Ants
The first night was full of weird noises. 'Tin roof- rusted' is not just a song lyric any more; it's a way of life. I awoke in the morning to strange sloshing sounds and it turned out to be the neighbor on the south side cleaning a mop in the space between our houses. We have jalousie windows, and the one by the kitchen sink, which seems to be permanently open, is just by the slosh spot. I made a pot of coffee with just enough racket to alert her to my awakened state. I'm guessing this will be a daily routine.
Went to the wireless hot spot this afternoon and spent an hour or so deleting trash and not-so trash email. I swear I would risk jail to have a chance to shoot a few of these bastards that steal my time. I only had time to return one quick email so I'll get to uploading this stuff tomorrow. Surprisingly only one spam comment on the blog, I guess I should be grateful for that.
Just got up from a nice nap and my housemate is cooking a little dinner. She got her nails done today and met the daughter of the nearest hotel's owner at the salon. She got a little dose of how gringo/Panameño relations work around here as far as hanging out goes, so we're set to hit up one of the local beer dives and mix it up tonight.
Hung a few pictures and started the first serious battle with the ants. Yesterday seemed to take care of a colony out on the back patio (Terro rules) and this morning was mopping up with the tiny little sugar ants in the kitchen. The neighbors on the north side have a kid from my understanding, and it seems said kid dropped a very delicious cookie somewhere that started the frontal assault. I could hardly believe the chunks of food traveling on my new freeway- beginning from right next to my front door, under the wall and diagonal across the adjoining room, then under the far wall to the neighbors.
I started with one ant bait right in the middle of the thoroughfare, then added another at the doorway interchange. I noticed the traffic was overwhelming the door spot bait so I moved the original next to it. The ants in the bathroom are taking their leisurely time, and the run out the back patio has changed to a new breed of fatter, blacker ants. The original crew has been replaced, so now my fifth bait has been opened, and I'm hoping for some relief before I crack the last of the box. I don't have my PO Box set up yet, so after that, I'm back to smelly spray cans.
