December 12, 2010

So I've had it. My head has been itching for over a month. About a month ago Cole got lice. I bought him a hat at the market. I did not, however, think about washing it before he wore it and.....therein lies the introduction of lice to our home. I started itching really badly about a week after that. Randy checked my head but saw nothing.  About 2 weeks after that I asked him to check again. He said he saw what appeared to be dandrift, flakes of skin all over my scalp. Well, this made sense since I've been using a cheap shampoo. I figured it was just dandrift. So I went to a big grocery store about 30 minutes from our house to buy Head and Shoulders.

Two weeks of using Head and Shoulders and ….. no change for the good. Wednesday I felt like I wanted to take a brillo pad to my head. So when Helena came over for language learning I asked her if she would look at my head and see what she sees. So she parts my hair and takes a look and says,

“Ohhhh, (tisk tisk tisk with her tongue) ratsy. Bibi baseka be. (tisk tisk tisk with her tongue)”

Translation “Ohhhh....bad....a very lot of bugs”

Great. And so we did language learning today with my head on her lap as she picked bugs out of my hair for 1 ½ hrs! Every 20 minutes or so I'd have to go wash them off of my hand (as that's where she was putting them) to make room for the next batch of bugs to meet their death through Helena's fingernails!

What a bonding experience. So glad I was here in Madagascar where it's normal to pick bugs out of your friends hair!

Well, it turns out I had such a bad case of lice after 1 month that I need to do this oil treatment every 3 days for a total of 4 times. Put special oil in your hair with a bag over your head for 30 minutes, so the oil doesn't get everywhere, and then rinse off with special shampoo. Randy and I decided to do everyones hair and make it a family bonding experience! Turns out that two days AFTER that wonderful evening Cole's got another batch. Great. Round two of oil and shampoo anyone? And so today we oiled our heads again and spent a the 30 minutes reading Aurther books to the boys. What fun.