Battle of the Bugs

I’m not really into killing.  I mean, I don’t know many vegans that are…But, ever since I made the executive decision to stop my malaria medication (much to the chagrin of my family) I have been on a personal mission to crush each and every mosquito that crosses my path.  The only problem is, they are fast.  Fast like flies.  The mosquitoes in Mississippi are perhaps abnormally lethargic but I have never had trouble with this task in the past.

Our bathroom, conveniently, is quite the breeding ground for these monsters.  I find this especially unpleasant as I am bathing (aka pouring cups of water on myself) – and trying to simultaneously swat them away.  I am constantly amazed, in the most annoying way possible, by there speed.

Another battle I’ve been fighting in that very bathroom is with a ridiculously sneaky spider.  As some of you might remember, during my first week in Haiti I came in contact with the BIGGEST black widow, brown recluse hybrid to ever exist.  Fortunately this most current enemy of mine is A Lot smaller than that original guy. Regardless, he is equally as evasive.  On our first meeting – he was spotted on the toilet seat, I made a few weak attempts to brush him into the water, but again, these Haitian insects are FAST! On our 2^nd meeting – he was spotted right around the base of the toilet, This time I got smart and trapped him under a plunger.  I left him under there to die of “natural causes”…Two days later, the plunger remained suctioned to ground, untouched, and I assumed it was still entombing the spider.  It wasn’t.  I spotted him again, at the base of the toilet.  The plunger being really the only option I gave it another shot, but this time he got smart and made a run for it up the wall.  He lucked out.  – Today, our most recent meeting, he was spotted right outside the bathroom door. His willingness to explore outside the safety of his toilet bowl region tells me one thing…he is getting a little to big for his britches and something MUST be done.  I did my best sandwich the little guy between my shoe and the ground, but he seized my hesitation as his opportunity to escape yet again.

This nemesis of mine, and his little malaria transmitting friends, may have lived to see another day…but this fight is not over I tell you.  It will never be over.