Just what I needed after a long day ...

I'm trying to be open-minded about the differences here, mostly with success. But there is one thing I'm finding VERY hard to deal with. The British seem to think their nation is devoid of insect life, bird life, and small vermin in general, and that screens on windows are therefore unnecessary. I, however, beg to differ. Our little corner of this grassy isle is rife with unpleasantness of all kinds.

Because we are plagued with wall-to-wall carpet, our apartment perpetually smells kind of unpleasant to me. I thank my lucky stars I don't have asthma. But every time I have opened a window over the past few weeks, and I mean EVERY SINGLE TIME, some sort of ugly creepy crawly thing has dropped down onto the window ledge and scurried off, forcing me to hunt it down and eject (or squash) it before shutting the window again in resignation. It's a beautiful evening out there, and after walking home from work I decided, optimist that I am, to try one last time to bring that freshness indoors. I have been attempting to cohabit with all the small spiders that have taken up residence in our flat. (Ask my family or Jeff about my history with insects and you'll see that my general loathing of them is well justified.) But today, when I opened the kitchen window, the largest spider I have ever seen inside a place of human abode that wasn't a pet tarantula hit the windowsill with a horrifyingly loud THUNK and raced off along the counter. I'd swear the thing has muscle definition. I lost consciousness for maybe a second due to fright. Then I heroically grabbed a large clear plastic salad bowl and leapt forward to trap it. Now I sit, with shaking hands and a stiff drink at my side, regarding the confined beast of prey warily. It's too fast to try to put it outside, and it would take a shovel to kill it. I'm going to wait until Jeff comes home to deal with it, because, frankly, sometimes I'm just too much of a girl.

But the bigger problem is not so easily dealt with. I can't bear not opening windows. But I also can't bear giant mango-sized spiders, and when bugs do get into the house I inevitably wake up covered in welts. They love me. They really do. Our windows have antiquated latching systems that make it difficult if not impossible to just tack a roll of screen over the opening. You wouldn't be able to open the window. Not to mention that I'm guessing rolls of screen don't even exist in this country. Has anyone ever had the misfortune of being in this situation? Or can anyone offer advice?

And when can we move out?