Bingo!

I think I've cracked the allergy mystery. I did a little bit of research on some of the stuff that I've been using lately down here, and some stuff I was using at home before I came. About 2 weeks before I came down to Grenada my dad and I went hiking in Perrot State Park. I tried as hard as I could, but somehow I still came out with a fairly decent poison ivy rash down my right forearm. It was irritating and regretful, but all of these symptoms were gone within a week. As I was preparing to leave my lips started tingling and chapping like they have been this past week. I was sure this was a re-exposure to some of the oils from the poison ivy that was still on my shoes or under my fingernail from that day. But now they mirrored the reaction I had down here, so I started to rethink. What did I start using just before I left and continued doing so down here? I narrowed it down to either my shampoo/body wash, or mangoes (the food co-op in La Crosse had a sale.) I looked into it and apparently poison ivy and mangoes are in the same family, anacardiaceae. Which is equivalent to our link with gorillas.
I guess the mangos have the same oil, urushiol, that poison ivy also has. The oil in mangoes is mainly in the sap of the mango tree and traces can be found in the skin of the fruit. This explains why my lips are always getting affected. I must also be rubbing my eyes after peeling them. There isn't more than a small trace amount in the actual flesh of the mango, so if I treat them like a bio hazard or I get someone else to prepare them I guess I can continue to eat them. I've eaten like 10 since I've been down here ($0.50 a piece), so it explains the persistent and delayed nature of my reactions. And since my latest exposure to poison ivy was so recent, my immune system was probably primed for the attack more than it usually would have been.
Anyway, after all that amazing deduction which surely would put Sherlock Holmes to shame, there is a 45% chance I'll be going out to enjoy this Friday and a 60% chance of me returning to the beach sometime this weekend. Although last weekend was a pretty hard one to top. We had a 90's theme party at a club right next to the marina. $2 beers and $6 cuban cigars made for an enjoyable night not to mention jumping around to House of Pain (Go Badgers!) I'll hopefully have a picture for my next post this weekend.