Lice Shampoo is Not a Condiment

Living in Guatemala

Today we all slept in, it felt positively decadent. Kier, her friend, and I went to buy Madi a swimsuit and a dress for Kier’s graduation. Not an easy task here. For the swimsuit there is one tiny store toward the lake. Mission accomplished. We got her a really cute swimsuit and a beautiful purple sundress. Kier went and got her hair cut. There is one person in town who does gringa hair, and you have to make appointments weeks in advance.

Paul and Cali had a great little day together. They went to PanaRock, went shopping for shorts and some had ice cream. Paul is leaving early tomorrow morning, so it’s his last day. It was Cali’s turn for a little solo daddy time.

Then we had a delish bbq supper that Paul made. For Mother’s Day he got me a new wedding ring replacement. I don’t have my actual ring here, it’s in Canada.

Lice is evil incarnate. The day I said, “Isn’t it great that we have never had lice all the different times we’ve been in Guatemala,” Cali says her head has been itchy. That was many weeks ago, and I’ve been shampooing her head, her bedding and clothes, checking the other girl’s heads, trying to keep everyone separate–not fun. I would not have survived the whole lice thing without the washer and dryer. Here the lice shampoo doesn’t come in a normal sized bottle, it comes in little envelopes that look like McDonald’s ketchup packets. The counter guy at two different pharmacies said you only need one per head. Whose head are they talking about, a mostly bald premature baby? Seriously? Seriously, people. We needed 10 packetitas for Cali’s head, 15 for mine and Madi’s, Kier needed a bazillion with her thick head of long hair. We bought out all the packets in the town for the first application. Then there are the challenges of applying the wee ketchup sized packets with your hands all soapy. You basically need one person to snip the packets and another to apply the shampoo. It’s a regular assembly line. The only reason I’m writing about this now is that I think we finally have the problem licked. Cali was the only one who had it, but for a while she was only allowed to hug her dad, because he has no where for lice to live. I’ve been checking her hair for nits daily for weeks.

In the evening we went to La Palapa, an outdoor bar, to hear the band. In the back beach part there is always a bonfire. Paul wasn’t feeling great so we left early. He also needed to pack, which is always a bit sad to watch.