from Laura
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| Our new air con! |
Here are some creature stories from our first month in the Philippines. The pictures are unrelated.
We have had just a couple of roaches. Roaches in the bathroom make me squirm—I feel particularly vulnerable there. Also there was one in a desk drawer at school. I don't like roaches.
We had an issue two weekends in a row with maggots in the little kitchen garbage can, the one for food waste. Those two Sunday mornings were very bad ones for me, but the problem has been resolved, and I expect no repeats. But I really hate maggots.
There was a cat who had a litter of kittens above our ceiling. We haven’t seen them (they’re feral and wouldn’t appreciate the intrusion), but we’ve been told that’s what the noises were. The people we’re house-sitting for haven’t yet managed to plug whatever hole she keeps using to get into her attic nursery.
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| The camp where we had HS retreat |
There are mosquitoes everywhere. This is a little scary, as they transmit dengue fever, which can be a serious illness. And to make matters worse, they seem to like imported food - especially me. We’re trying to avoid bites as much as we can, but that’s been a challenge.
The resident caterpillars are called ’itchy worms.' They look innocent and fuzzy, and then they give you a rash. They also stink when squished, which happens often, usually by accident. You are walking happily along, then suddenly, *CRUNCH.* Yeah, it's that gross.
There are lots of dogs wandering the streets. We don’t talk to them, they don’t talk to us, everybody’s happy, and nobody gets rabies.
Open areas often have cows in them, or sometimes chickens. Or maybe cobras, though we thankfully haven't met any of those yet.
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| Pretty tropical flowers at the retreat |
There is a bird that sings loudly every morning just outside our room. He generally wakes up sometime while I'm in the shower. I have NO idea what kind he is, but he's pleasant company.
I could go on, but I think that's enough for one blog post. If you come visit, you can see for yourself... ;)
I could go on, but I think that's enough for one blog post. If you come visit, you can see for yourself... ;)
Wow, it really is a different world there! Maggots are gross, I agree. But be thankful they weren't mealworms! I've had to deal with mealworms three different times in my kitchen, both in the states and in Vienna, and they get into everything so you pretty much have to throw away all your food. Plus they're disgusting!
ReplyDeleteI hope you don't every have to deal with them. :)
Me too. Maggots were definitely bad enough. :)
ReplyDeleteLaura
I remember the lizards from when we visited. They used to come around while we were eating breakfast and we would watch them scurry around. We also saw them everywhere we went!
ReplyDeleteI am in total agreement with your opinion on roaches and maggots! There are just some things that I wonder why the Lord created them. I'm sure they serve a purpose but I'm not sure what.
I think lizards in the house would definitely be the most fun of all the creatures you named.
ReplyDeleteThe first time my husband took me to Africa, we went to visit some friends who lived in the Savannah area of Ghana. We slept that night in cozy little huts. Even though I was covered with a mosquito net, I woke up to a lizard running accross my chest in the middle of the night. Needless to say, I didn't sleep much that evening...:)
ReplyDeleteI like the lizards a lot (though I'm not sure I'd be keen on one running around on me in the middle of the night). I saw a little one this morning, so I'm thinking we have a family.
ReplyDeleteThe maggots have made one reappearance, which was sad. But I deal with it better now, because I know how to clean up that particular garbage can (which I didn't really, before), so I can get rid of them quickly.
Laura