Bite Me (no, really, they do...a lot)

Just for the record, Schlock+Glitz= Schlitz
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The part of Izmir where I live, Mavisehir, is the swankiest, most upscale part of the city in which to reside (and they only have 1 ATM in a 2 mile radius?). While I do enjoy a gorgeous view of the bay from my bedroom window, the problem lies in Mavesehir’s true identity- it’s more or less a large swamp. And when you combine warm weather (it’s finally gonna hit the 80s and stay there tomorrow, though I can’t complain because the last month has been nothing short of ideal) with even traces of what used to be a swamp (before it was built up), that can usually lead to one very common, inevitable problem- MOSQUITOS! They are everywhere, and they refuse to leave me alone. The Turkish word for mosquito sounds something like "sivresinik." They’re feisty little suckers here, literally!

Now, I always get more bites than the average victim, and here’s I’m a sitting duck, practically begging to be bitten in their eyes. Sleeping with the window open at night is out of the question, but they still manage to get inside the apartment during the day when the windows are open. They bide their time, stake me out, and feast on me while I’m asleep. I wake up every morning with an average of 4-6 new bites a day. I try to keep my entire body covered, but I can’t always control what I do while I’m asleep.

One night my foot was exposed and I woke up the next morning with itchy welts all over it. I thought I must have had a giant spider in bed with me. You try scratching the bites through your sneaker all day and find out how ineffective that is. Friday morning I woke up with a slew of them on the underside of my left arm- around 8 or 9, I can’t quite count them all accurately. This needs to stop.

I was told that if I get a fan, that will keep me cool AND keep the bugs away simultaneously, so that’s my main goal for the week- procure a fan at all costs! And in the meantime, I need to get my hands on some calamine lotion and some industrial strength OFF. And I was informed by some of the English staff that I can buy some anti-mosquito tablets (called boksavar) that will ward them off. I need all the help I can get right now’ so I’ll try it all.

Last summer I read a report that advised us all not to squash or smack mosquitoes, but rather to flick them away. The reason being that by flicking them we don’t squash their previous victims’ blood all over ourselves while they’re busy biting us. So when in danger of being bitten, remember to flick and not to squash. Me, if I see a mosquito on my arm, I don’t have the time to think strategy- I just whack it and hope I make contact before it flies away. But I did have a friend who got really sick from a mosquito bite while conducting thesis research in Haiti. He even had to miss the first month of school because it was the sort of sickness that made your muscles and joints all stiff while zapping you of all your energy. Makes me a little extra paranoid everytime I get a bite nowadays, especially now when I have too many to count all over my body.

So yeah, let that be a lesson to you. Be extra alert the next time you’re in the backwoods of Haiti.