A Little Bit of Louse

Ever since the 5^th grade when my teacher supposedly found lice in my hair I have had this ridiculous fear and paranoia around it. But like a lot of things that have changed in my life since moving out to this itty bitty world of Tanna, so has my reaction to this pervasive little parasite. First of all, it is the most wonderful thing to watch women affectionately wrap their hands around a child’s head in search for lice. It is so obviously a sign of endearment. A sign of love. And the kids in turn learn this skill so early. Even 2-year-old Gabriella knows how to look for lice. So a week ago when I felt extra itchy on my scalp, I knew just who to turn to. I corralled a small group of kids who proceeded to systematically search my head. Quite a nice head massage on top of their finding 5 louse and perhaps a dozen eggs. Then my impulse got the better of me and, much to the horror of the kids, I hacked off my ponytail. They insisted I was ruining my long hair. But once again, my young friends knew how to make the most of the situation. They immediately started claiming sections of my dispatched hair to make small “rostas” (= small braids attached to their own hair). They wisely instructed me not to leave any bits of my hair around on the ground, lest someone take it and put “nakaimas” (= black magic) on it. And then I proceeded to make the first weave in my village with my very own hair:

I was lucky enough to have a bottle of lice shampoo on hand, which I also put to good use throughout this week. But more than that, I am lucky to be surrounded by people who could daily (or multiple times a day) search through my hair. I’ll admit that I even went so far as to on one occasion, after being handed the louse, properly dispose of it by eating it…. May sound gross until you’ve seen it done a thousand times over and bother to try it on your own louse. The bottom line is, just like any problem a person can face here, lice may be annoying, but Tanna has taught me well to manage it with the sensibility of those around me in addition to my own sense of reasoning. And I’m happy to say that a week later my head lice is gone. However, I will probably continue the daily head massages for some time just to be safe J