Columnist Eleonore af Schaumburg-Lippe writes in her weekly column about life as an expat in Romania. This week she tells about how to combat mosquito bites before the tiny creatures attack or what to do when you have been bitten and you're feeling they have a landslide victory on you.

Have you ever noticed when going to an outdoors event how suddenly some of the women dressed in cocktail dresses or summer dresses begin a sort of funny dance on the spot? There is no music in the air so you begin to wonder why suddenly a person gets the need to do a mini twist dance. It might as well be a certain desire to dance, but most likely mosquitoes are causing the little dance.

Mosquitoes during summertime in Romania: they are not everywhere, but they are around. Talking to people when they are not doing the mosquito dance, you will find them instead scratching their legs or arms, or see them the next day dragging body parts after them like they were drunken sailors, since the venom from the bites has been transferred around because of the scratching.

I myself have had my share of mosquito bites during my stay here in Romania, and it just doesn’t seem to get better.  It feels like they see me and think: “Hey, let's go all in!” I can almost feel what a great party they must be throwing, and how some of them must say to the others: “Hey, I found sweet blood, you'd better join the party!”

Recently I went to the celebrations of the French national day in Bucharest, and while standing there in the garden and talking to friends, I could suddenly feel one bite, then another one, and another one. Even if we were on French territory, it didn’t seem to affect the mosquitoes. “It is in the end a party, so why shouldn't the mosquitoes have their party too?”, I said to myself. I tried to move away from the area with green plants, but the mosquito radar was active and there was no hiding from them.

The next day I counted 10 bites on my legs, and I was happy they did not beat my personal record of 46 bites in one day; yes I counted them just for fun. But surely the bites were driving me crazy, not just because they were itching, but because apparently I have some sort of allergy to the little creatures, so my legs and ankles decided to get swollen. They were not double in size, but enough to make it relatively difficult and somehow painful to walk.

So what to do? Via Google search and asking for help via Facebook, the best advice seemed to be the use of Vodka, but sadly I had no Vodka at home. Then I found the advice of mixing baking soda with water, so I started mixing the ingredients like I was a chemist making a whole new kind of salvation drug for humankind. Then I poured on the white stuff and felt the release, my home-made concoction was working! But on the other hand I had to vacuum the floor more than once, it's good that I don’t have carpets and only wooden floors, since it looked like a melting snowman had walked over the floor, dripping spots of snowflakes all over.

But how to beat the mosquito bites in the future? It tends to be a problem also for people who like running, and my friends say that unless you run with the speed of lightning, the mosquitoes will catch you, since they mainly stay around green areas. You can buy sprays against these tiny insects, and it is apparently possible to buy anti-mosquitoes, lemon – smelling bracelets at the pharmacy, and place them on your arms and legs to protect yourself (in picture).

I haven’t bought one yet, but for sure I will, so if you see me one of these days with odd looking and maybe funny smelling bracelets, it's not a fashion statement, it is just combat gear.

(Editor's note: These citronella– based bracelets tend to work only for a limited period of time and only protect certain areas of the body, close to where the bracelet is located. Not a great option in the end if you spend a lot of time in nature, but it should be tried, as it also probably depends on the number of mosquitoes around. The editor of this website had 5 of these bracelets on at the same time and the day after she could still count numerous mosquito bites on her legs)

And what to do if you have been bitten? Some say rubbing alcohol on the bites can cure the pain and swelling, others say menthol cream should be used. My own personal treatment is my special paste, made of baking soda and water, but don’t expect to be going out in the evening after such a treatment though, since the paste will glue to your legs and arms, so you will look like you have candy flossed yourself. But it works.

So have a great summer and good luck in your fight against the mosquitoes :)

By Eleonore af Schaumburg-Lippe, columnist

Eleonore is Danish, she holds a BA in Organization and Management and specializes in Corporate Communication & Strategic Development. She is also a Market Economist and a Multimedia Designer. She is currently working in Bucharest as the Executive Director of UAPR the Romanian Advertising Association. As a Danish Viking in Romania, with a great passion for ’covrigi’, she has a burning desire to find out more about Romania especially Bucharest, and enlighten the small differences in the culture between Denmark and Romania.. Her weekly columns will give you insights into an expats life in Bucharest written with humor and a big Danish smile.

(photo source: Mosquitno)