V.

I´m having a hard time trying to decide which I hate more; mosquitos or Isreali backpackers. Both seem to come in large groups, make a lot of noise, keep me awake at night and generally giant pains in the arse.

I dont remember when I first encountered mosquitos but I clearly remember the first time I came across a platoon of Israelis 7-years ago in Asia. In fact in Asia you often come across hostels, cafes or restaurants that have signs saying ´No dogs, No Isrealis´. Unfortunately my impression of them has changed little over the years.

Having just completed one or two years of obligatory military service it seems they then all set off on an obligatory ´round the world trip´ before continuing their education. There is nothing wrong with this, Gap years are incredibly popular and infact I think that getting out and seeing the world should be obligatory - the idea being to meet as many people as possible, interact with other cultures, learn new languages and broaden your horizons and experiences.

Isreali´s however always seem to travel (like mosquitos) in large groups, often 8 or 10 of them together at a time. They are reluctant to mingle (either with the culture their visiting or other travellers) and being faced with a dorm full of them the chances of them speaking to you is remote, so unless you´re fluent in Hebrew interacting with them is impossible, in face they´re downright intimidating.

The chances of them taking over the entire dorm with their baggage (escessive), leaving the bathroom in a total mess, hogging all the lockers and then stumbling in at 5am totally pissed, turning on all the lights and making as much noise as possible is however incredibly high, and it happened to me again, in Cordoba.

Having spent the previous 22hrs on a bus I was keen to get an early night and so sorted out my stuff and bumbled off to bed around midnight. It was stinking hot so the windows were open with the protective mozzie screens in place. At 4am I awoke to find I was the only person in our 8 bed dorm in bed. Strange... until at 5am the other 7 returned, drunk beyond belief and making as much noise as possible. One guy, I guess complaining about the heat, in an attempt to open the already open windows pushed out the mozzie screens (we were on the 3rd floor overlooking the street, I dont know what they landed on below, a car I guess).
Theres no point trying to reason with a pissed 23yr old Israeli surrounded by his mates so I stuck in my earplugs and did my best to sleep.

At 7am I woke and decided to grab a shower before the bathroom queues started.
I nearly didn´t recognise myself in the mirror. In total I had 44 mosquito bites. 6 of which were on my face.

I have reason to believe that there must the a giant Mozzie ´McDonalds´ sign above my head as they often seem to flock towards me for a quick snack and therefore I do my very best to avoid getting bitten. Not only does getting bitten increase the risk of malaria, and dengue fever (very common in this area) but each bite on me swells up, affecting an area at least a couple of square centimetres around it.

The girl on reception looked somewhat shocked when I went to check out. My face was swollen and my arms, neck and shoulders peppered with swollen red blisters. The lady at the pharmacy gave me a lecture on dengue fever and the lady at the bus station went as far as to give me a flyer warning of the dangers of mosquitos, dengue fever and how to avoid being bitten.

I wonder if they produce a flyer on Isreali backpackers and how to avoid them?

I hate to appear prejudice or to tar an entire nation with a single brush but I know that the experiences i´ve had and sentiments i´ve shared are common among backpackers. Its a shame as from time to time you do meet an Israeli travelling by themselves, and just like many of the other Israelis i´ve worked with they´re incredibly open, friendly and considerate people. Its sad really that after their obligatory national service they then travel the world doing a total disservice to their nation and culture as the worst possible international ambassadors.

xxx