The Jungle Book

Today was all about the creatures. Actually, in all honesty 75% of most conversations here are devoted to Thailand’s many creatures, with the other 25% reserved for the freshest FED gossip. Tonight's tally was no different and when Miléna and I joined Sandra and Emmanuel for guac night (Matt, this is for you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guacamole), there were some new creature stories shared. My favorite was the video Sandra showed us of her and Emmanuel spraying some heavy duty bug spray at THE biggest spider I’ve seen in my life. Their antics were too funny and Sandra’s narration tonight greatly added to the amusement. After being traumatized by watching a spider the size of your open hand shudder to it’s death, and realizing the rain had stopped, it was time for Miléna and I to make a run for it. Sandra plied us with a flashlight to make it back to our bikes, and skipping over the hermit crabs on the well-lit patio I thought we might not need the flashlight until Miléna reminded me… “The cobra!” she mentioned as we were hopping through the grass. Oh right. That cobra. The one spotted here a few weeks ago. Dear. God. We made it back to the bikes all right until a wet leaf brushed my foot and I let out a good holler, causing Miléna to shriek and Sandra to pop her head in the window with a more amused than worried look on her face. She could hear me laughing about it and Miléna gasping, “don’t scare me like that!!” (what novices!).

Gathering any and all tidbits of courage I could find I started my bike, turned my dinky headlight away from their house, and began bumping down the narrow dirt road, trying but failing to avoid the wet plants leaning into the path, ducking from overhanging branches and then frantically swiping my bare neck with my free hand. Is that a snake dropping down from that low-hanging branch? How about that one? I blame this paranoia on The Jungle Book… as a matter of fact, it may be that movie from which my phobia first arose. My triple-checking of the toilet bowl before I drop my ass? Well, that has more to do with Harry Potter and my Dad’s stories of NYC septic systems, but however I came by it… snakes are definitely lurking. You don’t quite know where, but they’re there.

  

When Miléna and I returned, jubilant for surviving the snake-filled (if only in our minds) ride back, I plopped on the toilet only to hear a yelp from across the wall a few seconds later. Wrongly writing it off as leftover snake jumpiness I yelped too upon seeing a shocked little face and whiskers at the same time as hearing Miléna's exclamation, “It’s the mouse!”. Just as her cry had sent the mouse scurrying through the drainage hole that connects our bathrooms, mine sent it darting back to her, resulting in the same response… back to me… same response… this went back and forth three times before we started cracking up and the mouse figured things out and clambered up to the water tank above our heads.

Now, safe in the screen cave, with only a crack of my door open for my ethernet cable, I can giggle about the little mousie. But with only a few days left here I’m starting to consider wearing my headlamp to the bathroom. My jumpiness here has increased exponentially this past week, and I sheepishly catch myself occasionally longing for a bedroom sealed to the outdoors… just for one night. Chances are I won’t find one anytime soon, but I think that’s okay. The stories are better this way, and I can’t wait for more fun with Paiger and Danielle a week from now.

--Some posts with emotional oomph and learning from other people to come, but for tonight I just couldn’t resist mentioning (a small selection of) the creatures… plus, I knew the fam would love it.--