“If you think you are too small to be effective, you have never been in bed with a mosquito”
When I arrived in Kenya, I was armed to the teeth with mosquito netting, bug repellent, and Malaria pills. You name it, I had it to keep the mosquito’s off me.
When I got to the orphanage, the other volunteers assured me they had been there a month and never once been bitten by a mosquito.
I think, good, I will still wear bug repellent, but I need not bother with the mosquito netting. This was a good thing because I could not seem to set up the netting quite right. It would have been the same effect if I just wrap the net around me when I sleep, which would be no effect at all.
Apparently the mosquitoes were waiting for my arrival. I am the only one who manages to get bitten. Not just once. No, I have countless bites that are HUGE. On my hands, neck, legs, arms. I am a regular mosquito buffet.
Adding to my misery, Sarah left the day I left for safari. Sarah was was the first one there the day I arrived at the orphanage. She bubbled over with excitement and showed me everything. She taught me the ropes. She really made me feel welcome and not so nervous.
She broke me in to her class so the students would not intimidate me when I took over for her. She made me feel very comfortable with them, especially because even after working with them for four weeks, she still forgets their names. I am sure I will do the same.
But now, she is gone. And now, I am sad.