An itchy, splotchy person has an inherited sensitivity that causes dramatic reactions to insect bites, including a childhood spider bite that swelled to shoulder size. Routine North American mosquito bites produced small, manageable welts treated with calamine lotion and minimal scratching. After relocating to Belgrade, Serbia, mosquito bites became far more severe, sometimes swelling quickly and developing scales while on Greek beaches. Language barriers at an apoteka complicated access to appropriate topical remedies, leading to mimed exchanges and guesses among pronunciations. Regional differences in mosquito species and possible immune-system adjustment are implicated in the heightened reactions.
I lived among North American mosquitoes for the first 35 years of my life, which would sometimes cause bites about the size of the pad of my pinkie finger. They might've stuck around for a week or so, but they were manageable. All I had to do was try not to scratch, slap some calamine lotion on if it got really uncomfortable, and carry on with my life.
after three years to a different set of mosquito species, or if there's something inherently more virulent about the local culicidae. I do know that, a few summers ago, while lying on one of the beaches at the height of midday sunshine, I caught a mosquito taking a sip out of my shoulder, and, over the course of an hour, the resulting bump approached the dimensions of a nickel. It began to develop scales, which was new for me.
At the apoteka, I tried to communicate with the pharmacist. No cell service meant no translation app. She (quite understandably) didn't speak English, I (less understandably) didn't speak Greek, and none of my bits of other languages were proving useful. I resorted to scrolling through various pronunciations of the thing I needed, hoping that one would be recognizable. "Cah-luh-mine?" "Cala-mee-nay?" When that failed, I pointed at the bite and mimed a scratching motion. She mimed back that I shouldn't scratch.
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