P- Argh!
G- What?
G- Ugh! I hope we're not going to be terrorized by roaches while we're here.
P- Kill it!
G- Whah! You know I hate killing them.
P- Don't let it get away!
I grabbed a shoe and moved the bag. The roach ran out and headed under the bed. I smashed it with the shoe and it died quickly.
G- Huh. That was easy enough.
P- Why did you use my shoe?
G- Because I didn't want to use mine. You want to use my shoe, you kill the roach next time.
P- Very funny. Push it under the bed and we'll get someone to pick it up tomorrow.
G- These Cambodian roaches aren't as strong as Nola roaches. That sucker died with one hit. I'd have to hit a Nola roach 6 times and still the bastard might not die.
P- I don't think that one flies either.
We got into bed and securely tucked the dusty mosquito net under the mattress. We didn't care for the caged in feeling, but were happy to have some protection against mosquitoes and roaches. The next morning we told Nicole about the roach.
P- I hate them so much and they give me the creeps.
Nicole – We have roaches in Australia, so I'm use to them. Call me the next time you see one.
G- Use to them? Believe me, New Orleans is roach Mecca, but I'll never get use to them.
P- Ours fly. You'll try to kill one and it'll fly at you like some crazy kamikaze.
Nicole – They fly? I've never seen one fly.
G- Yeah! It's terrifying!
The next night Phyl was securely tucked into the bed box and I was using the bathroom one final time when I caught some movement near the pipe, on the wall, beside the toilet. A lifetime of experience told me what it was. I jumped off the toilet and grabbed the sprayer in one fluid motion. He was a big one, maybe 2.5 inches long! The first spray of water knocked him off the wall and onto the floor. Then he reared up like the Lone Rangers horse and thrashed his front claws at me. I sprayed him again.
P- What's wrong?
G- Damn roach! I can't even pee in peace.
P- Don't let him get into the room.
G- The son of a bitch keeps running behind the toilet!
I would spray him from the right and he'd run behind the toilet to the left. Then I'd spray from the left and he’d run to the right. Finally, after 5 times back and forth he was exhausted and water logged and I gained the upper hand. With my pants still at my knees I sprayed him right out of the drain hole cut into the wall.
G- Yay! I hope he doesn't come back during the night seeking revenge.
P- Stop playing with the insects and get in bed.
The morning after killing the first roach, which had been carried across the room by ants and partially devoured by morning, Molly came in to sweep it up. She then proceeded to sweep around the room, sending a toxic cloud of dust into the air, that promptly covered all of our belongings. We certainly didn't want that to happen again, so after a week of sleeping in one bed (I was sleeping in my Sleep Sac on top of the sheet and there was no top sheet, only a blanket that was too thick for the climate.) we asked Molly to clean the room.
G- She just giggled. I asked her not to sweep, to just change the sheets and empty the garbage can. The bathroom smells like shit.
P- Well we do throw all of our toilet paper into that garbage can since we're not allowed to flush it.
G- I already emptied the garbage 2 times.
P- How'd you get extra bags?
G- I took them from the garbage cans under the 'cabanas'. We can't get our garbage cans emptied in our rooms, but the 'cabana' cans are emptied everyday.
After 2 days and repeated requests to Molly & Juo, we gave up and just switched to the other bed. Once the sun went down it was too dark in our hut to see the dirt anyway. So, our days were spent in a beautiful paradise, our nights in a nasty hovel. Really, we had the opportunity to switch to a nicer room across the road, but we just couldn't leave the beach and the sound of the surf.
