AN UPDATE TO MY STARTING OUT KIND OF BADLY advice ?

So to go back to last week, I thought a lot about what advice was given and thought perhaps my not wanting to overburden the really nice guy taking care of the place (he is new to managing any units here) and the couple that use to "Manage" for the owner is apparently highly resentful, something the owner hinted at before I came.  I know that this gentleman, who I bragged was so wonderful at the airport and the first couple of days, has plenty of other rentals, but not many here other than two for the owner I am using.  I took heed of Bob K's statement that the stove and hot water were actual things I should have demanded be fixed right away.. I chose to ask Yves to come over and I told him that I didn't expect him to actually fix a gas line (which is what he said it was the first time as he turned it off and said that "this is a condo issue") but he was there to deal with the hot water which I had apparently been doing correctly the entire time, yet testing it by turning on the sink in the bathroom and lo and behold, there is only one knob (sometimes with two, I know that the hot and cold are switched) but apparently this one was switched as well and only when getting the hot water to come on there did the shower seem to work.. I get them wanting a swtich on the wall as not to heat water when it is not needed.

Yves went ahead though and fixed the gas line himself, something I thought from my old Condo owning days in PA that an owner would need to report to the "Association" and they would pay to get it fixed.  You see, the owner made me aware last fall (and seemed proud of this) that Stanza Mare is the only "Owner Board of Director" run condo association in the area... Those were his words.  I do know that there was some Dominican company that all the owners wanted fired and now the have a board like an American condo association but they also have an office staff whom I assume is hired by the board.. I don't even think much of that is relative to the gas line as Yves was certainly able to fix the issue...

I have a soft spot when someone is new to a job.. I would say that is a fault of mine.  I must tell you that there was another issue that I kept thinking would go away and has turned into a nightmare.. Before speaking of it, let me just say that after sweeping up my visitors, there have been no more and it kind of told me that perhaps this unit missed a month and the unit was sprayed right before I came as 5 dead ones in a morning (that was the first time I swept up under everything) hinted to me fumigation was done shortly before my arrival.... I also want to state that I made up my mind that nothing was going to ruin this dream and I genuinely love the people here.  The young men who work outside the premises seemingly all day every day, couldn't be friendlier... They deliver water whenever asked and I make it a point to get to know their names and have laughed with a few of them.. They are terrific!  I can't wait to get to know more about the people..... yet, the other little situation going on was that after a great night's sleep the first night, actually before I even saw the giant visitor and realized the issue....I noted that there were some type of bugs on my bed... They were very very tiny, there weren't many but if I pounded on the mattress, it seemed 2 or 3 would come about....This is what I decided just couldn't be happening as my mind first went to "Bedbugs"... I had pulled off the sheets and there were no tell-tale signs of them, no little blood spots which is what you are suppose to look for if they are bed bugs as they apparently bite people at night leaving blood droplets. Also over next few days looked at photos of bedbugs and their sizes are nothing like these very tiny things..

I put on more white sheets to see and decided to sleep on the couch... surely these things can't be real as I couldn't imagine dealing with another issue.  I went to the beach and did all I could think of..kept checking that bed and would see one here or there.. but no way was I going to sleep in the bed.. During this time is when I was dealing with the issue of writing to you guys about my surprise there were the cockroaches and how I should have known better.  I talked to the neighbor I spoke about in my earlier post and upon his suggestion, I contacted the office to see if my unit was missed last time they sprayed.  I ended up getting an email from the owner.. "Hope your'e doing well, make sure you get the place fumigated (he didn't realize I think that he included a note from the office that I called and asked if they could do an interim spraying if it wasn't done)... He included a date they sent him and included a copy to the local manager Yves...apparently, the "monthly" indoor fumigation is May 27th, a Tuesday and that would indicate that my unit was likely spayed April 27th or 28th right before I arrived on May 1st, a Thursday... making a lot sense for the ones I found laying around...

I wrote back to them both just to explain like I did here that I didn't expect them... etc. and went on to praise Yves and tell the owner all the things he had done already.... I also briefly noted that I believe after speaking to a long-term renter at this place who moved form a 3rd floor to a first and said he never saw one on the 3rd floor but sees only dead ones now on his 1st floor patio... so 1st floor I will have to accept will be more inviting to those that don't die off.

