So……..Vietnam. Why have I said nothing at all this month? Well, mainly because I’m lazy and a little because I’m really worried I’ll say something I’m not supposed to. Basically, all that I can say about this place is that it’s really cool. The food is good, the people are great, and I have AC for the first time in 9 months. Oh, and Skittles, Dr. Pepper, and Butterfingers. I LOVE THIS COUNTRY!!!! So, since I can’t really say anything about what I’m doing here, I’ll tell you some stories from Africa. A lot happened in the three months that we were there. So, there are more than a few stories that I wanted to tell you but never got the chance to. So why not? I’ll tell you some stories from Africa so you know that I’m still here and all.
First, I will tell you a less than funny story, which was really kind of scary when it all went down. Lace and I were in Kenya and we were tenting that particular month and it was hot.. So the stage is set. One night, I woke suddenly by something biting me on the leg. This had happened before, there were many ant colonies near our tent and they had on occasion snuck in while we entered, so I wasn’t to surprised as I reached down and flicked him off my shin. The move I made to remove him made him mad, so he bit and stung me as I reached. This of course made me mad so I smote him, rather than flicking him off me. Then I laid back down and tried to ignore the pain in my leg. As most of you may have some type of experience in this, you’ll likely identify with the paranoia you often feel after having a bug or some other creepy thing on you. You start to imagine more of them, enough to make you a little crazy for a few minutes smacking your arms and legs. I started feeling that, only a lot worse and every time I’d smack my imaginary attackers I’d get bit and stung by one somewhere else. It took literally 5 seconds for me to freak out. I sat up in the tent smacking myself and flailing like a madman. I then quickly climbed out of the tent to escape my paranoia, which I was quickly realizing was not paranoia. Once I was out and cleaned off, I started looking and found more and more ants around my side of the tent. Naturally, Lace then climbed out since she’s highly allergic to most insects, I mean it she’s allergic to cockroach dandruff. Cockroach Dandruff! Needless to say, fighting off crazed red army ants would not have been a wise choice. I finally traced the source of them to under my mat and discovered their point of entry. They had chewed through the bottom of our tent to get to me. No joke. Somewhere near two hundred of them were bunched up under the mat and running on their invisible highways to the holes going in and out of the tent. I know its odd but it makes me laugh now to think that a colony of ants chewed through my tent and my tent’s footprint to get to me. They freaking tried to eat me! 
I am truly grateful that they came in on my side, it turned out that I had set up the tent over top of all of their colonies entrances. So they probably didn’t really want to eat me, they just wanted some fresh air. We spent the rest of the night sleeping in the church so we wouldn’t be eaten. The next day I smote their evil colony, moved our tent and sprayed the outside of it to keep them away. Not very funny I guess, but…….true story.
Nick
