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Arachnid Encounter: Navigating a Spider Bite in Mexico 🕷️
This week, I had a rather unexpected run-in with a spider – not just once, but three times!
Despite my 6.5 years of living in Mexico, I still encounter some surprises now and then.
What happened was, I grabbed a beach towel and pillow from our outdoor pool storage bin and laid them out on a beach chair. Although I checked them over, I must have missed the sneaky spider hiding among them.
Feeling something crawling on me, I couldn’t spot anything immediately. Next time, I’ll know to dive into the pool right away!
Even small spiders can leave quite a noticeable bite, and since I often can’t see them, it takes me a day or so to realize I’ve been bitten.
So, I’ve established a new outdoor seating protocol: using freshly laundered beach towels and pillows from the laundry room. Once outdoors, they’ll be washed (towels) or sprayed down (pillows) afterward.
Thankfully, the bite didn’t cause much discomfort. In fact, I only noticed it a day later while sitting on the couch. My partner had a reaction pill and sting relief cream at the ready, but a few minutes of icing did the trick. It just felt a bit warm.
While bugs in Mexico can be potent, they’re manageable with some precautions. One major adjustment is our nearly bi-weekly deep cleaning routine for our beach home, whereas other city dwellings we’ve rented were fine with once a week.
Mexican Laundry Saga
To add to the excitement, our second dryer decided to call it quits. Living by the beach means things rust rather quickly, which may have contributed to our dryers giving up on us. New ones cost a pretty penny – starting from $1000 and climbing to exorbitant prices. I felt a bit out of touch with the dryer market!
Considering used options, I found few and far between, often already showing signs of rust. When I asked local friends for advice, they simply pointed to the sun – no one here uses a dryer; they rely on good old-fashioned sun drying.
Since our maid is accustomed to this method, we decided to give it a try while we continued our search for a dryer.
After weeks of searching, I’ve almost thrown in the towel (pun intended). If I stumble upon a decent used dryer, I might have it delivered, but I’m not actively hunting anymore.
Sun drying laundry was something I never imagined doing, but surprisingly, it’s working like a charm, requiring no extra effort on my part.
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Expat Rebel Chris
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