Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Mosquitos = Suck (Marcus)

Ok straight up, there is one thing that is really starting to shit me in this place - the mozzies. I have just been swiping at one for the last five minutes and it keeps getting away. I remember waking up in the middle of the night last night, my little finger so itchy it was actually keeping me from getting back to sleep. I HATE the bloody little bastards. We have a can of Raid which is good if you can see them. We bought a little device which plugs in, which you slip a little tab of something onto it and it smells - there's absolutely no english on the box, and while the product is made by Raid, I cant find them on the Raid website. I might upload a photo. If anyone knows what the hell they do, please let me know. I think the smell it emits either keeps them away from that particular area or poisons them. God knows.

In the apartment we had a few actual holes to the outside world - yeah, real great design. There was one hole which was recently drilled through the built in balconey for the air conditioner/heater unit. There was one that's been here all along, and i suspect the main source of mozzies. In the bathroom behind the toilet, there was a hole through the floor which the washing machines hose goes out. I have stuffed plastic bags in both holes to 'seal them up' - until I can find something more permanant anyway. There's so much water in this part of China, SO much water. Every area we have been in is cut up by canals and large pools of free-standing water which i assume is used for farming of different varieties. Consiering how dirty it is, I am not surprised it will be mozzie infested. Then there's also the school's lake which is a stones throw away from here. So yeah, joy.

The last occupant of this apartment obviously enjoyed them too, as the almost every wall in every room has at least 4-5 squashed mozzies on them. At least I have basically no care for this place. We were given it filthy, and that's how they will get it back. I have no intention of being careful with the walls and whatever else. I hope to add many many many more mosquito carcasses while I am here.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Mr Itchy digit, there are two types of those things you plug into power points 1: kills mozzies with the fumes that it generates thru the little insert being heated by the power and 2 : is another kind that is more of a fragrance type thing to make the mozzies smell nice or a room deodorant in other words so you better ascertain which one you have bought. Or just wear a mosquito net to bed the smaller one Mr Pan wanted you to buy.
On those beggars the chinese don't seem to care about them either they just accept but at the same time they always say that these and some are professional beggars earn some quite serios money believe me, maybe not so much in the area where you guys are but say in Shanghai their earnings can be a source of very serious income being the westerners feel extreme pity and therefore very generous. It certainly shows our loser beggars in a pitiful light though heh.I rember when my first beggar touched my leg when we just arrived in Malaya to get my attentioon and she had a mild leprosy and my skin just instantly crawled but never forgot that, you just learnt in the end to avoid them so it did not get to you otherwise you would never sleep at night and wanting to give everyone the world. But as you said it makes you understand just how much we take for granted and how content they are with so little. But you will revert once you come home. And when you do leave those bloody mozzies over there. Kerry xxx

Marcus and Courtney said...

Yeah it must be the fume one, as you put these little tabs on it which have silver coating on one side. It lies against something that heats up, then it puts out that smell. I have actually just had a closer inspection of all the windows in the place, and sure enough, half the bloody things have little holes that lead to the outside world. Basically it's mosquito-a-gogo. Going to go around and plug them up with serviette/napkins, of which we were given around two hundred thousand when we first got here. -Marcus