Not buggy
Do you know what Belgrade does not have a lot of? Mosquitos. Now I'm sure someone will write in and tell me all about how they couldn't sleep last night because of some mosquito squealing in their ear, so I want to clarify that I didn't say there are NO mosquitos, just that there are very few. And, after spending the past 6 years living in the swamp of Washington DC, it is a welcome change to be able to walk outside at dusk and not be swarmed.I'm writing about this tonight because I just developed a theory as to why there are so few mosquitos. (I know you're on the edge of your seat, just dying to know about my super-scientific theory which I developed while I was on my patio watering plants). I think it's because there are so many bats in our neighborhood! I was almost dive-bombed by all the bats when I was out there! And I have to say, I love bats - mainly because they eat, yep, you guessed it, mosquitos!!!
Anyway, I'm feeling quite blah and uninspired in this mid-July heat, but I thought I'd share this truly profound thought I had tonight. Anyone else have a theory as to why there are so few mosquitos in Belgrade?
posted by Brooke @ 2:53 PM
12 Comments:
huh, maybe because the mayor spends so much money on spraying mosquitos with deadly poison from air. Just a guess, here in Vojvodina that is the reason:)
el-kujna, you re right! i think the same..
when are you going to be in DC? i have the 16th through the 23rd of Aug. also, i think my roomate maybe interested in coming out in Nov. for thanks also? are you still going to be living there?
PK
El-Kujna is right. For example, 1999 was awful in that respect - plenty of rains, no spraying, no sleeping
Sorry Brooke no clue. Can you find mojitos there?
Mann
Do they have "lighten' bugs"
in Europe?? A mid-west reader.
Dear Mid-Westerner: To my knowledge, they don't have lightening bugs in Serbia, but "Europe" is a really huge place and I am not sure what types of bugs they have in Finland above the artic circle vs. what kind of bugs are in the Greek islands.
Yeah I agree with everybody here its the mosquito sprayers who are largely responsible.
I remember one year in and around Belgrade when the poor bee keepers were complaining how hundreds of bees had been affected by that stuff they use.
Think about that next time you enjoy some honey..... :)
Having said that I havent heard any recent complaints by bee keepers.....
Why there are so few mosquitos?
They can't afford $130 for one bite.
:)
PS. Thank you for this blog.
Of course it's not possible to hate an entire people! Of course not an entire poeple are (nor can be) terrorists, democrats, spies, nationalists, fat cows- whatever!
It's what a people represent (or are made to represent) - that which their government/state/media/most emblematic figures stand for... or against.
It's as silly as a basic "bad guy/good guy" series; depending on when it was filmed, the bad guy is a Russian with an acne scarred face, a dirty looking Cuban, an Afghan, a Serb arm/drug dealer, a Muslim terrorist... All this penetrates the human psyche and because it's basic, is absorbed as a binary good guy/bad guy template to reading the world.
Luckily, not everyone stops at viewing the world through that template. Unfortunately, too many still do.
In one of your posts, (I think it was the "you know they hate us right?" one) even you wondered how a Serbian family whose baby had been killed in the American bombing of Belgrade, did not hate you as the hated your country, and how they could actually be your friends. When read that, I remember wondering why you wondered that. Before you came to Serbia, did you expect everyone to be an ethinic cleansing nationalist? (rhetorical question here, ;-D)
Anyway, back to our example here, they did not stop at "Brooke = American (and all that American stands for) and that's all there is to her".
But not everyone has the open mindedness to travel, question, actually look and listen and want to see beyond the good guy/bad guy binary template...
The funny thing is that I haven't seen a mosquito here in Brussels during my 6 years being here. All my colleagues living outside the city are complaining, but here I simply see none.
And they are not spraying here, cause of the environmental concerns. Weird
What I do find is a good mojito. That is not so easy to find back in the good ol' Serbia. :-)
Ne znam da li je Pruvulovic jos uvek zaduzen za to, ali je on agresivno zaprasivao protiv komaraca i sve to objasnjavao na TV dnevniku (1980s).
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