A Mosquito Philosophy
Mosquitoes. I don’t like them very much. In fact, I don’t like them at all.
You’d think that, having lived all of my twenty-three years in the Philippines (the tropics!), I’d be used to these blood suckers. That the marks they leave would go unnoticed on my dark brown skin. You’d think that I no longer flinch at the sight of their scaled wings, and long, thin legs, or that I have mastered the sort of willpower needed to keep from scratching the terrible itch of their bite.
But I am not that hardened.
After two hospitalisations (one when I was eight and another when I was sixteen; now I dread turning twenty-four), I am actually more intolerant of mosquitoes than ever. Contracting dengue fever is not fun. Days, weeks, years since palely emerging from a Quezon City hospital with little nasty-looking, syringe-related dots on my arms, fingers, and rear, but also with the fortune of not having fallen as a WHO statistic, I have come to nurture a great fear of basins with stagnant water; of broken air conditioners, and holes in the window screen; of my grandmother’s unkempt living room. With exposed legs, I feel vulnerable and unnerved.
Mosquitoes have also caused me much mental irritation. You know what it’s like when you just have to think about something all the time? My habits have taken a prophylactic turn; when I read, for example, I have to swat away at the air after every five pages – my legs after every two. On bad days I cannot relax without first rubbing repellent; on worse nights I cannot sleep without a blanket. And how can I drink my San Miguel al fresco when the brittle evening breeze is dishonoured by the hovering omnipresence of mosquitoes?
I am not, however, going to lose my sanity –or my love of life– over these insects. (In the Philippines there are better ways to do that.) Yes, they are a great nuisance, and there hasn’t been a day when I did not question the meaning of their existence, when I counselled patience to myself and sprayed Baygon all over my room and wondered rhetorically what it would be like if only –oh, if only!– they did not bite.
But the reality is this: nature is not something I have control over. The macabre mosquito diet is not something I can change (or will try to), and the temperate, tropical climate is not something I can reconfigure (besides, it’s lovely enough as it is).
The only power I have is in accepting that mosquitoes here are a way of life, just as much as the traffic and the dirty politics are. They fly, bite, suck, frolic with us in bed, and serve as faithful reminders that nothing –no place, no creature, no being– comes without imperfections. Especially not me.
I note from my column that you may have a fetish for the Mosquitoes. Well you certainly are living in the place for the invasion of Mosquitoes, what do you use to kill them? Especially when they buzz around your bedrooms in groups.
Hi John: That’s a tough test and oftentimes what I do is I just walk away…
hehehe,
Thought I was the only one that planned my life around a bottle of “off” ??
They really tenacious here. Lived and been in many mozzie spots, but here they can get through jeans and love my instep, even in sandals
Do love the way you write Migs.
Migs,
I didn’t know if you were talking about Mosquitoes or Politicians when you said “They fly, bite, suck, frolic with us in bed…”
Mark C.
Hello Migs, this is my first time posting here. Mozzies love me very much and I love Baygon and Off just as much.
They don’t bother my husband, and why is that? We eat the same food and use the same shampoo and soap. The only thing I could think of is that he drinks beer and I don’t. 
Hi Carolynn: Tenacious is the right word. That’s why, like you, I have made it a habit to rub myself with Off!
Hi Mark C.: Yes, that’s a good metaphor for mosquitoes, although I do try to stay as far away from Philippine politics as I could. Or maybe the mosquitoes are a metaphor for something altogether different?
Hi Ellen: Thanks for reading and commenting. Maybe we ought to start drinking beer or tonic water or anything with quinine in it. Sometimes, Baygon and Off don’t work, which is quite a shame.
Cheers!
Hi Migs,Did you have problems with Mossies when you visited Davao.Which City would you say has worst mossie problem or are they about the same,regards Chas.
Migs
I will send up some tonic water for you its supposed to be great for getting rid of the Mossies, however I like to put Gin with it so I do not notice the Mossies.
funny, i just read this after reading from a fortune cookie i got from eating at a nearby diner,
here’s what the fortune said:
“If you think you’re too small to be effective, you’ve never been in bed with a mosquito.”
that reminded me of the time my wife & i spent the night in a beach resort in talikud island (near davao). we slept under a large mosquito net & in the morning she had numerous mosquito bites all over (70+ - she counted them) … while i had none.
hey, an insect with good taste! i remarked that there must have been one rogue mosquito within the net snacking away all night. i named him “the red baron” & as expected, she wasn’t pleased by her newly polka dotted apearance.
Hey Macky, I’m like your wife - I love to count how many red spots we have. Sometimes once is not enough, have to do it several times just to make sure. I can’t figure out still what satisfaction I get from doing that
Maybe I am aiming for world record ..
Hi Ellen - crazy thing is, even though I feel bad for my wife’s new, um, design pattern, i find it interesting every time the red spot count closes in on a new record. almost like a game for me. …. boy, i hope she doesn’t read this.
Hi to Migs and to all of you. This might be a good reason to drink gin and tonic every night
. It’s okay, but not every night. OFF and BAYGON also didn’t work for me. I used to turn on this ‘blue light lamp’, you know what I mean??? It works. And by the way, we enjoy the same moskitos. We are neighbours… 
Hi All,I’m not sure if you can find it there,but it may be worth looking for,Sams safari repellent,its 90% deet content,lasts 10hrs,very effective,used by US forces in the tropics,regards Chas.
No they don’t sell anything here that has more than 25% deet. Bottle does say it lasts 8 hours. And they don’t sell sprays either, just lotion type.
I have Deep Woods which has very high % deet as well. It does get sticky when applied cuz of the heat and humidity.
I put on Off everyday when I go out. There are day biting mozzies (dengue carriers are day biting) and those that bite at dawn and dusk. They are very quick to bite too. If I don’t put on OFF, they bite within seconds I step out. That’s how lovable I am to them
Hi Chas: Hmm, I wouldn’t know if there are more mosquitoes in Davao than in Manila. It doesn’t really matter; they are killing me whenever I do the laundry!
Hi Macky: I like that fortune cookie quote. Makes me feel very big.
Hi Ellen: Don’t worry. With polka dots, you’ll get lucky in the New Year!
Hi Klaus: Maybe I ought to get myself a blue lamp light? Or the good ol’ katol.
Hi Chas and Ellen: Thanks for the tip! I’ll look for Sams and Deep Woods the next time I go marketing.
Cheers everyone!
Polka dots - sorry to say that’s not the trend anymore. They signify loose change only. Now you have to wear rectangles -
Its all in your diet. For some reason, mosquitoes like to bite my wife and my balikbayan children, but not me. What is bothering in PI, besides mosquitoes are the small ants that you can’t see until it bites you, especially if you are diabetic. I also observed that there are no mosquitoes in my beach house. I guess they do not like the ocean salty breeze.. Enjoy your style of writing!
he he he Mosquitoes they r the nastiest bugs
in the world .We don’t have dengue fever here but we do have the- West Nile virus , It’s a killer too ..besides I’ve only been in the pines in Feb. .. My wife worries more about the Mosquitoes then i do and of course she rubs me down with some type of oil it helps some ….?..Oh yea we have some about 2 cm. long too …Phil R. 
Thanks, David! I envy you: I wish mosquitoes spared me, too! Maybe I ought to visit your beach house. LOL
Hi Phil: They are nasty; my dengue fever experience was very harrowing. So be careful and I hope your repellent lotion works!
Cheers!