Various Random Thoughts

A word/rant on mosquitoes

The mosquitoes in Cambodia decided from the minute I got off the plane that I was the best thing since sliced cheese. "Mind over matter," I keep telling myself, "pretend your legs don't itch. The itch is not there... the itch is not there..." And then all of a sudden I can't resist the urge to give the bites on each leg one "last" vicious scratch.
"Not to worry," I told myself the first few days we arrived in Cambodia- the mosquitoes where we are don't carry malaria- but a few days later when we met Dr. Mary, one of the first things she said was, "We dont like mosquitoe bites here! They don't carry malaria, but you can get Dengue Fever!"
Ahhhhh. Then began the days of fearfully watching the blotches on my legs, waiting to get the dreaded Dengue Fever, although I had no clue as to what the Dengue fever entailed (just the name was scary enough...) and spraying my legs with copious amounts of OFF (and nearly choking Andrew to death with the fumes) before stepping foot outside.
I finally got over my irrational fear of thinking that every new bite was going to result in sickness, and even came close to getting over my, erm.... intense dislike of mosquitoes--until this week!
It all started when I forgot to spray my legs with OFF before going to teach English one evening. The school doesn't specialize in doors and windows that stay closed, so needless to say, the mosquitoes saw the opportunity to snack on my legs, and the took full advantage of it.
Then Andrew and I borrowed the Freeze's car to go to the pharmacy this morning, and as soon as the engine turned on, tons of mosquitoes flew through the vents and into the car. It was as if they decided to use the engine as an elite mosquitoe hotel... and it was the only hotel open for miles that night.

Oh well.



A word on open sewers

You cannot understand what the sewers are like until you can smell them. They stretch out over several blocks, sometimes with houses on either side, only feet away from the water. The "water" is really a dark black sludge that stays stagnant and is constantly bubbling at the surface, with plastic bags, bottles, and other types of garbage floating, but not moving, as if they are stuck in place. It goes without saying that all types of flies and mosquitoes make it their home, and those that live along its edges tend to be afflicted with boils and other illnesses.
And yet it's a normal part of life.
We walked to a market that is relatively close to the Freeze's house today. The road seemed to be composed half of plastic bags and half of rocky, dusty dirt. At one point we had to cross a footbridge over a sewer-like swamp. A house was built at its edge, half over the "water" and half over dry land, with stilts holding it up over both the swampy and dry portion. Underneath the house there was collected what had to have been years of garbage, and behind the house it was impossible to see the dirt due to the sheer number of plastic bags that covered the ground. All of a sudden a rooster emerged from a pile of bags, tossing them this way and that to clear a path for himself.
I just wish I could capture the smell for you...


A word on teaching English

...coming soon