Insectos y Largartijas y Ratones- Dios Mio!

Translation: Insects and Lizards and Rats- Oh My!

In light of my most recent run-in with the above mentioned, I figured now would be as good a time as any to devote a post to one of my least favorite parts about Mexico: bugs, lizards (aka reptiles- thank you Joel), rodents and other creepy crawly things.

Now obviously there are bugs and rodents everywhere, and Chicago is no exception, but thanks to that wonderful thing called humidity, the Yucatán just happens to have more than its fair share. If you didn't already know, I have a minor issue with anything that has more than four legs, multiple pairs of eyes, antennas, stingers or pinchers- I wouldn't go as far as to call it a phobia, but lets just say we're not friends. Anything with scales and forked-tongues falls into the zero-tolerance category as well. Not to mention that rodents in general, especially rats, give me minor panic attacks.

First of all, now that all my irrational fears are out of the way, let me just start by saying that Mérida was built on a GIANT ANT HILL. "Well, okay," you're thinking, "they're just ants- how bad can it be?" WELL, I wouldn't mind them so much if they weren't EVERYWHERE. There are hormigas, aka ants, everywhere- in my kitchen, on the bus, in my school books (that’s what I get for doing my homework outside), and even in my coffee (I swear they jump from the trees). It doesn't help that the kitchen in my house is sort of an indoor/outdoor room- there aren't any screens on the windows, just glass shutters, and a huge door that isn't sealed at all opening out to the back patio. This wonderful arrangement, while giving a pleasant view of the garden while cooking or eating, also lets in a variety of guests- but mostly ANTS. There is a constant stream of them coming in the door, up the counter, and to any sort of crumb, plate or other edible thing that they can find. Besides the ants, you can also find a wide variety of fruit flies and gnats covering any food that isn't eaten, covered or refrigerated. Needless to say, I don't eat anything that is left out for too long.

While the ants may look kind of gross, they are nothing in comparison to the MOSQUITOES. I've never had so many mosquito bites in my life- I am now officially a mosquito buffet. No matter how many times I put on bug spray it seems like there is no stopping them. I think they have some sort of supersquito here- they're a little bit bigger than then those at home, impossible to swat, and leave the biggest, creepiest, itchiest bites I've ever seen. I'm just waiting to catch some strange disease from one of them.

Then we have the lizards- they don't really bother me all that much, since most of them are under 5 inches long and kind of cute. But they can scare the crap out of you when they scurry under your feet and you thought they were a leaf. Even the iguanas are kind of cool, except they make some crazy noise that sounds like someone is tapping their keys on the window.

Speaking of noise, the birds here are crazy. Have you ever heard of the theory that dinosaurs evolved into birds? Well I have to say I completely agree with that theory. The birds here sound like the Raptors from the Jurassic Park movies. Its taken some getting used to.

And now to the story of the night- rats and other rodents. I hadn't seen too many around, except for an opossum running across campus at school, until Monday night. I walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water and there was a RAT sitting on the kitchen counter. I had a momentary brain fart and all I could think to was "Violetta there is an animal in the kitchen!" (In Spanish obviously). She didn't seem to mind it too much though, and explained that it comes around when it starts raining outside. I still couldn't get past the fact that there was a RAT IN THE KTICHEN. As of Tuesday night it was still there- I saw it run behind the fridge.

In other news, I've been out for the week with what the doctor described as "massive" sinusitis- aka a really bad sinus infection. At least now I have an explanation for my never-ending cold and tiredness over the past two weeks.

I hope you all are enjoying your pest-free winter! I'll try and get some pictures up from my trip to Uxmal last weekend up tomorrow. This weekend we're headed off to a four day tour of the Caribbean coast of the peninsula , so I'm sure I'll have plenty of stories!


Hasta luego!