First World Home, Third World Mosquitoes

I don't want to frighten anyone who may one day visit Uruguay. But make a tiny note in the back of your head that when you're in bed, and at your most vulnerable, malicious creatures will attack, who have the gift of flight and near invisibility whose lives consist of sucking blood from your face. I know it sounds like the cast of Twilight, but it's much worse: South American mosquitoes.Um, which I assume aren't that different from North American mosquitoes - other than their speedo tan.

For the past two weeks I've been living with Pat and Bob in a beautiful home just a five minute walk from the ocean. I wake up early, walk on the beach, swim in the pool, maybe teach some Spanish to Pat, run errands, cook dinner, relax, and go to bed. However, some nights I am awoken in the middle of the night by a zzzz (translation: hey.)........ zzzzz (wake up.) ............. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz (If you don't swat at me, I will lay eggs in your ear). At that point, sporadic flailing of the arms commences, always missing the mosquitoes and only succeeding in raising my blood pressure. On those nights, I get a good fours hours of restful sleep, and a good 3 hours of Jedi training, blindly trying to smash the mini-vampires while half-awake.

One could be proud of surviving each nightly air strike of these insects, showing off their red bumps of courage. Or, one could just hose himself down with bug spray before going to bed and stop complaining. Maybe though, one doesn't like to smell like chemicals before going to bed. Well, one could shut up! Hey, one could stop and see that these mosquitoes are tearing us apart! One has a tear...

Okay, big deal. I'm in a foreign country, living by the beach, not paying a dime, and I'm complaining about mosquitoes? Yeah. Yeah, I am. Why? you ask. Good question, Mr. Jealousy, sit down and I'll tell you. Because habituation is the most powerful equalizer of society. No matter what one's situation, they will, for the most part, get used to it. Then what matters? Only differences in what one has versus what one wants. Before this, I was living in a basement that flooded on occasion, had a mildew smell, a very low ceiling, and stray cats out back, but I was just fine... mainly, because there were no mosquitoes malditos, del infierno!!! They make me go Ricky Ricardo, that's how I feel about it.

Honestly, I'm grateful this is the only thing I can pretend to complain about. So, wipe those tears, I'm adjusting well to my situation. I spray myself with bug spray before I go to bed, I sometimes put a light sheet over my head, and I surround myself with hungry frogs. Now, I just need to get habituated to the sound of croaking.