Camping With Mosquitoes

I haven't written these past two days because I went camping with Jacob and his family in Kingston.

As much as I try to like camping, I actually hate it.

Well, sometimes it's nice to get out of the city and the city noise. There's always so much going on in he city, too many people, too much traffic, too much pollution. Sometimes you just want to escape from it to a land far far away from it, like the country side. The country side surrounds you with trees, clean air, sometimes a nice view of the lake, you enjoy the plenty open space, and animals like squirrels, raccoons, birds, fish, etc. It's nice to look at the sky at night and you see a sky full of stars. You feel so far away from the busy city and from annoying people. That's nice.

After a while you realize that you are actually SO far away from everyone else and everything else. I can't imagine living on the countryside and being away from like grocery store, drugstore, restaurants, malls, etc. Imagine you need something and you have to travel so far just to get it. Instead of walking like 10 minutes to the store to buy something like I'm used to. And don't even mention during winter times! I could just imagine it 10 times worse! Roads are full of snow, you have to get up early in the morning to plow the snow when you only get a few hours of actualy sunlight.... Horrible. Although it's not bad in the summer, when it's really nice to see the outdoors.

Camping times remind you of the things you take for granted, like having a washroom with hot water, your own room with everything you need and a kitchen to cook whatever you want. Electricity so you can surf the net and watch tv. During camping, you are lucky if you find one of those porta-potties. You are lucky if you get any water at all. And good luck carrying everything.

I used to go camping in high school, when it was mandatory to go on Expeditions. We would have to carry our own sleeping bags, tents, clothes, food, and everything we need in our rucksacks. On top of that, you have to carry that deep in the forest of Costa Rica going uphill then downhill then uphill again. Get through the yucky mud sometimes. Adding to that, you've got the hot and humid weather that makes you sweat like a pig while you walk so much. Oh, did I mention that you are gonna be stuck in the tent in that heat and humidity as well? Yikes! Beware of the mosquitoes too, because they are everywhere and they WILL eat you alive!

And that is a horrible thing for someone like me who is allergic to mosquito bites. When I get bit, the bite swells up double the size of my foot or my face. It's painful, it's itchy and you just wanna scratch the hell out of it. That of cut your body off. Oh, in case you are curious, here are some ways to relieve a mosquito bite:
1. rubbing dry bar soap on the bite
2. placing bag with ice on top
3. blowing it with a hair dryer (tip courtesy of my dad)
4. applying toothpaste
5. roll deodorant on
6. rubbing alcohol
7. make a paste with baking soda and water
8. rub meat tenderizer and water
9. use calamine lotion
10. apply tiger balm
11. use vick vapor rub
12. apply tea tree oil

The ones that have worked best for me are:
a) using bag of ice on the bite - makes that part of my body numb and I can't feel anything, not even the itch. plus it deals with the swelling.
b) blowing hot air with a hair dryer - i hate it because i feel like it burns my skin, but it works temporarily
c) my allergy cream that makes it feel minty, cool and fresh, so it helps with the itch.

This weekend when I went to camp with Jacob, the weather was as hot and humid as in Costa Rica. Being with someone who is a walking furnace makes the tent sizzling hot inside. Just our luck, there were thunderstorms and rained like there was no tomorrow. You could hear the thunder going around us. The lightning is frightening enough to wake you up. Caught in the thunderstorm with no escape. Just holding each other as if we were dying. lol. I'm just thankful we were not caught in a tornado!

I was also glad that it was at his uncle's house, so we did have access to a porta-potty, sink, and people made a bbq. There were lots of people. I got to meet some people and talk to nice people. In general, I had a good time.

After every camping, going home and taking a nice shower is THE BEST FEELING ever!!

Are you a city person? or a country side person?

what's that egg smell?

I came back home yesterday from Jacob's aunt's cottage. The cottage is AMAZING! its beautiful and its located in the middle of nowhere. And you literally have to drive for like half an hour to get services like supermarket, pharmacy, convenience store, little restaurants, stores, etc. So far away. Part of me really likes living in the country side, y'know, living with nature, have big spaces, breathing fresh air, get out of the city noises and pollution, get away from the crowds...Sounds really nice. But once you get there, you realize how difficult it is, to be away from civilization. having to rive half an hour just to get bread. Drive for half an hour to get cold medicine. If you die suddenly no one else will know. Not having neighbours to say hi to. Driving and walking in the dark can get very scary. I almost pissed in my pants when Jacob was driving in the middle of the woods with no lights. My imagination doesn't stop me from thinking about black bears coming out of nowhere and attac us, or zombies that appear from the bushes saying "braiiiiins...gimme some braiiiins". Of course they are not real, but it is kinda creative you gotta admit. But I am so glad I am back to civilization, big city lights and people around. I am a big city girl. Although, it is always nice an escape from the city, and having a 'relation and engagement with nature' every now and then.

This is the cottage and Jacob


And this is the view from the back


It was really relaxing, looking at the lake, hearing sounds of nature, looking at the stars at night...so romantic. One of the best moments I have had with Jacob where I felt so connected with him.

Everything was perfect, except for the water that smelled like eggs, haha! I don't really hate hate it, but let's say I didn't trust that water to brush my teeth. The problem was, i researched, hydrogen sulfide, which is kinda the gas that gets produced when animals and plants die and decay. Apparently it can be caused by several factors, according to this website:

• If the smell is only from the hot water tap, the source is most likely your water heater.
• If the smell is from both hot and cold taps, but only from water treated by a water softener, you may have sulfur-reducing bacteria in your water softener.
• If the smell is from both taps and diminishes after the water runs, you may have sulfur-reducing bacteria in your well or piping.
• If the smell is from both taps and is persistent, you may have hydrogen sulfide gas in your groundwater

It is good to know this. So what people do is just to run down bleach or chlorine on the water well and let it sit overnight, buy filters or change to alumminium heater.

Yes, Google is awesome =]