Bugs, bugs, bugs.

I think most of you had heard the scorpion story (got bit in the leg in a Maasai village), and there's where the bugs truly began. Living in Kenya is not for the faint of heart. It's ridiculously hot, there are lions, it's fairly unsafe... And the insects. Cockroaches, giant beetles, giant wasps, scorpions, giant spiders, fire ants; everything the US has but bigger and far more frightening. Since the scorpion bite, I've had a few run-ins worth sharing. Often when I enter the bathroom (hole in the ground surrounded by tin), I am met by a giant cockroach. I don't know if it's the same one or different ones, but this guy is huge: two inches long or so. I've taken to opening the door with one finger. They don't really cause any harm, but I think it's the giant cockroaches that weird me out the most.

I also have a cockroach infestation in my laptop. I first discovered this when I was sitting in a coffee shop with my friend Andre. All of a sudden a little cockroach ran out on my keyboard and I wasn't too surprised because they're really all over. I told Andre, and then he looked up and saw that there were a bunch running out the back of my computer. Now whenever I use it and it gets heated up, a few run out. Not sure how I'll solve that...

The other infestation I have is an interesting type of wasp that keeps making it's home on my towels. When I don't use one for a few days, I come back and there's a little home for just one wasp made on the towel. It's like a mud cocoon. Often the wasp isn't in there, so I just peel off the mud house, or whatever it is, and put it in the laundry bin.

The flies are also out of control here, but you get used to it quickly. They are literally in swarms. When I sit in the office, there will be about five on me, ten on the desk, and countless others swarming around. At first you try to swat them away, but eventually you just let them crawl all over. The beetles that are bigger than 25 cent quarters don't even phase me anymore. I'm toughening up!