New "Friends"

Our first night in the house was memorable for me. Not only for the specific event of sleeping in this super luxurious place that is effectively becoming ours, but it also for the fact that during that night, I came to realize that we would be "sharing" our house.
Indeed, a house in Brazil is mostly open to the elements. Yes it has a roof, windows and doors, but apart from the roof, openings are left open most of the time, as the climate permits. And since the treat of mosquito bites is not so bad (if we compare to Quebec where they are ferociously aggressive, or to Africa where they are deadly), no mosquito screens are installed on any of the openings.
I have always had a real issue with living with no mosquito screens. Every time I visit Tel Aviv, walking through the old neighborhoods, I feel indiscreet peering deep into people's units because of the wide unprotected openings. Upon arriving in Vancouver, despite being the land of no-mosquitos, I felt our apartment was incomplete and vulnerable. In Senegal I added some kind of "curtains" made of light sheer material in front of all doors and windows, in hope to curtail off the least fierce ones. And used a mosquito net to shield myself during my sleep. Same thing in Congo. In Liberia the technique to protect myself was to freeze them to death with AC.
So here in Brasilia my first night in our new house was not entertained by mosquitos - I kept the windows shut. It was rather the intrusion of various funny beetles that made me cringe. A variety of crawling creatures started to walk around my white-tiled bathroom, making me take funny detours to reach our toilet or our sink. It was explained by the bright lights attracting this wildlife, and cracks between windows and frames large enough to allow small elephant critter to pass.
Here is a nice link explaining to you how to make your own "friends" in paper. More friendly.

In any cases, my boys have different experiences and approaches to all this crawling world. Emmanuel does not understand (yet) the scary or disgust factor that comes with encountering them. In fact he was rather upset the other day when I flushed one of his little friend.
I used to be just like him when I was younger, collecting life grasshoppers, ladybugs and mice. I guess one can change. Did it start in Liberia when cockroaches took a stroll in my bathroom? Or when I got this crazy bug spreading acid on my face in Sierra Leone? Or when I got repeat malaria in Congo? 

Noam did not see the same entertainment factor as his brother. Yesterday, while we were eating at a restaurant, the poor kid got stung by a wasp. Yep, just like that. He actually pulled his leg up near me and brushed this random insect on him, bothered by the little legs walking up his own. Both he and I saw it plant its sting in his flesh. A bit traumatic for my poor Noam - already recently traumatized enough. And for the restaurant staff, who tried to appeased my howling child with some ice and kind words. Unlikely. The pharmacy staff was more efficient.