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#59530 - 01/29/01 04:08 PM cockroach question
Anonymous
Unregistered


when me and my fiance were in south africa, we had a serious cockroach problem in both the east and west sides of the country, in the city and in the rural ares.

are cockroaches known to be in or around hostals/hotels? we dont plan to do any camping.

dan m

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dan & abbie of Michigan

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#59531 - 01/29/01 04:42 PM Re: cockroach question
CaliBasco Offline
Executive Member

Registered: 10/17/00
Posts: 1495
Loc: Idaho
In 30 months+ of living in Spain in different areas and in different seasons and in different years, I have yet to see a cockroach in a hotel, and have seen a grand total of one in an apartment. They are there, but you shouldn't have too much trouble if you're staying at a little nicer, cleaner place. I assume that they are more prevalent in the south, where I've spent less time, but still, you shouldn't encounter too much of a problem.

If you're interested in seeing a lot of cockroaches, try El Salvador or Honduras. I hear they're wonderful this time of year!
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Ongi etorri!

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#59532 - 01/29/01 04:54 PM Re: cockroach question
connie Offline
Member

Registered: 07/05/00
Posts: 153
I agree with CaliBasco, you will be fine.
I have seen some on the Canary Islands, where they are said to be found more frequently, and one in Madrid (in a private home). I have never seen any in a hotel anywhere in the Peninsula.

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#59533 - 01/29/01 04:57 PM Re: cockroach question
rgf Offline
Executive Member

Registered: 07/20/00
Posts: 666
Loc: New York, New York
nah, you won't see any cockroaches, but you will see a lot of nicely dressed people scurrying around (or strolling around), so worry more about how you look and less about bad stuff!

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#59534 - 01/29/01 05:01 PM Re: cockroach question
Cristobal Offline
Member

Registered: 01/21/01
Posts: 44
Loc: San Francisco CA USA
Not to get off the subject of Spain, I am Salvadoran-American and have been there many times and I have yet to see a cockroach. So find some other small Latin country to pick on.......

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#59535 - 01/29/01 08:04 PM Re: cockroach question
elfroggy27 Offline
Junior Member

Registered: 08/20/00
Posts: 23
Loc: Fort Worth, TX, USA
I live in Texas, and I will be the first to say - if you want cockroaches, come visit! It may not be the best claim to fame, but you know what they say - everything's bigger in Texas.

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#59536 - 01/29/01 08:30 PM Re: cockroach question
connie Offline
Member

Registered: 07/05/00
Posts: 153
I heard that in Florida there exists a type of flying cockroach-luckily enough, I have not met any... I do not think that there is that type in Europe.

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#59537 - 01/29/01 11:40 PM Re: cockroach question
MadridMan Offline


Executive Member

Registered: 05/06/00
Posts: 9080
Loc: Madrid, Spain (was Columbus, O...
I SERIOUSLY doubt you'll ever see a cockroach in any of the hostels in Spain... Those wonderful people are SO dedicated to have SPOTLESSLY clean rooms, it's amazing. I was witness to two cleaning lady's efforts in a few rooms at a couple different hostels and WOW, they spent almost an hour in each room. Mine rooms were always dust free, sheets fresh and taught, and a bathroom floor clean enough to eat from.

Saludos, MadridMan

P.S. On my last trip to Madrid, I did see a few LARGE cockroaches near the steps of Hotel Carlos V. But......hehehe... they were actually dead and across the street from the hotel at the steps of an... INSECT & PET shop. Seems they "dispensed" of a few of the specimens out the front door after they went to "a better place". WHERE DO COCKROACHES GO WHEN THEY DIE??? Blech!
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#59538 - 01/30/01 08:37 AM Re: cockroach question
mclarke Offline
Member

Registered: 09/19/00
Posts: 179
Loc: Arlington, VA
I was in Madrid and the Andalusia area and during my 3-weeks trip, staying at cheap hostals ranging from 4,500 - 6,700 pesetas, I have never seen any roaches. As Madridman posted, most hostal owners keep their place clean because that is also their dwelling. When I was in Madrid, staying with my daughter's landlady's apartment, one thing I noticed when I first entered the apartment complex, there was no definitive smell which at times in the U.S. when I visit friends who live in buildings or apartments, there is that certain smell distinct of a building or an apartment.

