"A red sun rises, blood has been spilled this night."

On Thursday we said fond goodbyes to our family in Romania and arrived for the night in Budapest, Hungary. We were welcomed by the family of my former roommates and floormates, Matt and Tim Hiltibran, living outside the city as missionaries with Reach Global. We did some sightseeing that day (Thank you Kristi!), ate some fantastic homemade pizza, and settled in for some much-needed rest. That is, until Emma woke me just after my first REM cycle with panicked desperation: "Will, wake up! There are mosquitoes buzzing in my ear and I can't sleep!"

Captain Ahab and her wearied spouse, the evening of the bloodshed.

Isn't this the woman who led backpacking trips for three summers in the upper Midwestern wilderness (i.e. Mosquito Paradise)?

"Yes! But it is a carnal sin when backpacking to let mosquitoes into your tent!"
Right.
"You always do a bug hunt right before sleeping or else you'll be miserable!"
I was sleeping quite well, actually.

Budapest--with a "sh" on the "pest." Did you know that Buda and Pest were formerely two cities on opposite sides of the Danube?

Capitol Hill--Hungarian Parliamentary Style

Captain Ahab turned on the light and began throttling the crafty, blood imbibing creatures against the wall, her eyes aflame with carnivorous vengeance. "You'll wake the whole house!" I hissed, knowing there was no possibility Matt's younger brothers would be doing anything but playing video games at the midnight hour. The hunt dragged on as the enemies of sleep drifted in and out of the misty shadows of Matt's sister's bedroom. What seemed hours later, my blood-stained wife lay her head down to rest, sans the menacing buzz of impending itchy welts.