It's not easy being green ...

Yesterday a motorcycle screeched up our alley with the Minister of Health emblem on the side. The rider informed me that they would be fumigating the neighborhood today since there are reported cases of dengue. We have heard our next door neighbor has it. If you don't know what Dengue is here is the Wikipedia link: Dengue Fever. Anyway, he tells me that they will be by after 8:30 am and will fumigate the house and yard to kill any mosquitoes which carry the disease. Now I used to chase the mosquito trucks on my bike when I was younger and wondered what lasting affects this may have had on my health. For those of you youngins that never experienced mosquito trucks, they used to come through our development and fog the area with a pesticide that would kill off mosquitoes. The kids in the neighborhood would hop on bikes and ride in the smoke as the truck went through. It was tons of fun because it smelled cool and you couldn't see where you were going because of the thick smoke. This of course was back in the ignorance is bliss days when you were certain that the government would NEVER do anything harmful. As a side note, I went to a flower show in Philly as an adult and saw an exhibit on the natural ways they are controlling mosquitoes now. I asked the man at the booth if there were any long term affects for us bike riders from the pesticides the trucks were spraying. He looked at my son and told me not to worry about it since I had a healthy child. When I told him that my son was adopted he made a quick exit - hmmmm food for thought.

Back to Costa Rica ...

So I wake Mario up at the crack of dawn, ok the f-ing rooster woke us up before dawn, and I tell him we need to poison proof the house. We cleaned off all of the counters and put anything that food might touch into the cupboards. It was irking me that I had no say in this, it was going to happen no matter how I feel about indiscriminately killing every insect with poison, but at least I could reduce the amount of it that would enter my body. So everything away we waited for the fumigator. We heard the hum of an engine coming down the road, so I packed up my computers and put them in the desk. I went to the back of the house to use the bathroom and let Mario know they were coming. As I came out of the bathroom Mario was looking frantically for Diego. Apparently the men came down our alley and fumigated without telling anyone. The house was filled with choking smoke, they just pointed the apparatus into the front door and let it fill the house. Luckily Diego came running and we all got outside, but there was no escape since the air outside was also filled with the same smoke. I took a deep breath and went to the front of the house where I had Diego's leash. We got him on it and walked until we came to an area where the smoke was thinner. In about 5 minutes the air was clear outside. We hung around for about a half an hour and then went in and turned on all the fans to clear out the house. I really resent having this done, I understand the risk of dengue, but I also feel I should have some sort of a say in what I breathe.

A few hours later the motorcycle was back. He was checking each house for any standing water that could be a breeding ground for mosquitoes. I asked him what the fumigators used to kill the mosquitoes and he told me that it only affected mosquitoes. Oh and it might kill spiders and cockroaches too. I asked about the butterflies, since we saw one dying in the road and he said oh no, they are too tough, the poison doesn't affect them. Funny cause I thought cockroaches were pretty tough and it kills them. The woman across the street has lovebirds outside that survived the ordeal and we saw lots of other birds, including hummingbirds, and butterflies this afternoon so life goes on. He says that they will be back again to repeat the process. I have learned from this experience. I plan to completely close the house and take Diego on a day trip. I don't want to be around here when they come again.