Mosquitoes and flies and ants, oh my!

Well, we are finally back at our apartment, as of less than an hour ago.
And I am really very happy to be back here, loud noises and all.
Truly, there is no place like home.
Even though I love hubby's family, and it is quieter at his folks house, and mom does the cooking and everything else, it doesn't really feel like "my" home, and even though I don't love our temporary apartment here, and it's loud and dusty and the kitchen sucks, it still feels like my home here. And I'm happy to be back.

When we were driving on our way back, I was people watching as always, and I wondered if I would get bored if I drove around all day just people watching. I'm sure if I did it for hours on end every day it would get old, but I just haven't gotten to that spot yet.
There is always something interesting and different to see, even though we drive the same streets going back and forth from our place to mom and dad's place.
I would like to walk the streets soon, during the daytime, so I can get some good pictures.
The only problem is, I don't necessarily want to be obvious in my picture taking, and so I'm not sure how to go about that. I can go across the street perhaps for some shots. But my camera is not that great. I mean it works okay and it's not like I'm a professional photographer that I need a super awesome camera, but something a little better would be good.
Anyways, it is on my list of things to do - walking around and getting some good shots.

I was eaten alive by mosquitoes the last few days at the in-law's place. I don't know why since I haven't been bitten so much previously while there, and even the first couple of days we were there this time I wasn't bitten.
I have 9 or 10 bites that I'm aware of.
Yoinks!
Last night I finally lost patience with the bugs.
I had been out on the balcony earlier in the day trying to enjoy the last of the sunshine. I was sitting in a chair and using the computer, and there was a fly that just would not leave me be. And by the time I got frustrated with the fly, I spied a spider crawling around on the ground.
Sooo, I went inside to avoid the bugs.
Later in the evening, I was sitting on the couch. In general, the lights are off in the evening because they leave the balcony doors open and there is no screen, and so if the lights are on, it invites more mosquitoes to come.
Last night, my sister in law was doing her nails and so had the lights on. This had a plus and minus to it.
The balcony doors did not get closed, and so there were quite a few mosquitoes.
That is the minus.
But, the plus is that since the lights were on, I was able to see the ginormous man eating ant that was crawling next to me on the couch!
Gaaaaaaah!!!!!
I hate the large ants here. Seriously.
They must come from outer space or something. They are just huge. I even saw one the other day that was not only huge, but had legs like a daddy long legs spider, so like a cross between the mutant ant from outer space and a spider.
Anyways, suffice it to say that I was NOT happy about sharing a couch with this ant and I promptly got up.
My sister in law came and tried to get rid of the ant by wiping onto the ground, but then we couldn't see where it went. She said she thinks she killed it, but I was not convinced.
I did not end up sitting on the couch the rest of the night.
In fact, at that point, I was quite fed up with bugs and being away from home in general, and stayed the rest of the night in the bedroom.
lol
*sigh*

I also spied that lizard on the bathroom window again last evening. It must be living around the apartment somewhere, but the apartment is on the 4th floor (no elevator, thank you very much), and so I don't know if it's just climbing up the building or maybe lives in a tree next to the building and hops over or what.
I would like to see what he looks like on his topside instead of just his underside.
They also make some kind of sound. I would never have known it if my brother in law had not said something. That first night that I saw the lizard in the bathroom, my brother in law, sister in law, hubby and I were all talking about it, and they were telling me all about this type of lizard. I couldn't believe that it made noise. I never heard of something like that before. But, when we heard a noise later on, they pointed out that it was the lizard making the noise.

Things sometimes seem very strange here.
lol
I mean....
really.

I got terribly homesick last night. I was missing my son so much and missing my usual routine that I had. Being able to drive down to the grocery and get whatever I needed, going to the library, or the theater, or anywhere.
I don't always miss those things so keenly, but just now and then.
I'm sure it will continue, but maybe it will get less with time.
I do like it here and I will continue to adjust and get used to things insha'Allah. I wonder if the day will come that I feel like I truly belong here. That I am one of the people here, that I feel with them and know them.

Alright, this has been a wordy post with no pictures so I'll stop for now.
Maybe I'll post some later, maybe not.
I'll try to find some pictures for tomorrow.
Monkey says hello. He is a little homesick too.