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#59539 - 01/30/01 09:59 AM Re: cockroach question
Celia U Offline
Member

Registered: 10/09/00
Posts: 40
Loc: Madrid
As Connie said, I have seen a lot of huge cockroachs at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Island (in a good Hotel) and at night you can see them flying around like bats. I didn`t know until then that cockroachs could fly.

Saludos,
Celia



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Airport shuttle, limousine service and car rental.
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#59540 - 01/30/01 10:34 AM Re: cockroach question
Puna Offline
Executive Member

Registered: 07/07/00
Posts: 1437
Loc: Charlotte, NC. U.S.A.
For whatever it's worth guys, those flying 747s of the cockroach world seem to be pretty much indigenous to the tropics and semi-tropics ...
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emotionally & mentally in Spain - physically in Charlotte
http://www.wendycrawfordwrites.com/

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#59541 - 01/30/01 12:34 PM Re: cockroach question
Nuria Offline
Member

Registered: 07/04/00
Posts: 263
Loc: NJ, USA
I cannot help it, I feel insulted every time that I see questions like this (even if they are just inocent questions). Is like if they are thingking that Spain is a 3rd world country.
But I hope you understand me, after hearing questions like, is water potable in Spain? Do you have microwaves? do we have computers there... and now this question...

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#59542 - 01/30/01 01:13 PM Re: cockroach question
canadiense Offline
Junior Member

Registered: 09/17/00
Posts: 36
Loc: Magstadt, GERMANY
Ah, come on Nuria, Yankee ignorance makes the world go round. Think about how boring life would be without clueless Americans asking all these sorts of fun questions. They treat Canada like a 3rd world country, let alone Spain. On second thought, Canada gets treated with 2nd world status, so we're one up on you spaniards.

Actually, I better be careful what I say. Looks like dan and abby are just across the river from me, and you know how all yankees are gun crazed maniacs!

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#59543 - 01/30/01 03:23 PM Re: cockroach question
mclarke Offline
Member

Registered: 09/19/00
Posts: 179
Loc: Arlington, VA
Puna,

I don't think that these flying roaches are not indigeneous of semi or subtropics area. I remember one time when I visited a friend in Matappan, MA, her apartment had flying roaches that she only stayed less than a month.

How are you?

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#59544 - 01/30/01 04:04 PM Re: cockroach question
connie Offline
Member

Registered: 07/05/00
Posts: 153
What? In Massachusetts? You must be kidding!! I thought the terribly cold weather here at least saved us from unpleasant bugs!

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#59545 - 01/30/01 06:41 PM Re: cockroach question
CaliBasco Offline
Executive Member

Registered: 10/17/00
Posts: 1495
Loc: Idaho
If there was a country that had a monopoly on cucarachas, we could lay into them...
Alas, we ALL have cockroaches, and therefore have no business getting "offended" when someone asks about 'roaches or fleas or some other bug. Relax, Nuria. Cristobal, ALL Latin American countries are small, and they ALL have cucarachas, so which would you like me to pick on, Belize?

I've had friends go to the D.R. and have to wear flea collars around their ankles to "stay the herds"...they loved the D.R., in spite of the fleas. I think people want to know what to expect.

Better yet, why don't you all visit Minnesota or Alaska in the summertime and enjoy the mosquitos...know what I mean, Canadiense??? BTW: I've been up to Canada on a number of occasions. I was happy to see indoor plumbing on my latest visit last year. Go Canucks!
_________________________
Ongi etorri!

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#59546 - 01/30/01 07:03 PM Re: cockroach question
Guapetona Offline
Member

Registered: 11/22/00
Posts: 179
I actually had someone ask me if there was any toilet paper in Spain. Yes, toilet paper! What can you say in the face of such ignorance? LAUGH and the's exactly what I did! When they get there they will see for themselves what its like..
_________________________
TO' PA' LANTE!!

