well... this is Africa

Well here I am, living in Africa. The first week and a half seemed like a dream, an amazing host family, I was learning the language, I wasn't sick or having any issues at all! But I knew it was almost too good to be true. Last night I woke up around 4 AM with bites covering my whole body and not a clue where they might've come from. My family here has 5 dogs so the only logical thing I could think was fleas. But soon after I realized I hadn't seen a single flea and the dogs didn't even come inside. Tonight I went to bed around 8 because I was so tired from not getting sleep last night, only to wake up at midnight itching all over and the bites had mysteriously multiplied. After some searching through the sheets I discovered a bed bug. Let me just say first of all... to anyone who has ever encountered bed bugs I am so sorry because they are THE WORST. Ellie's host family has them as well and now I can say I truly understand what she's been going through. I am currently on the couch unable to sleep because there is an abundance of mosquito's flying around me. It is currently 3:30 in the morning and  I have been up since 12 and see no sleep in sight. This experience has sky rocketed me out of the honeymoon phase of culture shock and into the distress phase very quickly. However, my host family is wonderful and I am sure they will do everything they can to get rid of the bed bugs. Just the thought of live bugs crawling on me and biting me in my sleep is enough to make me lose my mind. The kids will be up in a couple hours so I guess I will be too. The lack of sleep combined with being bitten a million times has turned me into a ball of stress, confusion, and frustration. I just have to keep telling myself that this issue will be solved and I am going to be fine. It's all apart of the experience. I am a bit anxious about how my family plans on getting rid of them because I know bed bugs are near impossible to completely get rid of. They hide in the seams of mattresses, on shoes, in clothes, suitcases and curtains so it will be interesting to see how long it takes before I stop getting bitten. Stay tuned everyone and well... this is Africa.