All Bugged Out

It’s a buggy world
Ants are everywhere. You think you get rid of them and about a million more just show up out of the blue. Most of the ants aren’t that bad. I get used to living with them. I find them everywhere, and I am still convinced I somehow still have an anthill hidden somewhere on my body.
I don’t mind most ants, at least the ants I normally see here in Samoa, however last week in American Samoa I came across some nasty ants. While I was hiking I made the Samoan mistake of wearing sandals instead of hiking with actual shoes. While hiking I suddenly felt my feet burn. Ants were biting my feet and it was hurting. “Ouch!” They got the other foot. The ants kept biting and my feet began hurting with the most pain I have ever felt.
I am happy I haven’t come across those ants in Western Samoa yet. There are other things that bite, and it is funny to hear us volunteers complain about them. Especially the giant centipedes. The way that some of my Peace Corps siblings talk you would think that the centipedes were really some gigantic monster ready to take over the world. I always have a chuckle when others text me about their fears of these creatures entering their mosquito nets at night. (How do they really have those super powers?)
Last night I did not realize what happened until I emerged from my room after dinner. My legs looked as those they were a roller coaster of little red bumps. I must had had at least fifty mosquito bites on just a small portion of my legs. It looked ridiculous.
I still always have a fear of finding a cockroach in my shoes. Which is why I wear sandals more often than actual shoes. You never know where a cockroach will show up.
Termites also cause big problems in many houses. All of a sudden a pile of wood will appear in someone’s room, and we just hope the termites don’t begin to eat some important structure holding the building up. I don’t have as big a problem as others, in which you hear them buzzing about at night. They are also causing a problem in our little Salelologa office, in which our amazing sanity is held. (Which is called our book collection.) The termites there really get on my nerves as they eat the different books. I will find a book that I am thrilled to read, and open it up excitedly, and notice that the termites have eaten a quarter of the book. (What a way to ruin your day.)
Some Volunteers try to combat these problems by infesting their rooms with Mortein, a horrible smelling bug killer. These volunteers seem to go those cans of Mortein like it is no one else’s business. It doesn’t even seem like the bus spray works. They come back quicker than ever when the spray is used.
I love hearing Cassy’s stories about her bugs. They seem to appear in the strangest of places. She also notices that her family combats the bugs in a different way. Chickens. Chickens eat cockroaches. So, if the chickens are running loose already, why not let them run around the house and eat the bugs. As long as it is not a rooster crowing at all hours of the night, I think it is a good way to combat the problem.
Bugs are a big part of life living in Samoa. You can fear them, or laugh at their ridiculousness.