June 4, 2003

After enjoying a great past few weeks, I ran into a brick wall, so to speak, on Monday when I was stung by a Japanese bee. The details of this hassle are as follows.

We were to have Japanese class outside that day, and while I was walking to class I met the striped stinger who would try to get the best of me. The crafty bee somehow found his way in between the top of my foot and my sandal. Once in position he went in for the kill. As soon as he stung me I felt a sharp pain in my left big toe. I looked down to see my not so fearless foe flying away.

Yuji, my Japanese teacher thought it would be best that we go see the school nurse, and since the stinger was still lodged in my big toe I agreed that it was a good idea. Upon arrival, the nurse immediately jumped into panic mode as she spoke as fast as possible. I was clueless as to what she was saying, but luckily Yuji was able to communicate with her and he explained the situation. She went to work on my toe and in no time she had removed the stinger. By now my toe was a little tender, but not anything unbearable. She told me to keep the foot elevated for the rest of the day and not to partake in any strenuous activities.

I went to the rest of my classes and was only in a small amount of pain. At this point my toe was a little red but nothing major. I went to bed that night thinking that all would be better the in the morning.

The next morning I was met with a surprise, a big one. My entire left foot was swollen to nearly twice its normal size, I had a few blisters, and it was very red. Great, now I have a clubfoot. I went to school like normal, but by mid-morning I noticed that I had a fever. By lunchtime I had a pounding