Spiders...oh my!

Spiders.

Written on 9/27/2014

Normally I'm not one to chat about the negatives in a situation, but I feel like the situation unfolding in my house could turn into a positive one...or at least not as negative as it feels right now.

There are spiders in my house. True, there are spiders in every house. They are just a part of being a person. Theres good things about spiders too, they eat mosquitoes and other bugs, and aside from be creepy looking, don't bother people.

The spiders at my house could and probably do eat cockroaches. THEY ARE HUGE. The first time I saw one it was O.K. I was able to avoid its space and continue with my day.

The next time one scurried out of my backpack up my arm, and after a hard swipe away from me down my leg. NOT O.K. I am not usually one who likes to kill animals, especially spiders because of their helpful qualities. But I decided at this point that this creature needed to die.

My problem was that because I was so mortified from the experience of having a gigantic spider crawling on my body, I didn't want to get anywhere near it. Instead I spent about five minutes staring at it hoping the people in the office across from me weren't watching this entire encounter unfold.

I looked quickly around my room for something to smash it with. My running shoes and a broom caught my eye. Without moving to quickly, as to not scare this gigantic creature, shoved my shoe at the end of the broom and slowly crept it closer to the spider.

I made my attack and found out that not only are these spiders disgustingly gigantic, but also terrifyingly quick and crawly and creepy. I had no idea where this crawling nightmare went, except that it had scurried to the direction of my bed.

SPIDERS 1  -  ME 0

I was sure the little bugger (as I don't want to curse on this blog..but you can put any type of vulgar expression in place of guy and it would fit) was awaiting its revenge in my pillowcase.

Before I went to bed that night I checked every inch of my bed, checking my pillow case and every crevice of my sheets with a flashlight. After deeming my bed safely spider-free, I pulled my mosquito net down and started tucking it into my bed.

Just as I reached the last tuck near my headboard, I saw it. The spider. Alas, a different equally terrifying spider sitting just inches above my pillow just outside my mosquito net. I dare not get out of my spider-sheltered bed, and had nothing but a book to my disposal to swat at it with. I stared at that...bugger...for a good 30 minutes hoping it would decide to leave. It didn't.

I kept looking at that book but, unfortunately (at that moment) I rather enjoyed and  wanted to finish the book and new there was no way I could read it with spider guts on it, and this spider would most definitely leave a lot of entrails. I decided my best bet would be to scare the spider to scurry up to my roof.

Thankfully, the spider decided to run up to the roof on its own and I was left alone to stare at my ceiling in fear until I finally fell asleep.

SPIDERS 2 - ME 0

I hadn't seen a sign of a spider in a few days...until today. I was cleaning up for lunch and walked into my kitchen and saw the carcass of a spider in THE MIDDLE of my floor. I half expected to look up at my walls and see some terrifying phrase written in blood.

Yes. That was a reference to Harry Potter.

I swept the carcass away and I KID YOU NOT, that creepy little bugger started to move again. It just happened to start to die of natural causes IN THE MIDDLE OF MY FLOOR. I am now terrified that its spider friends saw me put it out of its misery by feeding it to the chickens outside my kitchen and thought it was cold blooded murder.

SPIDERS 2 - ME 1

Obviously, I am a bit psychotic. Luckily, I've chatted with my Malagasy friends and they all assured me that no spiders here bite (and that cockroaches don't either)...so theres that. And my sitemate informed me that in time they don't look as big...which I'm sure was meant to be reassuring but still left me wondering whether there is something bigger and scarier lurking in my room.

Nonetheless, I feel I tackled my first truly terrifying experience in the Peace Corp without too much grief. Yay! And I am sure in the next few months I won't jump five feet in the air and scream like a little girl every time I see a spider.