On the trip so far my biggest surprise has been the noseeums. If you don’t know what possums are let me tell you! Also known as biting midges or sandflies, no-see-ums are a family of small flies that resemble gnats and mostly feed on plant nectar. (Or undergraduate college students) When we got here and checked into our dorm rooms the girls next to us were super friendly! They showed us our legs and looked like they had contracted chicken pox but let us know that it was because of the noseeums. We sort of thought that this would be fine for us however we were wrong. Apparently, because it stormed the day before we came the air is extra stagnant and there is usually a pretty good breeze here! Due to the lack of breeze recently and the stagnant water on the island, they have been going wild! However, do not worry readers we were semi-prepared. The girls next door supplied us with baby oil which apparently helps keep them off of you, we also are equipped with OFF spray to spray the windows down to ward them off, as well as bug spray. In spite of all of this, most of us have many bug bites accumulated on our legs and arms. By observing others around the campus we have discovered many people wear long sleeves and long pants which is a great idea! Also, they sell bug spirals that are cold in the snack bar area! Keeping the fan on helps a little bit, and Maggie came majorly prepared by bringing citronella candles, which not only help with the bugs but also smell pretty good! This is something
I most definitely did not expect the amount the bugs would affect us. We will prevail and stay strong to defeat the noseeums! This will be a great opportunity to practice optimism as well as character-building. We are waiting patiently for the breeze to return and the noseeums to get at bay. In the future, I think we all have learned to do a bit more research on the bugs that are present in the areas as well as come more prepared by maybe bringing a fan or bringing plenty of long sleeves and long pants. I have also camped in the summer before so this reminds me of this a bit so I’m still doing swell. As a wise one once told me “Bite the bugs before the bugs bite you” and I think we can all stand by that.
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