Liz VS. Mosquitoes

From the very first night in Mashabo I noticed an abundance of small biting insects, known in most English-speaking countries as mosquitoes. Little did I know about the battle that would soon be waged…

It is the night of our first meeting. A group of us are standing up on the quaint jungle stage, complete with a palm-leafed cover, leading out in song service when the vermin first strike. It begins with a single sharp bite to my right ankle, I brush my ankle with my left foot and continue singing. Next I feel several simultaneous bites to both of my legs, again I try to remove the source of annoyance without drawing too much attention to myself. As the song service progresses the frequency of bites intensify, and it becomes more difficult to continue singing while still attempting to eliminate the blood-thirsty insects. Then the beasts cross all lines of what is acceptable and fly up my skirt to feast on the rest of my legs. Soon I am doing a strange little dance, that I am sure appears quite comical to the audience, in an attempt to rid myself of my unwelcome companions, without any success whatsoever. I can only bid my time until I can exit the stage and wage war on the obnoxious animals.
Mosquitoes: 1
Liz: 0

After the meeting is over, and we have had our group worship, it is time to retire to our respective pillows. The vile beasts are still working hard at their task of sucking dry all of my lovely blood, and I continue my work of thwarting their plans. I quickly brush my teeth, while flailing around with my free hand in an attempt to dissuade them from their persistence. Now it is time to crawl into my hammock for the night, I wildly swing my arms in the air to ward off the pesky cloud before diving under my mosquito net and pulling it down behind me. I listen for the all-too-familiar high pitched buzzing in my ear, but I have evaded them for the time being. Smugly I climb into my bed, for a peaceful nights rest, as I hear their buzzing attempts to reach me without success.
Liz: 1
Mosquitoes: 0

The second night of the meetings I have grown wise to the evil flying insect’s plans. This time I am well prepared, I have acquired a secret potion proven to give the little suckers a bitter mouth full. I have carefully applied this potion to every inch of skin, even the skin that appears to be out of reach of the menaces since I know they have no principles. I march confidently out to the field of battle, once again leading song service. I can hear their high-pitched whine around my head, and see them flying around in the light, but not a single flying pest ventures a bite of my precious epidermis. Another small victory.
Liz: 1
Mosquitoes:0

It is time for my shower. I gather my belongings and trek down the trail to our little creek to bathe. As I step into the cool, refreshing water I feel a sharp bite on my left arm, my enemies have found me yet again. As the precious repellant is washed off with every splash of water, the beasts grow more bold and begin to invite their family, friends, and even enemies to join them in their feast of my blood. I flail wildly in the air and attempt to quickly finish my cleansing mission before racing back up the trail to re-apply my magic potion.
Mosquitoes: 1
Liz: 0

As I walked the familiar five mile stretch of jungle leaving Mashabo the last night after the meetings, I carried with me many battle scars from the past several days. Individual battles had been fought, some won, others lost. But a valuable lesson was learned, appreciate the relatively limited supply of biting insects back at the school, and ALWAYS bring repellent.