Bugs

So since, school has
yet to start, I decided I would tell you a little about the magnificent insect
population of the Marshall Islands.

First there are the mosquitoes. They are everywhere and they are the most
determined of all the RMI insects. I have been fortunate enough to be chosen as a delicacy to these winged bloodsuckers. Even my host family has commented on how the "nam" like my ripelle skin. Breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as all the time in between in peppered with my exclamations of "Enana nam!" (bad mosquito!) My host parents tried to
control them using mosquito coils but it was made clear by the swarm at my
ankles that they would not be deterred.
Needless to say that I've become an excellent mosquito hunter (that's
for you Shig). Lightning fast hands and
a big loud clap and the nam are no more.
This is an epic battle that will last about 8 1/2 more months.

Next in the line up we have the
cockroaches. They aren't as big as their
cousins in Thailand, but they are speedier.
My first night in Wotje, I caught two crawling into bed with me and
after a minor scuffle, which included many squeals, a near melt down and arm
flapping, they were nothing but a gooey clump on my floor. I would like to thank Ernest Hemingway for
writing the hefty yet easy to wield Farewell to Arms which was integral in my
cockroach massacre. I haven't seen
another roach dare to enter my bedroom.
I talked to my baba and he said that they tend to stay in the
grass. Smart move cucaracha.

Unfortunately, my island must be the
mating grounds for the "yay" or poisonous centipedes. They are everywhere and they use their
hundreds of legs well because they are really fast. Another volunteer, John, claims that it takes
two machete hacks to kill them. They can
be up to a foot long or as small as an inch.
They've been described by a previous volunteer as having escaped from
hell. There is another theory that they
are the spawn of Satan. I think you get
the idea that they are ugly and creepy and their pincer bites hurt really
really really bad. My baba says that if
one bites you on the foot, you won't be able to walk the next day because of
the pain. I've already been bit by a
baby centipede about an inch long and it hurt like a bee sting so I can't even
fathom the pain of an adult centipede's bite.
Ugh.

The small but mighty ant is next. I have no problem with this little guy, he's
actually amazing and I welcome them.
They clean up all the dead insect bodies littering my floor in about 5
minutes. They start with the scout, then
the trail, and then a huge herd of ants and they carry away the body to their
mysterious and invisible hill somewhere in my wall. Unless they are foolish enough to crawl on me
and bite, I leave them alone. But they
are everywhere and they are ingenious.
They've figured out how to get inside the peanut butter even when the
lid is completely closed. You've got to
hand it to them. Perseverance.

There are lots of other bugs here
including but not limited to: millipedes, flies, grasshoppers, fleas, lice,
little black beetles, big black beetles, and of course spiders. I've not had a significant encounter with
these guys but as long as they can't get past the mosquito net and they don't
bite me, I don't kill TOO many.