What is this thing on my arm?!

Oh the tropics, home to such interesting bacteria. Lately, Jasper and I have been battling various skin problems. I really have no idea what they even all are. Jasper has at least three different types of rashes, and I have a few different types of sores. I think the only one I can identify is heat rash (ok, ok, and the boils on Jasper’s head). We have been doing research and asking several of our friends about possible causes/remedies for the other rashes Jasper has been getting, with only a little success so far. At first, I thought his main rash, which is on his legs, arms, and face, was due to us spraying too much DEET on him, but other friends insist that they are from either flea bites or tick bites. Those friends (the Masirewas) definitely had some success in reducing the redness and swelling in his rashes by giving him an herbal medicine bath using guava leaves and volukaka. But we’ve been keeping him home, behind screens, away from animals, and he’s still had a few new eruptions (though definitely much reduced). One of the major problems, of course, is that he keeps scratching the sores. I can’t blame him, mine itch like crazy too, it’s just that they are not really healing because they keep getting re-opened. Miles is remaining unscathed (lucky duck), probably because he’s spent more time in Fiji in the past. He says he had all kinds of skin problems the time he was here for several months, and that after he went back to the states, they took about six months to resolve themselves. I really hope that our systems will adjust and that we will not be dealing with these for the rest of the time we spend here.