Sadly the next day, I decided that after the way this thing went, I need to figure out what in the world is wrong with that bed... After some days of not seeing any (yet still sleeping on the sofa as the TV is actually much better here), I ended up seeing 5 or 6 and I videoptaped them as I thought.. Now they are going to think I'm crazy... I called Yves and said they've been here since the second morning I awoke and I apologized as said I truly thought that they would go away.. Unforuntately I said I thought maybe they were bed bugs even though they were much too small.  He actually is married to a local Dominican woman and asked if he could send her right over since she would be more familiar with the types of bugs or things that could happen like that.... She speaks little English but showed up right away...I heard her say "Muerte" (I know that means dead) and I showed her the video and she pounded at the mattress and a couple came out... "OrMigas" she said and she immediately pulled the entire bed from behind the wall to find what she expected?? A "Muerte" or dead spider... Apparently, the ormegas had found their way to the bed after losing their food source when the spider died from fumigation (which now all made sense as to why I got the dead cockroaches as a surprise .... But, after thinking she was saying these were baby spiders, she and i both banged the heck out of the mattress and she got rid of all the laundry in the room and even the rug on the floor and especially the dead spider.  I told her I understood, although she got Yves on the phone who explained these were ants and then I was educated on the cycle of life for insects when one fumigates... i.e, dead spider creates ants who can't eat him and ... REALLY, then they go and attack a mattress?  Okay... The only thing I didn't understand was these ants as they call them ( and I genuinely hope they are right and she did work very hard),,, don't travel in a line carrying off some piece of dust, food or anything, they just seem to appear and they are incredibly small light tan ants and they are all tiny.

I was left to "watch and make sure they are gone"... I didn't call the owner as it seemed that this couple probably knew more than he did but I made a comittment to myself that if it didn't go away in a day, I would demand he get a new matress or something resolved.  I went to the grocery store on Tuesday AM and it was Yves' wife who took me and I had to tell her that I still saw a few and so I got a giant can of raid and sprayed the entire condo including the bedframe (which is mostly a dark brown rattan).. She swept the room so good, it couldn't have been cleaner.....I have to say that I have never been in so much pain as this type of cleaning is something I can really never do due to my back...

All I wanted was my paradise and to get out and meet the local people....Yves was scheduled to go out of town and we had discussed some things to do about the mattress as he said he was going to write the owner an email and advise him of the orMegas issue....I asked about the mattress in the unit the owner had upstairs but it was occupied.  Yves then said he might have one at home and this is when I really got upset... I told him... why in the world would you have to provide one of your own mattresses when this is an Owner problem... I feel like he sees this whole situation as him not doing well or me creating some type of atmosphere that is making him look bad as I am sure he wants to pick up more units.  There is some couple here who lives in a unit and manages (according to the owner) about 25 units and use to be his local reps but he felt they got too busy and replaced them with Yves.... I even told Yves that I was so sorry that since my arrival, there were so many issues but they were not a reflection on him...

The next day before he left, his wife showed up with a cleaning woman and her own can of raid (and I told them I already did that) but she left her there and they used a hand vac, literally used some cleaning solution in hot water with a deoderizer as well and washed the mattress on both sides... The wife told me in her very best Spanish that this would take care of everything.. I really would just like a bed so I am willing to work with them.. I also am not naive and I don't imagine that a mattress is easy to come by....In all honesty, when I was seeing the ants, there would be at most 5 at a time (still unacceptable), and I don't know enough about them to know if they bite but she seemed more alarmed about the ormegas than the issue of a cockroach.. So she and the cleaning lady spent almost a good two hours and although I appreciated the bed being made up,,, probably should have waited until it was dry.....

Obviously I am looking for a little guidance here.. I have taken the bedding back off, pounded and pounded on that bed and can't see another ant and it has been since Wednesday.. Think I'll give it one more day though...

For those who have lived here a while, have you heard of these rather tiny little ants?   Honestly I know if I was staying at a resort, there would not have been any nonsense about cleaning a mattress but a new mattress..... I am confident that I didn't make a big deal about this....Ironically, I googled Punta Cana area and tiny ants (something like that) and of all things saw a post about the very highly rated "Tortuga Bay" and how if you get a first floor unit, you will get ants".. But in a bed??? this is the only thing that has me confused and why I write to you guys yet again... This complex is so incredibly beautiful and maintained outside yet I wouldn't call this unit the most luxurious...I wouldn't say this to the owner because in all honesty the unit as far as decorations and even what I would call a more dark looking kitchen are true to what were in the photos...I plan(ned) on being outside most of the time anyway....

But, I now have acquired the stomach nausea and cramping I so dreaded along with what you might assume comes with it.. I wonder if it is from a drink on the beach or maybe 2 days in a row of breathing in Raid, although I doubt that... I want to get my happy dream back... There have been absolutely no other issues with the "Large" invaders... I am praying that the ant situation resolves itself but I would appreciate any input even if you feel the need to tell me they might be some other type of bug... This man Yves  is truly a good man, has a little boy and has shown that he will show up in  moments notice so I am trying so hard....I realize my post(s) are lengthy so I will leave it at that and hope for your suggestions... I had received an additional email from the owner that prompted me to finally let him know exactly how I felt in regard to his attitude and I won't even get into that now.... hint... felt the need to tell me that ants usually come from food (he apparently wasn't told what the food they lost (mr spider) was!

I am prepared to jump in that bed as soon as I know (and hope your input is helpful) that it is safe ... I want to be at the beach,,,, hoping the stomach issue passes quickly and luckily I am on an preventative meds for one of my health issues and carry a supply of Compazine (anti nausea) med.....Please know that I am experiencing a learning curve here...