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#59547 - 01/31/01 08:19 AM Re: cockroach question
mclarke Offline
Member

Registered: 09/19/00
Posts: 179
Loc: Arlington, VA
Connie,

I am not kidding, there are flying roaches in Massachusetts, even in New York. Here in the Washington, D.C. area, roaches and rats are a problem. Roaches can live in cold places (inside our houses).

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#59548 - 01/31/01 11:06 AM Re: cockroach question
CaliBasco Offline
Executive Member

Registered: 10/17/00
Posts: 1495
Loc: Idaho
Actually Guapetona, you can answer two questions at once: Is there toilet paper/is there sandpaper in Spain? They are one and the same...and my "trasero" will never be the same!!!!
_________________________
Ongi etorri!

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#59549 - 01/31/01 02:00 PM Re: cockroach question
Puna Offline
Executive Member

Registered: 07/07/00
Posts: 1437
Loc: Charlotte, NC. U.S.A.
Guapetona - we used to be asked if we spoke English in Hawaii - Travel "helps expand the mnind and soul" as someone said ... and I suppose we all have something to learn - be it reference toilet paper, languages or cock-a-roaches. Mclarke - actually the creepy crawely kind are everywhere - not necessarily based on cleanliness or lack thereof - oldest living creatures on the planet - they date back to the dinasaur age - TeroniusRexRoach or somesuch. Anyway - the fact that the roach is pre-historic is supposedly what makes it so hardy. Honestly didn't know the colder climates had the flying kind thou ...
_________________________
emotionally & mentally in Spain - physically in Charlotte
http://www.wendycrawfordwrites.com/

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#59550 - 01/31/01 02:00 PM Re: cockroach question
Jen Offline
Member

Registered: 08/01/00
Posts: 217
Loc: Chicago
We all know that cockroaches have been around for a long time. No one should take offense to such a question. Here is someone's oh so eloquent description about her discovery of a cockroach. Enjoy the read!
http://www.saraphina.com/moseyseville/041699/041699la_cucaracha.htm

For the record- I've been to Spain several times and I've never seen a cockroach. I've seen tons here in Chicago, however, and I accept it as a fact of life in an urban area.

[This message has been edited by MadridMan (edited 01-31-2001).]

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#59551 - 01/31/01 03:41 PM Re: cockroach question
Puna Offline
Executive Member

Registered: 07/07/00
Posts: 1437
Loc: Charlotte, NC. U.S.A.
Jen - that's a classic!
_________________________
emotionally & mentally in Spain - physically in Charlotte
http://www.wendycrawfordwrites.com/

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#59552 - 01/31/01 03:43 PM Re: cockroach question
Jen Offline
Member

Registered: 08/01/00
Posts: 217
Loc: Chicago
Puna-
I was just doing my occasional search in things Spanish and I came across this during lunch. How appetizing, no? I just could not resist! To all creatures great and small, including cockroaches, keep the peace!
Jen

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#59553 - 01/31/01 04:00 PM Re: cockroach question
mclarke Offline
Member

Registered: 09/19/00
Posts: 179
Loc: Arlington, VA
Puna & Jen,

Today's topic on roaches has been very amusing. I hope we all take this as something just to laugh!. Enjoy your evening. I will be watching, Attila the Hun.

Besos, left cheek and right cheek to all! Hasta luego.

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#59554 - 01/31/01 04:29 PM Re: cockroach question
Guapetona Offline
Member

Registered: 11/22/00
Posts: 179
Not sandpaper you mean "estropajos de papel"!
JA JA JA..Venga, dejemenos ya de tanto follon!!! Let's all kiss and make-up..
MUAH MUAH
_________________________
TO' PA' LANTE!!

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#59555 - 01/31/01 09:25 PM Re: cockroach question
canadiense Offline
Junior Member

Registered: 09/17/00
Posts: 36
Loc: Magstadt, GERMANY
Hey Calibasco, what part were you in? We just got running water a couple of years ago here in Windsor, and we're right next to the US!! Plus we can now watch movies that you rent from a store on a machine called a vcr, pretty cool huh.

