It’s only a little after three in the morning, and I can’t sleep. I woke up to answer nature’s call and then went into the kitchen to take a sip of water, and that’s when I saw it—a big fat fly on the door of the wall cabinet. I immediately took the slipper off my foot and killed it. Except now I’m annoyed and can’t sleep because it looks like it’s a repeat of what happened five weeks ago. Back then, I had a huge infestation of flies for over a week. They entered my apartment through the ventilation system. It was a real nightmare. I was killing about twenty or thirty a day. I have no idea where they came from, but considering that the ground floor apartment looks like a garbage dump, which I saw several times when I passed by the wide open entrance door, maybe the source is there. And just as suddenly as they appeared, they also disappeared. I thought it was over, but yesterday they started appearing again. In a much smaller number, but still.

The biggest problem with flies is that I can’t prepare my flatbread, which needs to cool before I can put it in the fridge for storage. I normally make a whole stack in the evening and leave it on a plate on the table overnight, so in the morning I can wrap it all in cling film and put it in the fridge. With those bloody insects flying around, that’s impossible. Perhaps it’s time to consider moving. I’ve been living here for over a year, and I’ve had to deal with various things, but the fly infestation is just too much. However, the rent is relatively low, and it is one of the few areas in the city covered with high-speed fibre-optic broadband, which I need for my work. And I hate moving. It’s such a hassle.