anne's dispatches from sydney

...

whilst sitting in the mcgill library during an evening thunderstorm.

i am thinking about bed bugs ...

The girls in the unit upstairs gave us a mattress over a month ago that was home to a family of bed bugs. They said it was gross, and were throwing it out- but Shaun from my flat said- 'they're just girls' and didn't take them seriously.

great! a free mattress!

I slept on it, and in a few days woke up with clusters of bites that would turn into welts. It's weird, cos they would migrate slowly- two, three, four bites a night, in a similar place - but slowly moving from my side towards my back. (those descriptions are probably making you squirm)
i was so angry at their invasion of my space!!!

The experience reminds me of books of the great depression- such as the 'Liverpool' series - I loved those books (just tragic enough for my sensibility). Mum says that her mum and dad rented a room in Newtown during the Depression that was infested- making my grandma obsessed about 'filth' for the rest of her life (except now, since she is in a nursing home). great... now I know what it is like to live in poverty- how romantic.

So I embarked on a task of getting rid of them, and threw out the mattress, washed my sleeping bag, doona, pillow and clothes in hot water (worried about the clothes shrinking at the same time). I also vaccumed the room out.

And so I had some peace for about 2 weeks. But today, I have more bites- funnily enough, continuing on the pattern towards my back-  so it looks like another dreaded infestation. The internet says that they hide in cracks in the wall- and even very clean places, eg hotels, have a lot of trouble eradicating them. It's pretty awful. I don't know if they are EVERYWHERE in the room- and hence the bookcase of papers and books need to be cleaned up?? or the upholstery of the old chair??

Gross-  but I guess that MANY people all around the world live with them day in day out...

they only got eradicated in rich countries halfway through last century because of nasty chemicals like DDT, and its only now they are coming back to haunt North America, via the sleeping bags of middle class travellers who want to bring back some of the third world with them.

oh well-  i'll have to get rid of them PROPERLY from my sleeping bag again before I leave montreal. Otherwise I'll take drastic measures. Like use chemicals or move house or dispose of some posessions here. :(

Urban-based human ecosystems are not so great after all...

posted by: anneinchaosland at 23:41 | link | comments |

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