Listening to: My daughter’s watching Harry Potter – for the
10 gazillionth time. Ugh.
Mood: Cranky
I have always hated mosquitoes. Always. In the US, mosquitoes aren’t really a
problem unless you are out doing some nature based activity at night – like hiking
or sitting at a campfire. The US is also excellent at keeping screens over the
windows.
Alas, India is the wrong place to go if you hate mosquitoes.
Not only are they present in very large numbers, they have an ingenious way of
finding their way through the smallest crack and into houses the minute the sun
has actually set. Now this isn’t an exact science, but if you leave the screen
doors or windows open, you will all of a sudden notice that you are getting bit
and realize the doors are still open. Some people are blessed with screens – our
house is not. It is annoying as hell. Once you have them inside, there’s
nothing to be done. The go hide inside the almirah’s and in dark corners of the
bathroom until evening when they come out and bite you again. These are not the
large stupid mosquitoes that the US has. They are small, crazy fast, and
sneaky. If you try and kill a mosquito in the US, you will probably get it the
first attempt. Here, I can chase one small blood sucker around for 15 minutes
and still not be able to get my hands on it – that is if I could keep track of
it for that long. Evasive maneuvers people – they has them. The mosquitoes here
also have an uncanny way of finding spots that you won’t realize you’re being
bitten until you’re scratching like a mad person. Like the backs of your arms.
I’m not even kidding. If you are sitting on the couch with your arm hanging off
the edge, it’s like an open invitation for 8 of them to sneak in and take a
bite. Another favorite spot is your ankle. True ankle biters if there ever was
such a thing.
The only alternative is to sit in full on hot clothes. Long
sleeves, socks, jeans, etc. I am so not a sock person. The only time I want to
put up with socks is if I’m out hiking or some such thing that requires tennis shoes.
Those socks get peeled off and chucked the minute I get back inside. However,
socks are less painful or irritating than scratching bites all evening. As I’ve
mentioned before, it’s full on summer here. So sitting in a long sleeve shirt,
socks, and jeans is absolutely killing me.
I am terrified of monsoon season. Mosquitoes love monsoon
season because of all the rain. Right now, we only use mosquito killer at night
– and it really helps. We may resort to turning on the mosquito repellents all
the time during monsoon.
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