Day Two: The Mattresses (14 June)
on From Banglatown to Bangladesh (Bangladesh), 15/Jun/2010 15:56, 34 days ago
Thick, soft, and– crucially – bed-bug free. These are my positive of today. And, possibly, of the week. New mattresses, freshly made, and finally delivered, after incessant monsoon storms delayed their transport-by-rickshaw through the town.I won’t go into the details of the bed-bugs, or the challenges of trying to get rid of them in a place where all the ‘suggested methods’ are unavailable (placing bedding in a tumble dryer, calling a local exterminator... to name just two of those out of my reach). To give you some idea, it’s included days of boiling seemingly endless saucepans to get enough hot water to wash each and every item of clothing I own, and of using sticks to beat cushions and pillows in the sunshine, in efforts to make sure the bed-bugs are well and truly gone. All the while tossing and turning on a mattress sothin that I could feel each wooden slat underneath my back, waking up with aches and pains that are – I think – really not suitable for my age. Ah, it’s a tough life...Really, the fact that I’m even complaining shows the life of luxury I have had. I know that my moans are not justified, and how lucky I am to have all that I do, bed-bugs or not. And I have been telling myself so for the last week. But there are times, when you’re tired and sick and it’s raining outside, that youreally just want a comfortable bed to curl up in.And tonight, as I lay on the not one, but two new mattresses covering my bed, the bites and welts of the bed-bugs faded and the aches and pains gone, I really do feel lucky once again. Very lucky indeed.