A mi no me gusta arañas

Memorize that phrase, Donna! It means "I don't like spiders," and it's especially pertinent to last night.

So, I've finished up my homework, and I'm getting ready for bed. On the wall, I see what looks kind of like a decent sized hole with some cracks emanating from it. I get a bit closer and I realize the hole is moving! It's a huge ... spider?!

It's got the body of a trilobite, the legs of a cleaner shrimp, the front arms of a scorpion, and the speed of a cheetah! I got a little closer than it liked once, and it shot across the wall! This thing was scary fast!

Now some of you careful readers may have noted that I used "was" to refer to this spider. You're very observant. I was taking some pictures of it, trying to get a good shot in the poor lighting (my flash kept washing it out really badly). It continued to meander across the wall as I took photos. I took the photo with my flip-flop, as always, for scale - and keep in mind, these are size 11! Look at the wingspan on that thing! Anyway, as I reached down to pick up my flip flop, it darted at almost super-sonic speed behind my bed!

I had honestly intended to try to find a way to release this monster into the wild to go eat kittens (which is probably what it eats), but once it got behind my bed, all bets were off. I shoved my bed aside, and using the very same flip-flop you see in the photo, I smacked the life out of the kitten eating brute.

Here's what worries me now ... How many more of these are there? Do they feast on kittens and human cartilage! Waking up to one of these feasting on my ear or nose would be just about the worst thing ever.

I asked mi maestra and the maestra-in-training who's been observing this week if they knew what it was, but neither had any idea. So now I'm dealing with a flesh eating monster that the locals have never seen before ... faaaaaantastic!

But I do have some good news! I found Erin! She really is in Antigua! I met her and her classmates at Rainbow Cafe where we watched some indigeno (Mayan) ninos do some traditional dances. Here's a picture of Erin dancing with one of the kids. In case it's not obvious which one is Mayan and which one is Erin, she's the blonde.

Then we had dinner and chatted and chilled for awhile! It was definitely good to see someone I know - even if it was Erin ;) Haha! Just kidding! If you're reading this, Erin, we definitely need to hang out some more!

Here are some of the ladies from the UNC (Go Duke!) speech therapy program - left to right we have Keeley, Erin, and Carley. Keeley and Carley, sorry if I butchered or completely forgot your names - I'm gonna go ahead and blame that on the concussion :) True, it was several years ago, but not sure if the memory is back up to full speed ... I just can't remember if I'm more forgetful that I used to be!