My Newest Nemesis

You know how in the states, if you see a few ants in your house, you're a little grossed out but you just clean or spray them and go on with life.  Life in Saipan has taken the gross-factor out for me.  They. Are. Everywhere.

But our ants aren't big, fat and noticeable...they are sneaky little guys, small and hard to detect.  That is, until you find the line of them across a wall, in the trash can, in your sink, the list goes on.

No longer can we leave a few dishes in the sink over night.  (This lesson we learned yesterday...the invasion was crazy.)

No longer can I skip wiping down the dining room table or sweeping after a meal.

They even infiltrate our dirty laundry basket.  (Super gross, yes).

When we find a couple walking around in the bottom of the box of cereal, rice, whatever, we seriously evaluate the situation before throwing the food item away.  One, because food is so stinking costly here.  And Two, there are always a few ants in everything-- the number of ants determines whether we pitch it or continue to eat it.

Recently, I asked Jason's mom to ship some of the storage containers we had left with her.  She went above and beyond- sending us all sorts of airtight containers, in all shapes and sizes.  They have helped dramatically- storing our rice, cereal, sugar, flour, snacks, etc.  Basically, everything we haven't already stuck in the fridge or freezer for safe keeping.

I'm not really complaining; we are used to it by now and just go on with life.  But I think it puts into perspective that not everything about island living is "sunshine and oceans".  We are blessed with many great things about Saipan, and we give thanks to God for each and every one of those blessings.  I just wanted to share a quick story about something that's less-than-ideal.  Like I said, we aren't complaining, just sharing a bit of our experience.