Gotta love mommas!

Good morning, Vietnam.  It has been awhile since I blogged due to a tedious task.  After much encouragement to submit my blog to a travel magazine or the like, I finally replied to a creative writer position here in Costa Rica.  I applied and had been corresponding with the editor back and forth and he was interested in my stuff and compensating me for future pieces.  It sounded like an ideal position- to get paid for exactly what I was already doing: traveling around Costa Rica and writing about it.  However, after a series of emails and samples I had to write for the publication, it was not a good fit.  My writing seemed to morph into someone else's and I wasn't feeling good about it. I was resentful, angry and exhausted from meeting the demands of this person who knew nothing about me or my style.  I was starting to look at writing as a chore rather than a way to communicate my whereabouts and wellbeing to my family and friends.  The man's criticism, although much appreciated, was quite cutting and had me curled over in tears doubting whether or not I had wasted four years in journalism school.  Luckily, I have a wonderful boyfriend who assured me that my writing was fine and the people who really mattered, loved it; and, I shouldn't let some stranger from one publication get me down.  As a result, I am chipper and back on the horn.  It feels good to be writing again. 

There have been so many changes that I do not know where to begin, hence the long introduction about my writing exploits. Have I mentioned there are a lot of critters here?  The days of fearing house spiders, snakes and possums are long gone, for I have a couple new nemeses in town: scorpions and tarantulas. I have seen both of the latter alive, in the darkness of the night and only feet away from my bed.

When we first arrived in Santa Teresa, Justin warned us about scorpions and I was quite unsettled to say the least.  Every night I did bed checks, cautiously went through my stuff in case one settled in between garments, and slept underneath the covers to avoid facial contact. Then, I finally saw one!  It was on the steps and Trent pointed it out as I was neurotically performing my nightly ritual.  It was so little! I laughed at the predator and myself for fearing such a helpless creature.  I could not believe that I worked myself up over nothing. With cocksureness, I went about my nightly compulsions less obsessively but merely habitually until that fateful evening when Trent called me into the bathroom to take a look at a ‘big scorpion’. Reluctantly, I walked over to the bathroom and waited outside while Trent teased me about where the creature was located. Upon entering, I begged Trent to tell me, and in defeat, Trent pointed to the light switch where the scorpion had made its home.  IT WAS HUGE.  It was about four inches long with an enormous tail.  I hurried out of there before the predator felt threatened enough to go after me, even if I was about five feet away.  I ran back inside and fearfully checked the whole house for scorpions. I was restless for the remainder of the evening and for about a week until I accepted I was living amongst God’s creations, all of his creations, under one roof and one piece of land. We were all getting along famously until I was face-to-face with the newest housemate:  a tarantula, a BIG tarantula.

It was around 6am when I stumbled out of my bed and over to the bathroom. Quite unconsciously, I checked out the bathroom’s perimeters for scorpions and wasps to ensure I had 30 seconds of peace.  Relieved at the sign of no stingers, claws or tails, I rested my bum on the priceless porcelain. My tired eyes wandered up the wall and to the shower’s adjacent wall when my eyes stopped for a double take.  There in plain view, about three feet away, was a big hairy tarantula.  The tarantula was as big as my hand.  Completely dumbfounded, I stared blankly at the mutant spider to register its existence.  I was hoping I was still dreaming, but unfortunately I was not. This thing was real and it was sharing the bathroom with me.  I quietly and calmly exited the bathroom and summoned Justin to have a look at my new friend, but the spider was gone.  It disappeared back into the dark abyss of the earth waiting for the day’s dusk.  My housemates remain unconvinced that the spider was as big as my whole hand and resolve to believe it was a much smaller tarantula we spied that evening.  However, it was not.  The momma tarantula is out there and it likes early morning showers.  I believe my bathing schedule will be changed to mid-day.

Happy bathing!