Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Sleepless, but not biteless.

2:12 AM

The mosquitos are fucking overwhelming. They kind of make you hate the world. And life. I have at least 20 bites scattered about my body. They come in the evening, when you think you're safe inside among screen doors. HAH! They can pass through walls if they want. Even with the bug repellant, they attack relentlessly.

Jesus, I think I just saw one in my mosquito net. My Fortress of Solitude has been infiltrated. My net, with the Insect Guard seal from REI, that has every inch tucked under my bed, has somehow permitted a vector's entry. No doubt it snuck inside while I was entering as well. Grr.

Now I have another factor to diminish my likelihood of sleep. My list now includes:
1. The mosquito bites all over my body,
2. The heat, which becomes unbearable around 5am after the power (and thus, the fans) have been off for about an hour,
3. The too-small foam cot that rests on hardwood floor, confining my personal space (because the net must be tucked under the bed), and
4. The net, which flutters in the fan breeze and tickles my skin in a fashion reminiscent of a certain hated enemy (read #1), and
5. The snoring of one of my roommates.

Beautiful. I could take a Benedryl, but I worry about going through them too fast or relying upon them before I really need them. The hydrocortisone cream helps, but it's not as effective when your whole body itches.

Son of a bitch, there's definitely one in my net. I just discovered a new bite. ARGH.

I heard about this story regarding a new technology to massacre mosquitos. It's somehow comforting to know that brilliant minds are hard at work on the mosquito problem. Even better, that they found a solution that involves actively targeting and frying mosquitos. With a laser.

Give me one.

DEATH TO ALL MOSQUITOS!!!


P.S. Worst of all, most of them are really small. You don't get the satisfying crush of insect body like in the US with your standard mosquito. Also, much harder to detect. It's 2:50 AM and I've almost killed the one in my net. It keeps eluding me. I have made visual confirmation that it's there, so at least I'm not going crazy.

P.P.S. If you missed it, go back to Saturday to read my post on Iyora village. It has cool pictures.



[CORRECTION: It was not a mosquito in my net, but rather a sandfly. That explains why they're smaller, can potentially pass through screens, and their bites itch more persistently.

2 comments:

J said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
J said...

Reminds me of the first day in my hostel in undergrad..I didn't know about the mosquito problem and didnt have a net for the 1st night...the bites were one thing, but the buzzing noise drove me insane..