Today I found the largest bug I’ve ever seen with my own eyes (because I’ve seen with other people’s eyes??) inching its way towards my shower. It looks like it’s capable of flight so I didn’t want to anger it, which rules out killing it. It also is large enough that I’m not sure I can kill it – there are lizards smaller than this bug, and I would never kill a lizard. In short, it’s too close to being a sentient being. Plus it would make a huge and disgusting mess, which I will inevitably leave there as long as possible, if my treatment of the giant cockroaches I kill on occasion is any warning. I had people over for dinner yesterday, and I realized then that I should probably take more care to remove the bug carcasses from my house before inviting guests.
In other news, we had the longest power outage of my sejour in Benin – almost a full day (from about 6pm to 10 am the next day). On the plus side, it meant that my guests only saw a couple of the dead bugs in my house. I also learned a nifty mosquito catching technique – put a candle in a tin can, hold flame to mosquito, mosquito jumps into tin can and dies. We caught one that was full of blood, and you could see its distended, red belly glowing in the candlelight. Pretty disgusting.
UPDATE: the giant, unidentified bug can indeed fly. I vanquished the evil beast though - it landed on a broom which I promptly threw out the door.
2 comments:
this just horrified me... i can't handle bugs. esp ones that resemble real beings.
on a separate note, i didn't die, but did manage to make a mess of my life. however, you should keep your eye on your mailbox. we should talk soon.
i'm glad you didn't die because i was starting to get worried. one eye is permanently kept on my mailbox - hope things are looking up on your end....
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