Nature Bites!

Recently, Emily made it clear that she does not care for Florida. The heat, the humidity, the wildlife and the smell just aren't for her. Unfortunately, Florida doesn't care much for her, either! The mosquitoes have taken quite an interest in her freshly detoxed Oregon blood and she is covered in bites. Her bites soon had big red rings around them and it was determined to be some sort of allergic reaction. Since only natural treatments are approved at the Institute, they told her to treat the bites with olive oil and garlic. For days, she wandered around smelling like an Italian restaurant, with grease stains all over her clothes. Late last week she thought she had a new mosquito bite on her elbow, but then it swelled up to the size of a golf ball. This turned out to be a spider bite and they almost had to send her to the hospital for a shot! Luckily the swelling went down after she treated it with Tea Tree oil. The aeriel assault of her body continued when she was stung by a bee and, adding insult to injury, she was pooped on by a passing bird! Just when she thought all of the toxins were out of her body, nature strikes back.


Not to be outdone, the Atlantic Ocean also took its best shot. On a little weekend outing to the beach, she had this experience. "I was having a great time, swimming around in waste deep water, riding out the little waves. Then an enormous, surprise wave hit me from behind, knocked me off my feet and sent me face first into the sand and held me down. I couldn't get my feet under me and couldn't swim up. While I was struggling, the stupid current ripped off my hat, sunglasses, and bathing suit bottoms! I had to make a choice which to save and chose my bathing suit, so my hat and sunglasses are lost and gone forever. I finally righted myself, choking and sputtering, and promptly dragged myself out of the ocean, never to return."


Emily's epic battle with nature will continue throughout this week but she will be heading home on Saturday morning. Let's hope she can stave off any more attacks from Florida for the next couple of days!