Killin' Parasites & Other Fun Things

So I've had this project up my sleeve for some time now and I've been waiting for the opportune time to launch it. A few months ago I got an unexpected donation - someone gave me two tubs full of very powerful and effective de-worming pills. There were enough pills for every man, woman, child and probably every house pet as well, in Los Laureles. I had these pills and a lot of motivation but a problem presented itself; this was not a job for one person or even two - I needed slaves. I needed them to write down names, take pictures, draw a community map, hold my dog's leash; I needed lots of slaves. I wrung my hands and racked my brain and thought to myself, "Wherever will I find such unsuspecting dupes to do my bidding?" I thought and I thought; I thought about the children here in Los Laureles but realized that they're much too flighty for this type of work. They'd start out with me like eager beavers and then suddenly get distracted by a loud crash or a scampering lizard (read lunch) and scatter to off to the four winds, they would never do. I thought about the youth from church but quickly dismissed them because they tend to be whiny and afraid of things like dust and puddles of water; it's a good thing I dismissed them as I may have ended up in jail for murder. I was at the end of my rope when I remembered the YES Team; they were coming, they would be here within a month or two, they would arrive with the perfect mix of naïveté, energy and fear, they could be my slaves! When they first arrived I was really nice to them and buttered them up alot; I took them swimming, introduced them to all the kind children, I didn't yell at them for traipsing through my house with feet that look like they belong to trolls. In short, I was not myself - I had a plan after all. Slowly though I began to acclimatize them to my reign of terror - I held day trips to exotic places out in front of them and then snatched them away with a twinkle in my eye, I began to bring around the nasty, bruttish children that whine and scream and are not very pleasant to look at, I started making them walk backwards into my home, cloth in-hand, wipping up their footprints as they advanced. I had them, and when I was convinced that I had broken their spirits sufficiently I sprung this project on them. Their response was unforseen, it was a mixture of joy and gratitude; the joy I still don't get but the gratitude I think came from not having to be surrounded by grimey little toad-children all day.

So! All that to say, the following 46 photographs are from our forrays into parasite land and might I add that I don't think I took a single one of them though they all came from my camera. Go Slaves!

ok, so rule number one: no dead babies.

like i said, this is a powerful pill and could be fatal to any child under 2 years of age.

we're playing it safe and saying no one under 3.

rule number 2: find a fluent spanish-speaking slave to do everything for you.

this one here traveled up from tegucigalpa to visit us.

we put her to work before she knew what hit her.

rule number 3: if responsible adults aren't at home, just talk to the 4 year olds they've so responsibly left in-charge and leave the baby killing pills with them.

rule number 5: just because everyone stares at it long enough doesn't mean it will go away, stop screaming or become less unpleasant to look at.

rule number 6: people that live in green houses are probably leprechauns that don't need de-wormed anyways.

ok, enough of the rules.

just artsy photos now.

carrie and blakely

a view of the upper part of the community from the ridge

curiosity

capitalismo

a creator's beauty in a garbage dump

yeah, the garbage dump

but mostly beauty

artsy

i likes it

observation deck

bath time

coming out to meet the gringos

they're real and everything

dixon, one of the kind children

ronal one of the not-so-kind children

ok he's in a category all his own

"Good bye, I promise to write."

this guy

what a lovely photo

frightening

like i said about ronal

alejandra

duke's sister

garbage dump tours

pimpona

here's a turnaround story

i'll write about it sometime

treehouse

best friends

headed off to soccer practice

even though they're too young to be on the team

nehemiah

nothing at all like the original

manuel

personal shade

lunch

lunch

psychotherapy

laureles style

oh and mateito turned 2

still isn't talking yet

turns out he doesn't much care for cake either

his older brother elvin loves it though

to a fault