Here's to vcr's, no cockroaches and kissing and making out (i mean up)

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#59556 - 01/31/01 10:47 PM Re: cockroach question
ilovemadrid Offline
Member

Registered: 06/20/00
Posts: 89
Loc: Hawaii
Puna, we still get asked if we speak English here in Hawaii, among MANY other things (you guys have roads? cars? cable? COMPUTERS???). Also some people think that we are a separate country from the US.
Ha, ha, ha, cock-a-roaches, that made me laugh.
Anyway, keeping to the topic...yo tampoco have seen a roach in Spain, just those large and loud mosquitos.

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#59557 - 02/01/01 11:00 AM Re: cockroach question
CaliBasco Offline
Executive Member

Registered: 10/17/00
Posts: 1495
Loc: Idaho
Canadiense, I just visited the small cities in Canada: Montréal, Québec City, Toronto...tried to stay in the countryside, you know. I noticed in Ottawa that there was a machine that you put money into and pushed a button and food came out. It was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen! Have you seen these in Windsor? I hear they have one over in London or Thunder Bay...
_________________________
Ongi etorri!

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#59558 - 02/01/01 05:01 PM Re: cockroach question
canadiense Offline
Junior Member

Registered: 09/17/00
Posts: 36
Loc: Magstadt, GERMANY
Well, in the capital of Canada, Thunder Bay, I hear they have many amazing things. Of course, it would require a car to get there to see them, which we don't have here in Windsor (we have plenty of ice skates and snow shoes though). You would think that living right across from the city billed as "The Automotive Capital of the World" that we would have cars, but you see, these are the luxuries we cannot have as a 2nd world country. When I look out of my window across the Detroit River and see the glow of electric lights coming from all of those prosperous homes, I get very jealous, especially since the acrid fumes from my whaleblubber candle make it hard for me to see sometimes.

My advice to anyone coming to visit Canada would be to stick to the major cities such as Thunder Bay, and avoid the smaller fur trading outposts such as Toronto and Montreal.

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#59559 - 02/01/01 08:42 PM Re: cockroach question
Nicole Offline
Executive Member

Registered: 07/24/00
Posts: 583
Loc: Los Angeles
Jen! How cool to find another Seraphina Mosey fan out there! I still haven't finished going through it though, so much writing! I love the Flamenco pages, and keep planning to buy some of her pasteles, just to support the efforts of another artist (to be pronounced "arteest!." I am taking a painting class and think I am very cool for it!)

BTW Canadiense, you and Sr Basco are CRACKING me up!

ps - had to edit again due to a mis-type. said pasties instead of pasteles originally. my boyfriend is watching/dozing off to Jerry springer right now; must have been a freudian slip. yikes!


[This message has been edited by Nicole (edited 02-01-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Nicole (edited 02-02-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Nicole (edited 02-02-2001).]

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#59560 - 02/02/01 10:58 AM Re: cockroach question
CaliBasco Offline
Executive Member

Registered: 10/17/00
Posts: 1495
Loc: Idaho
Last July when I went up to Thunder Bay I was happy to see that the conestogas had been equipped with a new invention called "snow rims" which provide better traction for the wagons on ice.

Since it was July, we only had one ice storm while there, so the opportunity to sightsee at the local blacksmith shop or exchange my cash for beaver pelts at Banque du Canada was relatively painless. It got a little chilly, so instead of spending all the beaver pelts at the trading post for rock candy and molasses chews, we just wrapped a couple around our heads for added warmth. We did save enough pelts for a home-cooked Canadian feast of jerky, back bacon and jerky. Nevertheless, due to the Mad Venison Disease scare, we had to stick to walleye jerky.
_________________________
Ongi etorri!

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#59561 - 02/02/01 11:02 AM Re: cockroach question
Jen Offline
Member

Registered: 08/01/00
Posts: 217
Loc: Chicago
Nicole-
I hadn't been aware of her until I stumbled upon her web site the other day. I love the use of color in her paintings! I only saw the French ones. Does she have any Spanish ones?
Good luck with your painting, you artíst, you-
Jen
Never mind-
I just came across her Spanish ones!

