dont let the bed bugs bite

my paper thin, handmade mattress sewn together by this talented tailor on the streets of Ahmedabad lays pathetically on a stained frame with a wood chipping, probably because of the heat.  no spring board. no fluff.

my two pillows are hard rocks beneath my head forcing me to shuffle around for several minutes before i actually accept that yes, this is what i will be sleeping on for the next 8 hours.  I should (or should have by now...) go out and buy at least one pillow that provides a safe haven for my tired, or is it confused, mind after a day of navigating India.  But, then I think about abandoning this lavish $5 purchase when I leave in two months, and well I already have 2 right here, so do I really need to go out there and search for something that in all fairness, probably doesn't even exist?

Its summer here now so the routine shifts, slightly. Every night for the the past month and a half, i have unraveled an extra mattress, originally purchased for house guests, on my 4x4.5 balcony (once home to my makeshift garden* and still where I hang my laundry).  I throw down a pillow that thumps like a brick hitting pavement and sends dust scattering in all directions and tensely lay down hugging my knees to my stomach as to avoid touching the dirty wall.  I fit, mostly.  For added comfort, I screwed in a light bulb above to make bedtime reading possible while I patiently wait for the howling winds to kick in.  The cool air that whips through Ahmedabad from 2 to 7 in the morning chills the body much better than repeatedly dumping lukewarm water on my self and laying under a fan hoping to fall asleep before the devilish heat strikes, once again.  Finally I achieve it- sleep that isn't interrupted every two hours by the suffocating heat of India. Finally!

That was until two days ago when I noticed small bites on my leg. Bed bugs or worse- its India, there has to be something worse.  The mattress now sits rolled up in a bag, my balcony is now solely used for laundry, and I am once again dumping buckets of water on myself, albeit less frequently than before.  I am back to laying in the heat of the night and calmly wondering when my $50 desert cooler will start to cool.

Lessons learned: 1. having light on your balcony is genius! 2. bugs do ruin lives 3. lizards don't eat bed bugs  4. desert coolers suck

* my garden was unable to withstand the heat. it is now a collection of cut up bottles with crusty soil in the corner of my balcony.