House Warming

Since I can't hear nor speak Garrapatan, I was not aware of the festivities that occurred on the night of our arrival at the apartment.

"The Gringos are here" must have been the theme of the fiesta.

Adi and I toasted our first night in Oaxaca with a couple of shots of Mezcal, watched an episode of "True Blood" on the laptop, and thinking we were alone, settled down for the night. A short while later, Adi shook me awake.

"I have large, itching bites on my leg." she cried, and added in horror, "I saw an insect in bed that looked like a Lady Bug, and when I killed it, blood came out."

"I never heard of a blood-sucking Lady Bug." I told her as I turned back to sleep.

The loss of Papa Garrapata, must have been sad, but life must go on. In the morning Adi found two more bites on her body. A brief inspection between the bed sheets uncovered the source of her misery. It did not take an entomologist to recognize that "Lady Bug" is a tick.

Adi apologized, "I thought the legs were wings."

This time, I undertook the disgusting task of popping it. "Mama Garrapata?"

One tiny garrapata crawled on the bed cover. "I hope we got the whole family."

I emptied a large can of Raid in the bedroom and escaped to fresh air.

The doctor was amazed at our story. Ticks are not common in Oaxaca. After inspecting Adi's huge and glowing bites he subscribed antibiotics "Just In Case", and sent us home to a thorough house cleaning.

Since then, we haven't heard from the Garrapatans.