Bitten by the Bu Yo

From the first day that I arrived at ARI everyone warned me about the "bu yo" (pronounced: boo yo). Supposedly it looks kinda like a fly, but it bites or stings you, leaving a little mark. You usually don't even feel it at first, but gradually the blood comes to the surface and it starts to itch. Within a few days the area around it will turn red and swell a little bit. Sometimes the skin around it even turns blue and looks like a bruise. It doesn't ever really hurt, but if you get stung on your face (especially your eyelids), it swells A LOT!
I had prided myself on avoiding the "bu yo" for 3 weeks, but last week, I finally got to experience the bite of the "bu yo." I've been working in the field for food life in the morning and evening. The "bu yos" are out like mad in the evening. So after an hour of weeding I glanced down and saw the telltale mark. One of my group members from Sri Lanka tried to squeeze out the poison so it wouldn't swell, but we were too late and by dinner my arm was red, but luckily not hurting. Tonight I became an official "bu yo" veteran after riding my bike through one of our fields. I have 4 new bites, but luckily they haven't bothered me yet!

We have been very busy this week! I finally learned why everyone here is so tired. They've been living like this since March. I think that I was just on a green tea high for the first 2 weeks. I was having at least 1-2 glasses with each meal, but I quickly cut back after realizing that my teeth were beginning to turn green!
I led "morning gathering" this week. It's a short devotional time that we have each morning and it's led by a community member. I was a little bit nervous, but it ended up being super fun! I started it with the song "Rise and Shine and Give God the Glory," complete with dancing Camp Glisson style. It was so fun to look out and see everyone with smiles on their faces, just singing and dancing and having a good time!

I finally got to see the sun last week! It was the first time in about 2 weeks! It has been raining at least once a day every single day since I arrived. We were all so happy to see the sun! We went for an evening bike ride without having to carry umbrellas or wear rain coats! It was great!