before the DEET parade passes by...

WARNING: this is a long blog...so grab a Diet Pepsi or beer ;) popcorn?

i thought i would join in on the 'to DEET or not to DEET' talk before it fades away. looks like Laura and Danelle are on opposite sides regarding this topic. me? i'm kinda in between...

i agree with Laura that there are other viable alternatives to using DEET-laced ingredients. items such as citronella sprays...Skin-So-Soft...and even garlic pills are shown to be of some slight effectiveness; many people swear by them though and word of mouth works to an extent. it's interesting to find out that catnip may work as well. maybe i should go to the store and buy a catnip mouse and wear it around my neck... how about this...catnip barrettes for women...catnip nipple rings for guys...catnip wet wipes for babies. it's all about protection...

while i'm in the States, i rarely use insect repellent. maybe i avoid states which have lots of standing water ;) really though, i'm not bothered much by mosquito bites wherever i may be; i may get a handful...but it's not much of a concern.

however, when i travel to Latin America, i carry my little shrine to the DEET god, FOS (fuck off skeeter!). i have used 100% DEET on a couple of occasions, but tend to rely on the 20-30% concentration. through personal experience, i have found that using 100% DEET (which can melt plastic over time) can make you light-headed through prolonged use and burns sensitive areas if you applied too closely to the eyes or lips.

i am a DEET proponent because the bugs really come out when i am in jungly, tropical areas of Latin America. i swear, i even get bites when i use the DEET product. i guess it would be much worse if i didn't have it; i've been too chicken to experiment with DEET alternatives.

it's like the insects KNOW when i arrive in town. i become the traveling 24/7 Chinese buffet when i am visiting...even they get yellow fever heh

you know, i'm wondering if the mosquitoes go after a certain scent. lois and i can go be in the same place, use the same amount of repellent and she won't get one nibble. in fact, she'll still get even fewer bites than i, when she avoids the repellent altogether.

i have also learned the hard way to applying repellent. if you are using sunscreen, you need to apply that before the repellent to maximize the effectiveness of the DEET. on one trip to northeastern Bolivia, i was doing the opposite - repellent first - and i ended up getting around 120 bites in about four days...some didn't go away for about three or four months. and sometimes it doesn't matter...i got sand flea bites on my arms in Peru that didn't go away for six months. of course, i don't think many of you will schedule excavation of looted graveyards along the Pan-American Highway anytime soon ;)

there is one product in which i am greatly interested though. we'll have to go and find a shaman in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala who helped my friend, Cheryl. she and her husband were attending language school there for a month or two. during her visit, she was getting killed by mosquitoes and other assorted insects - sheer misery.

one day, she was sitting in a cafe with her hubby when a little Maya shaman walked by and noticed her multitude of bites. he asked her if she wanted something for the bites. of course, she begged him for any relief. he told her to meet him in the same place the next day...

the next day, they met and he sold her a homemade salve that he probably put together the night before. she was supposed to apply a thin coating on her arms and legs for three days and refrain from bathing. i think the she paid 40 Quetzales (enough for a cheap hotel room or 2-3 meals), which was about $7 then...today, it's closer to $5.

well, i guess the salve was pure evil because her husband slept on the couch for those three days. apparently, the smell was gut wrenching. nevertheless, it worked beautifully. Cheryl told me the bites went away...and she didn't itch at all.

about a week later, she saw the little man again and told him that the stuff was great...and that she wanted to purchase more. the shaman gave her a quizzical look and asked her why, because she didn't need any more. he told her that the salve was good for life.

unbelievably, this was true. i dug with her later that summer and she didn't get a thing...nor has she had any insect bite since that day in 1995...bug bite free for eight years running!

hmmm...super strong OFF! or super stinky Guatemalan salve...both are $5...tough choice.