I have made my peace with bed bugs. If you have not heard yet, I had bed bugs in Los Angeles. I woke up with clusters of bites and blood streaks on my sheets, and not knowing what the deal was, I went to Web MD, a dangerous place for me, the hypochondriac. Bed Bugs. I was obsessed with getting rid of them. Soapy water and toothbrush in hand, I scrubbed every inch of my bed several times to no avail. As someone from the United States, pests of the home are a sign of being filthy, lazy, irresponsible. So I had some cultural issues with the parasites. And they are bothersome. I wore, in the dead of an LA heat wave, long johns tucked into sucks and long sleeved shirts with a hoody.
When I found them in my hostel in Rome, I was just as undone. Head lamp on (Thank you Lindy and John and Sydney), I crawled on the floor (I was alone at the time) looking for them. I found them in my mattress L Long story short, I was telling my roommates about the bed bugs and they took it with such ease. They told me stories of bed bugs in Venice and seemed quite UNbothered that they would be in the room in Rome. One Irish man did not know about bed bugs, and I explained. “They are round, flat bugs that come out when the lights are off. They don’t carry disease; they don’t hurt or itch. They are just a nuisance.” And as I explained to this man, in a way to calm him down, about bed bugs being fairly innocuous as far as pests go, I calmed myself down. Dogs have fleas, but you don't blame the dog. I got a tick in my hair from Aussie (Bless Phil, who removed it), but I still love him (though I would not sleep with him for a few days).
In combination with the unflustered Europeans, I came to peace with bed bugs. And I slept in the bed I had slept in for two days. I aired out my sleeping bag, and while I HOPE to not encounter them again, I won’t lose any sleep if I do. It’s part of traveling, I suppose, and staying in hostels with people from many different countries (some of which are experiencing outbreaks of bed bugs) who are also traveling in many different hostels.
C’est la vie, you nasty little creatures.
3 comments:
Nice! Black speedo in the middle of the night, what a way to start the vacation. Why do europeans were those anyways? Looks like you will have some good slides for some of your classes. And the bed bugs, looking under the bed with a head lamp. Sounds like another story. Oh that was someone looking for mice. Where you naked? ;)
Just the picture makes my skin crawl. Ugh. If any of your things get infected put them in a freezer overnight or a hot dryer for 40 minutes to an hour, that will kill just about anything. I speak from unfortunate experience (with fleas and an assortment of other pests).
EW!!! I'm too grossed out to say anything else about that.
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