Rainy season has officially arrived. The five-hour downpour on Wednesday, which overwhelmed any and all drainage on campus, was the first clue. The arrival of the flying ants that afternoon confirmed it. Just what is an ant invasion like? Hmm. Short of someone experiencing it for themselves, I don’t think it’s possible to give one an accurate picture, but I will try.
It all begins with the first hard downpour of the rainy season. I don’t know the geological explanation, but with that first hard rain, ants of all shapes and sizes come pouring out of the earth. You know those weasel-type bonking games one might find at a Chuckie Cheese’s where you try to bonk the heads of the weasels as they pop up from various holes? That’s what it’s like; and you can stomp and stomp and stomp some more on the ants as they run out of their hole, but they just keep on coming. It’s actually pretty incredible to see – disgusting, of course, but incredible nonetheless.
Of course, these aren’t ordinary ants; these are flying ants, which makes it a whole new ball game. As you look through the rain drops, you will see little black dots scattered among them. Either lack of practice or coordination makes them fly in to things as they flail about (remember, they just came out!), which includes bonking into humans, landing in food dishes, etc. What’s worse is when they hit something wet, their wings stick; thus I have often found my water bottle decorated with their bodies.
This made Wednesday’s noon meal rather exasperating as I had to look twice to make sure there wasn’t an extra dose of protein mixed in with my food. Later on that evening, as I cooked some vegetables on the stove, I thought I saw an ant land in the boiling water. My suspicions were confirmed when I scooped some veggies onto my plate and found his dark corpse floating next to a piece of carrot. Like any good missionary, I picked him out and kept right on eating.
It is around this time of year that I become a “lover of darkness” since the bugs are highly attracted to light. As night falls, they all come flocking indoors (just as they came out of the ground), and if one doesn’t hear or feel their presence, it is soon seen as little (or not so little!) black bodies cover the walls, floors and everything in between. To help diminish the number in my apartment, I shut the doors and windows (well, as much as possible since certain parts are always open for air flow) and I only turn on one light. Nevertheless, I always have plenty of evening visitors…and they always leave a calling card.
Flying ants do not remain as such but quickly shed their wings, so in the morning, there are always little wings scattered about. I usually sweep them up along with all the dead bodies of those I managed to kill the night before by an intentionally hitting them or inadvertanly walking on them.
Despite having grown up in this environment, I’ve discovered that Brazilians dislike this invasion as much as I do. In addition to Carnaval (that’s another blog topic), it was one of the highlighted topics of conversation at water aerobics yesterday afternoon. Afterward, as I rode my bicycle home, I had to take special precaution to keep my mouth closed as I felt their little bodies pelting mine as I pedaled along.
Oh, and speaking of pedaling, I got caught in a downpour this morning while out running errands on my bike. Both I and my purchases were drenched by the time I made it home. Oh well, such is life in Brazil.
Before I go, I do want to emphasize that rainy season, like other trials in life, does pass. I say that lest I ruin any and all hope of convincing you to come visit me here in Brazil. I love this country! And after hearing about some of that cold weather you all are having, I don’t know that bugs are so bad after all.
