UP | uncultured project

For better or worse, I found a product that does exactly what the label says.

Before coming to Bangladesh, I bought several bottles of Deep Woods OFF! at Costco. It comes in handy because mosquitoes are a big problem here in Bangladesh. There is malaria in Bangladesh – but, much more common is the deadly Dengue Virus. If you’ve been reading my blog, you know my mother was infected by a Dengue-carrying mosquito and had to be hospitalized because of it. Dengue, unlike malaria, comes from daytime biting mosquitoes. Unless you plan on sleeping during the day, bed nets are going to be absolutely useless against these guys.

So, especially since moving to a mosquito-heavy part of Dhaka City, I’ve started using this stuff almost religiously. What makes this stuff work is its use of a chemical called DEET. Now, DEET is pretty strong stuff and the bottle comes with a clear warning label: it may damage plastics. And that’s exactly what it’s done. In just the few days I’ve been using this stuff on a regular basis I’ve noticed that the plastic near where my wrist rests on my MacBook Pro (the plastic trimming) has started to corrode. In fact, it’s almost a perfect 1:1 line-up to where I place my wrists and where the plastic is getting corroded.

Let this be a warning to campers and/or those traveling to the mosquito-infested areas. If your using bug repellent – don’t use your computer. Unless you don’t care for it to get eaten up.

[Full disclosure: As with all the other times I have mentioned some company or product on this website, I haven't been paid to do so.]

Ever since my mom got hospitalized (and flew back home) due to a deadly mosquito-transmitted virus, I’ve been paranoid about mosquitoes. So far, I’ve been pretty lucky. Either they didn’t like to bite me, or I was staying in places where there just weren’t many of them.

But I’ve recently moved to another relative’s home. This place is near a large pond and there are mosquitoes everywhere. Particularly worrisome is the fact that there are a lot of daytime mosquitoes. In Dhaka, daytime mosquitoes are particularly dangerous as they are the kind of mosquitoes that carry the deadly Dengue Virus which is prevalent in this city (and which my mother had contracted).

I’ve taken the basic precautions – I’ve worn long sleeve clothing and sleep in a mosquito net. But these little guys will bite on any exposed skin. I’ve found bites on my ankles and on my neck. I’ve tried to regularly apply bug spray (sprays with DEET are the most effective). But that’s a hard routine to fall into. You have to spray yourself every five to six hours and after you shower. That’s fine for a camping trip – but when you live here for a while, it can kind of get tedious.

Oddly enough, that’s actually the same excuse my mom used for not regularly spraying herself with bug spray. I criticized her for not protecting herself everyday – but I didn’t use the stuff myself since I rarely got bitten (she on the other hand got bitten a lot).

The fact that getting ill might serve some form of poetic justice only heightens my paranoia about mosquito bites.