I can tell you what
happened to this Cuban taken out of the Caribbean to the US for 18
months: I got spoiled. After all this time enjoying the air
conditioner and few bugs. I arrived in St Thomas only to be greeted
by the local mosquitoes. They could smell the new blood and proceeded
to have a feast on my legs.
I could get away from
them for a while with insect repellent, until we went to work on the
boat at Compass Point Marina. It was about 4 o' clock when we decided
to move our lazy bodies out the comfort of the apartment and head to
the boat to get a little work done, though nothing is little on a
boat. Jim borrowed a dinghy from the marina office to take the
hurricane lines off the pilings. My job was hold on to the tied lines
so he could scrub the sea grass off the lines. All was going well
when I noticed these tiny bugs, that you can barely see, sucking the
blood out of my legs. No-see-ums! I kept holding the lines, but I
wanted to keep the bugs away, so I moved and slapped my legs and of
course I complained a little bit.
I couldn't understand why
it wasn't bothering Jim at all and I was probable annoying him with
my: “Uch! Uff! Ayy!” At the end of the day he told me: “I've
never seen somebody complaining so much about bugs biting them like
you.” I thought I was too spoiled or too sensitive, so I quit
saying any thing about it.
Next morning I woke up
early. It was a beautiful day so I decided to do some exercise. I
went for a 30 minute walk and a 15 minute swim. When I got in the
swimming pool, I felt smoke was coming out of my legs. Actually my
legs were all covered by red bumps. So I woke up Jim and show him why
I complained so much. He apologized for his comment the day before.
My eyelid was swelling
too, I looked like somebody had beat me up. I also got a stye.
Thanks to the advice of
our friends Dr Glenn and his wife Naomi, who arrived on Saturday from
the US, we bought ointment and a topical analgesic to bring some
relief.
I guess I have to
readjust to the Caribbean.
AnechyNotes
