips started feeling kind of funky and slowly started swelling up.  It started just a little bit in the corners, and over time spread to the middle of my upper lip, and now its inching along the lower one as well.  Its not too horribly bad, it just feels kind of weird when I try to eat and brush my teeth.  But it seems fine if I try to keep my mouth shut as much as possible.
• I've been shocked a couple times by bumping the electric shower head while taking a shower. 
• I was stung by an ant on the finger.

So there you have it, kind of funny when its all bunched up together in one list.  But in all honesty, I have been having a wonderful time here--I haven't been sunburned, or bitten by sharks, and until now there hasn't been any sign of a stomachache.  I haven't been mugged or attacked or flirted with by anyone sketchy.  The family's poodle that likes to wander into open bedrooms and leave his mark on beds and pillows hasn't made it to mine.  Thus, I have zero reason to complain.  Brazil is still too legit to quit.