Pesky little Nemesis

**I didn't realize how negative and crazy this post sounded until I reread it. So...read at your own will! haha.

When we first moved here to Dominica there were a lot of things that annoyed me. But since this new place was going to be our home for the next year or so, I made peace with the island. It only took me about 6 weeks to accept that, but hey better late than never. Sometimes I still get pretty annoyed about the humidity. Like right now, the kids and I are confined to our bedroom because it's so humid in the living room! But I am grateful that we have AC in our room. Sometimes  I walk around I don't even realize how hot I am until my arm starts dripping with sweat or until I just have beads of sweat dripping down my chest and face. Yuck! But the number one thing that I still have not gotten used to...mosquitoes!

I hate those little buggers with a passion. The first night that we got here it was pretty late at night so we didn't really have time to clean the rooms. That night my little family and I were eaten alive! I had 9 mosquito bites across my back and several more on my arms and legs. That night I vowed our room would be mosquito free! I cut up some of the mosquito nets that we brought and duct taped it onto out windows. Why the excessive measure? Well, the frames to our bedroom windows are all bent and does not keep out the mosquitoes so we had to get creative. We also taped a mosquito net around the frame of our door to keep them out that way too. And I am pretty proud to say that we've been mosquito free for most nights. :)

Does the job most of the time!

Super ghetto, but like I said before, anything goes here in Dominica!

This is the exact window my hubbs left open. 

See...bent up screen. Our landlord was supposed to replace it about 3 months ago.

A few weeks ago though, in the middle of the night, I was rudely thrown out of my dream by an intense itching sensation on my finger. What?! A mosquito is in the room! I half stormed and stumbled out of the room to inspect my itchy finger. Yup...the infamous swollen bump was there. So I ran into the room to find that little pest. When I came into the room I stood at the door staring into the dark corners, at the ceiling, under the bed...and then I saw it. Right next to my little Spencer where I sleep, there was a little dark spot...as I got closer it was the culprit. It was just sitting there in my spot...like it was savoring my scent. It was pretty freaky. And I squished it! (Ok, this part is a little graphic) There was blood! Horay! It really was the culprit. If I had squished it and there was no blood, that means there was another mosquito in the room. But since I had evidence, I happily washed my hands and went to sleep. 

So why this crazy rant? Well, yesterday my dear hubby aired our room out...and he didn't VELCRO shut the hole to keep the mosquitoes out!!! I came in the room and saw that gaping hole and I shut it really quickly hoping that they hadn't gotten in. We did our usually nightly routine. Went to sleep....and then I awoken by that same annoying intense itching sensation on my knuckle AND my arm. Oh no, I knew right there and then that they had gotten in. I went out of the room to inspect my bites and then came back inside the bed room. And once again...there was the bloodsucker...right next to my pillow. So I squished it and there was blood! Woo-who! Washed my hands and went to sleep.......only to wake up 30 minutes later to find the bottom of my feet itching like crazy! Oh no...there was another one. So I turned the lights on, this time Fi Dan looked at me like I was crazy. I was suppose to meet my friend at 7:30 to go to the market, so he told me to just go to sleep. How can I sleep with those annoying things biting me! This mosquito was smarter than the last one because he was not coming close to me. So I decided to hunt him down. Right as I was walking past the bedroom door it flew out. This mosquito was huge. I don't how, but I was able to squish it...this one had a lot of blood. That's probably why I was able to squish it...because it was so heavy with blood it couldn't fly fast enough! Yay, I thought...I can sleep. But I decided to check our room just incase there was another one hiding. I looked in their favorite places. The cubby holes of the desk. Sure enough 1 flew out but unfortunately I wasn't able to kill it! Ugh! I was so exhausted that I just had to go to sleep.

When we woke up to my horror, I wasn't the only victim. Rylan's little face was bitten 2 times and he has a few new swollen spots. And Nenji's forehead has a huge bump. Luckily, my little Spencer was spared and he doesn't have any bites! Fi Dan had a few bites too. So as I am currently typing there is still one more mosquito that I need to slay in a little bit!

Yup...wide open for them little pests to get in. :/

Excuse the gross crusty feet, but sandals are required daily and there's no time for pedicures!

But that red swollen part right in the middle of my feet. 

My scarred up leg and feet.

My other leg. But the tan is looking good though! 

My poor Ry's leg.

Yup...that would be the eye that was bitten.

I couldn't get him to just look at the camera. I love his face in this one. But you see his shiny little forehead...that be the bite right there.

This picture...just because he's so silly. 

And this is Nenji's scarred up little leg. Sad, huh?

Sometimes at night when the boys are sleeping and Fi Dan and I are out in the living trying to enjoy each other's time...we just end up spending at least 10-20 minutes mosquito hunting. We just sit using our legs and bodies as bait and when we see one we'll wait until it lands and then squish it. I think the most we've killed in one night is about 7! Eeek! And often times our conversations will be about how smart these buggers are! They fly super fast, they can do back flips, and they can disappear into thin air. Last semester when Fi Dan was here he would tell me this and I just thought he was crazy. Now as I tell you this...you probably think I'm the crazy one! LOL, well, at least I'm getting a good laugh out of it now. :) I can't wait to get back to the Sates where the mosquitoes are not as smart and where we don't have to worry too much about getting eating alive!