[This message has been edited by Jen (edited 02-02-2001).]

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#59562 - 02/02/01 12:06 PM Re: cockroach question
connie Offline
Member

Registered: 07/05/00
Posts: 153
Hey canadiense, but here's something very North American which you and the US have in common and which proves you are not really so different: Groundhog day of today! Something not practiced in Europe and virtually unknown prior to the movie with Bill Murray... I wonder whether Shubenacadie Sam and Punxsutawney Phil have coincided with their judgments.

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#59563 - 02/02/01 05:39 PM Re: cockroach question
canadiense Offline
Junior Member

Registered: 09/17/00
Posts: 36
Loc: Magstadt, GERMANY
Hey connie, who is this Shubenacadie Sam character? Maybe he or she is an imposter to the throne from Eastern Canada? Around here we worship Wiarton Willie, who didn't see his shadow today. Check him out at www.wiarton-willie.org/index.cfm Remember kiddies, Wiarton Willie IS Canada's Groundhog (I'm not making that up).

The only problem with having Wiarton Willie is that we don't know whether to worship him or to eat him. Groundhog doesn't taste as good as our staple diet, venison brain, but you know with all those Mad Venison running around, folks here are scared (and hungry). We can't just eat rock candy and molasses chews, or else we'll get scurvy. Looks like it will be back to chewing tree bark again (I thought that would be over after the Moose scare of '96).

If only I were in Madrid, then I wouldn't have to deal with these hardships

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#59564 - 02/02/01 06:29 PM Re: cockroach question
connie Offline
Member

Registered: 07/05/00
Posts: 153
You are SO FUNNY, canadiense! Thanks for a good laugh at Friday evening in the office. But here I tell you something: "Shubenacadie Sam" lives in the Shubecanadie Park in Nova Scotia and he is the FIRST groundhog to make a prediction every February 2 in Canada!
Check http://www.gov.ns.ca/natr/wildpark/woodchuck.htm I must admit though,
Wiarton Willie's webpage looks much nicer. Now, this groundhog things is truly a North American thing.
Oh, and the provisions of the three North American groundhogs match each other: more winter.
One more reason to wish to be in Madrid

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#59565 - 02/02/01 08:47 PM Re: cockroach question
Nicole Offline
Executive Member

Registered: 07/24/00
Posts: 583
Loc: Los Angeles
Oh wow. I really needed a good laugh today. Thanks guys!

Jen, I really like her stuff too. I thought about ordering some of it a while back - you can from her web site. I think there was one of sevilla's streets that I really liked. It has been a while since I checked them out.

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#59566 - 02/03/01 10:05 PM Re: cockroach question
Jaime Offline
Member

Registered: 08/19/00
Posts: 147
This stuff is tooo funny! Calibasco, from your post it sounds like you just got back from my hometown (De Pere) hamlet of Green Bay. I had to get to move to Milwaukee after all the French trappers and missionaries took over the place.

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#59567 - 02/04/01 02:37 AM Re: cockroach question
CaliBasco Offline
Executive Member

Registered: 10/17/00
Posts: 1495
Loc: Idaho
I actually spent two years in a Canadian high school. I studied the same general subjects any good canuck did: trapping, skinning, tanning and smoking meats. Along with that I competed for the local curling and ice fishing teams. Eventually my family and I were run out of town for embracing radical technology such as the electric light bulb and sliced bread. Radicals.
_________________________
Ongi etorri!

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#59568 - 02/15/01 09:41 PM Re: cockroach question
Guillermito Offline
Junior Member

Registered: 02/15/01
Posts: 3
Loc: Provo, Utah, USA
On the subject of toilet paper, I thought that pink toilet paper from Dia was the most hilarious thing I had ever seen! And truth be told, some of my apartments that I lived in while I was in Spain were less than clean. Everywhere has these problems! Look in any city in the world and you'll find the whole range from pristine to muck. Stick to nice places and you'll be fine. And no, I don't like the taste of Madrid water, but neither could I stand Utah water when I moved here.

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BueeenOOOOO!!
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BueeenOOOOO!!

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