Lesson D for Dengue a la Guadeloupe

As I type this I slaughter mosquitoes with one free hand using the mightiest of mosquito killers, the deadly red as I call it. It is an easy find here - see if I ever type that combination of words again - for just €9.99 in your local hardware store. Deadly red is a mini tennis racket in plastic and aluminum; rechargeable for your mosquito killing pleasure. Ours is red. I chose it as I felt it an appropriately aggressive color for the war against the mosquitoes.
Why so much talk of such tiny itch-creating things? One word: Dengue. Yeah, I caught Dengue fever. Don't know what it is? Here's a link to an extensive explanation by the CDC but I'll summarize:
Fever of 101F for four days, bones aching like the muscles are being pulled from them inside your body, achy joints, boiling hot one moment and shivering the next and sweating the entire time as if you are in a sweat lodge, zero appetite, a bit of nausea, dizziness, inability to move further than sofa and/or bed, total and complete discomfort of the most indescribable sort.

...and I had it EASY, from what I understand. I also understand that you can go through this a few times as there are a few different strains. Excellent news.

The upside? Nobody gives you any question once you've come down with Dengue. People offer support. It's no joke. Also, I lost those last seven pounds and as a consequence have a new-ish wardrobe on account of all the clothes I couldn't wear for the past ten months because I ate too many bokits and took a few too many aperos. Hey, I'm human. I figure if I chase the kids while they skateboard in the evenings perhaps I can even keep it off.

Ah...Guadeloupe... so much to offer, so much to teach me. I think people should get a special stamp in their passports after handling Dengue, you know, kind of like a Girl Scout badge. Bring it on, Gwada, bring. it. ON!

I really should have spoken with that farmer....

Remember that post about the farmer who lived behind the apartment complex we used to live in?
Here it is if you're interested. In short, the farmer seemed to have magic fertilizer because his plants grew so fast it was incredible to me. He also had pigs. Loud loud pigs. At times it was scary. I am not sure if you've ever heard a pig screaming, but it is one of the more disturbing sounds I've ever heard. At first listen in fact, you're not entirely sure that the sound isn't coming from a small child. Blech.
I'll get to the point: in an ironic turn of events, the pig killed and ate the farmer. True story. Sad story. Horrifying in fact. I've been wanting to post about it for ages but what with no net at the house and all....
Here's the link to the article in the local paper.
In English, the 300 pound-ish pig charged the 77 year old farmer and knocked him down. She killed him. She ate part of his legs and head. The nephew of the farmer found him when it was too late and called the authorities.
How frickin' horrifying is that??????
And to think I laughed when the farmer was in our complex looking for that pig one time, when she got loose. Eeek. My heart went out to the family. What an awful awful experience. Gawd.