Dengue Fever

Near the end of October I (Amy) went to the school nurse one morning because I felt feverish. My temperature was 102 degrees. I felt achy and figured it was just some type of flu bug. Before I left the nurse's office she asked if I had a headache. I didn't have one but she mentioned that those symptoms could mean dengue fever. The only way to get dengue fever is to get bitten by an infected mosquito. As the days progressed, it became clearer that I probably had dengue. I guess I came in contact with a really nasty mosquito. The symptoms of dengue fever are miserable: fever, bad headache, nausea, dropping platelets and extreme tiredness. These symptoms go on for a week or longer.

A few days later Brian got a fever and a headache. He also must have bitten by a dengue mosquito. Our days passed slowly. We took turns heading from the bedroom, to the couch, to the bathroom. For many days we ate only crackers and tried to drink a lot of fluids. Doctor visits and blood work added to our dismal week.

We're so grateful that we didn't get the more serious kind of dengue. In some cases, the platelets drop so low that people need to be put in intensive care for dangerous bleeding issues or require blood transfusions. However, we're still much more cautious about wearing mosquito repellent. We certainly don't want a repeat of those miserable weeks.

Bright spots during our sickness:

*e-mails from friends, family and supporters

*fun cards from the students at school

*food deliveries by teachers who care about us

*help from the school nurse

A few weeks after our recovery, we saw this sign on the back of an exterminator's truck. Maybe we should keep these phone numbers handy!

Our Morning Walk on Christmas Eve Day

We went for a walk yesterday morning, and we thought we'd share the sights with you. Take a peek at what we see on this December morning.

The people who live in this house raise roosters for cock fighting. We are very glad we don't live next door to all this early morning crowing!

This man goes up and down many different streets looking in and by the trash barrels to try to find plastic jugs to recycle for money. This is probably how he earns his living.

This is a roasted pig on a pole. They're selling this pork along the side of the street. Roast pork is one of the traditional foods for the midnight Christmas Eve dinner. This roast pork is called puerco asado.

The head is actually sold too because people like to eat the snout and the ears.

This is another roast pig. If you look just behind the table to the left you can see the scale where the salesman could weigh out the amount of pork that you want.

Public cars called conchos run routes through the city of Santiago. You can get on and off at any point along the route. These cars are usually rather rickety, and they often cram seven to eight passengers in the car. It costs about 15 pesos per person for a ride. That's about 50 cents.

This man is selling avocados to people who are driving down a main road near our house. When the cars stop for the red light, he goes from car to car trying to make a sale. The woman trailing behind him is selling phone cards to add minutes to cell phones. The name of this cell phone company is Orange.

Christmas with las niñas de Dios

We had a special Christmas celebration with the girls at the local orphanage that we visit each Thursday night. Usually we go there to teach an English lesson, but on this night we were there to celebrate Navidad with them. Their joy was contagious. It was so much fun to see their excitement.

There are four of us from Santiago Christian School that go to this orphange each week. This past Thursday night we arrived with cookies to decorate, Christmas music in Spanish, a craft, and gifts. Among the gifts we gave them were towels embroidered with each of their names. We also placed a personalized note in every gift box that included the words of Isaiah 43:1. "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine."

It is our prayer that each of these girls will embrace the love of God. Likewise, it is our hope that our interactions with students at Santiago Christian School will cause them to understand God's great love for mankind in sending the Christ-child, Immanuel, to earth. We are grateful to God for giving us the opportunity to share the gift of his son with others.

Click on the triangle to see the video of all their excitement.