Sunday, June 3, 2007

Bzzzzz... Bzzzzzz....... Bzzzzzzzzzzzz......

Mosquitoes. They are everywhere here. We have gone through almost an entire large can of Raid since we have been here. Natalie and I have little bites all over. Tom seems immune (guess they bugs don't want to bite him). But the worst is the occasional awakening from a deep sleep at night by the bzzzzzz in your ear! A couple of times both Tom and I have lost hours of sleep trying to find the one little mosquito that insists on buzzing into our ears. So we have learned to spray the rooms well before we go to bed at night. One night, while we were still downstairs, we found mosquitoes practically swarming around us. We sprayed, but they kept showing up. They were clearly coming in from somewhere. I finally thought to myself "wouldn't it be funny if there was a door or window open somewhere and that is where they are coming from". Then I checked downstairs and found the garage door wide open! Geesh! Once we got the door shut and sprayed again, the mosquitoes finally were down to one or two that we couldn't seem to catch.

Oh, and something funny about how the mosquitoes are dealt with here in Shanghai. When you go to the local stores, there are lots and lots of spray and coils that can be burned outside. The coils are pretty harsh, but I understand that a lot of Chinese use them right in the house! Anyway, you cannot buy a simple, plastic fly swatter. You buy these large eclectic ones that ZAP the bug when you hit it, but no simple one! I find that hilarious. A fly swatter is not something I thought I would have to bring from the States!

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