I recently shared  a story about the interesting wedding night Dusty and I had back in July 2011. It seems to me now that I think back the two of us have many stories to tell. One in particular came to mind the other evening when I was flipping through our old honeymoon photos.

Dusty and I decide that an “off the beaten path” sort of honeymoon was just what we would need after a lot of planning, preparation and a crazy busy wedding week. So two days after our wedding we were on our way to Central America – Costa Rica and Panama! We spent the first handful of days in Cahuita, Costa Rica enjoying the pristine beauty of the rainforest, Carribean Sea, zip lining, hiking, waterfalling and enjoying local food and culture.

The package we bought provided us with a place to stay, gourmet breakfasts, a few local tours and a romantic dinner. We chose to have the dinner a few nights into our stay…we were tired and the thought of having a relaxing night at Coral Hill Bungalows where we were staying would be a great way to enjoy the evening. The owners of Coral Hill Bungalows were wonderful people, both were amazing chefs, having worked in the industry for some time before owning their own resort.

Our wine was poured and our starter delivered to our table, we did a little cheers, exchanged a kiss across the table and took a sip of our wine….

….as I was sipping my wine I closed my eyes and enjoyed it…listening to the rainforest night settle in around me….the critters were out of hiding…making peeping noises in the nearby shrubs…off in the distance some howler monkeys had found a tall tree to rest in and enjoy the star filled night. We were close enough to the sea that we could hear the waves rushing to the shoreline…it was beautiful…and just perfect….our hosts put on some quiet background reggae music…with a hint of carribean jazz…perfect.

I set my glass down and was just preparing to comment on the evening when I felt it….heard it

“BZZZT….BZZZZZT…BZZzzZZZT”

Thats when I freaked inside. My stomach sunk.

Some sort of bug…or something…was in my ear…had just crawled into my right ear canal…It was Buzzing….frantically. Most likely stuck in my sweaty and possibly slightly wax filled ear.

You HAD to be kidding me.

Don’t…Panic….I thought to myself….just DON’T panic…

it is probably harmless…a small little thing…no big deal…he will realize theres nowhere to go and fly out in a second.

I gave it a minute….(ok no, a few seconds) and then again…

“BZZZZZZZZZZZZZT…..BZZT BZZZt BZZT”

It’s little wings were buzzing and fluttering against my eardrum.

Dusty could tell I was concentrating on something….he stared at me a bit confused and I knew he had made a comment…but I didn’t hear it.

He quickly realized I wasn’t focusing. “Whats wrong?” he asked.

Just then our hosts brought out some fresh brushetta.

I managed to smile…thank them…and was about to comment on how delicious the wine was when…

“BZZZT BZZZT BZZZZZZT BZZZZZZT”

The bug decided to go crazy and drown out any thoughts I had.

“BZZZT BZZZZZT”

 I felt like there was a small chainsaw trying to start in my head.

“This is an amazing night. We are in Costa Rica…being wined and dined…can it really get any better than this?” Dusty exclaimed…sitting back in his seat grabbing his wine glass taking a long sip.

The last thing I wanted to do was interrupt the amazing and romantic evening we were having…but I just couldn’t take it anymore. My mind started playing through every possible species that could be making home in my ear canal…and this little guy was making himself way too comfortable.

“Dusty…there is a bug in my ear….seriously…there is a bug….in my ear…it has been in there for a little while now…and it is not leaving”

Dusty just stared at me. “You’ve got to be kidding?”

I shook my head…fighting back the tears.

I could handle the sweat and humidity of the day, the howler monkeys keeping me up at night, the tree frog that was living in our bathroom, the fact that snakes were living under our bungalow and that gecko’s regularly perched on our porch…but a bug of some unknown origin..living in my ear was just cutting it a little too close to my line of sanity.

Dusty soon realized this was no laughing matter and asked if I could try shaking it out….so like a fool…I started to frantically and unattractively shake my head to the right…I flicked my ear lobe…and even tried to use my pinky finger to reach in there….nothing.

“Bzzzt BzzzZZT” (it mocked me)

No luck. That little guy was not retreating.

Soon tears were streaming down my cheeks. I no longer was concerned about the romantic evening being ruined…I was now scared that this was much more serious that I had initially thought.

Dusty got up and stood me under a bright light and looked inside my ear…

“I can’t see anything? Are you sure something is in there?”

“BZZZZZT”

I stared at him in disbelief…was he really going to think I was making this up?

I know I have been compared to the princess the pea when it comes to things like this…things that my husband considers are “all in my head”….but this time…it really was in my head and it wasn’t leaving!

I started crying harder.

Two minutes later our hosts were outside asking questions, flashlights in hand, looking into my ear.

Through the BZZZT of the insect, the questions and my own crying sobs…I overheard our hostess Chris say “We may have to take you down to the clinic.”

Clinic? Were they serious? What kind of….clinic? How does a clinic in Central America remove a small bug from someones even smaller ear canal?

To say the least my mind filled with thoughts of the worst circumstances… surgeries with dirty tools….shots with unclean needles. Of course all overly exaggerated…but at this point panicking was about all I could do.

After about 15 minutes of attempting to use tweezers, having me lay on my side etc…the bug wasn’t moving and with every BZZT BZZT I cringed in discomfort.

What if it was laying EGGS???? …… I cried harder….

Chris grabbed some hydrogen peroxide. She had a towel and made me tilt my head to left pouring the liquid into my year…letting it bubble up until it was dripping down my neck…she caught the excess with the towel.

BZZZT BZZZZttttttttt

“There it comes! There it is! It’s out!” she yelled.

As soon as I heard that I tilted my head towards the right spilling the liquid and that little devil of a bug out onto the ground at my side. A surge of relief flooded through my body. I cried happy tears…hugged our hosts and slammed the rest of my wine (seriously).

It was gone. It was out.

Only me.  Only us. Only on our honeymoon.

We managed to enjoy the rest of our evening. I was a bit paranoid and kept second guessing that the bug really had come out since I hadn’t seen it myself, but I knew the buzzing was gone…and that was enough to convince me.