Of course there´s not a bug living in your foot

Eventhough it was raining when I got to Imbassai, it was a nice change of pace to Salvador. Its just before the tourist season (ie Christmas) and the weather was a bit crap so the town was quiet and sleepy. Mango, caju, coco trees line the roads. I met Erika right off the bus as we tried to divine our way to the beach. In Brazil you get dropped off the highway and then have to figure your own way to the coast. You can hop on a motorino or taxi or just walk. I stopped for a salad of shrimp and octopus and itty bitty garbanzo beans and the mandatory Skol (cerveja). The sun was not really making any kind of appearance, clearly.

After we get to the beach, the cloudy cloudy beach, the conversation goes as follows,

I think I have a bichu do pe.

What is a bichu do pe?

Its, you know, a bichu, a bug, and it goes in your foot and lives there.

How long has your foot been bothering you?

About 2 or 3 days.

Hmmm...I´m sure you don´t have a bug living in your foot.

Ya, you are right, probably.

So we settle down and pretend like it is sunny and order a beer, and Erika starts to look at her toe. Eduardo our waiter, hereafter to be known forever as Dr. Eduardo, kneels down mumbles something in portuguese and then whips out what looks like wire cutters and proceeds to dig into Erika´s toe. I´m a bit in awe. I offer her a sip of beer, given the circumstance. For 10 minutes he digs out little things and its pretty effing gross, and then their is obviously some sort of finally. He is wiping these "things" in her hand.

I ask, hey what´s that?

Eggs, says Erika.

Oh. I drink some beer.

Here is the action captured on film.