dengue butt

Often times we wonder when our skin is going to melt off from all the bug spray we apply to ourselves daily. This is what our deet life looks like...wake up, get bit, wish we had more bug spray on, take a shower, apply a layer of plastic melting deet to our legs, arms and especially ankles where they find their best feast. We repeat this process usually at lunch, and then again before we go to bed or any of the other times we shower during the day. We have learned a lot about deet in our 9 months here. One, it actually does work to deter those pesky flying creatures. Two, if you run out of nail polish remover check your cupboards for any bug spay...works like a charm. Three, it tastes absolutely disgusting. Never Consume Deet!



We have one problem in our house that we like to call Dengue Butt. You see mosquitoes love to hang out in the bathroom. And for those of us who pull down our pants to use the baño, we vulnerably expose our tender bottoms to the wrath of the blood suckers.  Of course any sane person does not think to lather their buttocks in deet, thus making the chances of getting bit even greater. Using the restroom here is like a game of hide and seek. Picture this (using yourself as an example)... you enter the restroom, do a short scan to see if there are any enemies you can kill prior to reliving yourself, quickly pull down your pants, then extend your arms to your side and quickly start waving back and forth trying to call out the flying pests that are hiding under the toilet. (At some point during the waving you start your "business"). Once they start to fly out it is your goal to kill them before they attack and bite your oh so exposed tush. Of course this whole process ends up looking like a circus act and if anyone actually saw us on the toilet they might think we were crazy. If you come out of the bathroom without a bite and you killed at least one, you can pat yourself on the back and consider it a victory. If however, you lose, you have to come out of the bathroom yelling, "AHHH, I have Dengue Butt!" Luckily for us this game starts over after every 2-3 cups of water.



Educational Fact #1: For those of you who don't actually know what Dengue is let me share. It is a virus you can get from a mosquito bite and is actually called Dengue Fever. There is no treatment so you just have to wait out the symptoms and pay close attention that you are hydrated. Thankfully, Praise God, we haven't heard of any cases yet in Barahona this year, but it is a real possibility of contracting. Each day we wake up and pray that the one or two bites we will undoubtly get will not give us this virus.



Educational Fact #2: The strategy listed above for the prevention of Dengue Butt also works great on camping trips, lake vacations, or anywhere you might find yourself tenderly exposed to a swarm of mosquitoes.  Try It!!  See if you can win!



~K&M