American Muslima Writer -Daring to Work Towards Jannah

http://marahm.wordpress.com/2008/06/29/do-you-want-to-hear-a-cockroach-story/#comment-478 Marahm wrote a funny and interesting post about cockroaches. I had to add my few bits to that...

I saw a few in the mountain house but we weren't there for long and they sprayed and re-sprayed many times before I was ever there to keep them at bay. When I got to my new house in Dekwaine, Lebanon Oh boy when I saw that first roach I screamed so loud! My husband came running sure I had cut off my thumb with a knife or something.
"What's happened!" He asked out of breath
"There! Just went under the fridge! A Huge Roach!" I shuddered delicatly.
He moved the fridge back at my insistance and saw a medium/small roach crawling happily. He picked up his shoe and smashed it's life out. "That wasn't big, you'll see, they get much bigger. And don't scream like that you gave me a heart attack."
There were few cockroaches in this hosue an I got the knack of hitting them squeemishly with a shoe. Then we moved to Naime, Lebanon. It was an older house with lots of cracks and holes here and there along the walls. We were going to have the hosue fumigated before we moved in (with my 6 month old daughter at the time) but we were in a rush and forgot. Later we paid the price for it. In the kitchen cockroaches began emerging one by one and I freaked out because they were big suckers. Sometimes a shoe wouldn't even drop them. I kept three bottles of spray ready at all times. But the stuff smelled disgusting and sure it was harmful because it said right on the label that i's harmfull to be inhaled. So I'd keep my daughter back and spray away and let it vent but still you just walk in the kitchen and could smell the spray still. And it only minimised them not erradicated them. I was disgusted beyond words. In USA my grandfather had his house sprayed every 2 months and I though why would he be spraying so much we've never had roaches now I bless g-pa for doing this.
When I packed up everything I very carefully check it for roaches before putting it in my boxes. When I unpacked everything in UAE I found the kitchen's table cloth (not used for eating table but liek as a counter) and smelled something funny and then sniffed the table cloth again and was disgusted to find it smelled liek the roach spray. Even though i had washed it before we left. I showed my husband and he grimaced and ordered it thrown. I agreed. As soon as I saw the first roach in UAE I ordere fumigation of the house but my husband asked around and said this gel from Germany was the best in the market (though it costs a bit mroe than spray) but it's safer especially since i was pregnant and had a 2 yr old in the hosue. SO we layed that gel down all over the hosue (got 2 tubes) and it worked got rid of ants and roaches. And the kids stayed away from it.
Now I'm in my new house in UAE and have a whole new bug issue Ants and TERMITES....ewww they are building a big long path right up the side of my wall. I vacuum the path regulary but they just come back and build it faster. ICK anyone know what will get rid of them? They also rotted out my dooorframe and my daughter accidently kicked it one hecktic night and termites came pouring out UGH.
I have a respect and great fear of ants though so any ants in my house are considered fair game to be killed. Outside if i see them struggling with food I'll scoop them and their food up on a stick and help them faster to their homes just to be nice but inside my houe it's Ground Zero battle field. If you have more than 2 legs in this hosue you will be squashed. (Except Julie our hamster)
I don't like any creature that Allah created to suffer in it's death so I try to give them a swift death that they aren't tortured in for too long. Menaing one quick strike of my shoe. If they squirm around in throws of pain I feel sick to my stomach and repededly smash them until they stop wiggling. Then make du'a to Allah that the bugs will stay out of my hosue or if they comein let them die quickly without wiggling.
Ohhh man talk about hard exoskelaton.....wasps are so hard to kill. Not only are they fast and furious but they are HARD. I had a problem for like a month of them flying in through an unsealed window (yes I told hubby to seal it a million times but he didn't it is still open) and flying around the house ugh. I'd have to lock up the kids in a safe room and put on a prayer hijab (to help protect from being stung) then go after it. At first I tried with a pillow to take it out since I could throw a pillow harder and it was guaranttedd to hit it flying round. But once down it flew back up really fast so you'dhave to have a shoe on hand to kill it once the pillow knocked it into confusion. Man many a thrilling night (sickening more like it) were spent chasing wasps down in my house. I just say wasp to my daughter and she'd run for cover in the bathroom and lock the door. I don't know why they stopped coming in though. Maybe because the sunflowers that were attracting them have died out now. I hope so anyways.

Yes there are bugs a plenty to battle in the Middle East (and other countries too but I've seen more here then I ever saw in USA)