An Epic Battle
I was crawling into bed the other night. Before I go to bed I do a routine check under the bed for roaches – saw my first one in the house last Sunday too by the way – when something caught the corner of my eye near the table by my bed. I thought first that it was a roach but I soon discovered it wasn’t. It was the LONG legs of a spider. Now to be clear, at home I USED to freak if I saw a spider in my room but after living in the basement and now in an old house I’ve grown quite used to them. Generally at home I just leave the spiders unless they are on the larger side. I’m learning that here in Suriname the spiders are definitely on the LARGER side. The beasts they grow here are no where new the puny things we grow back home. Though not the size of the one from the other night, this one could definitely hold its own. And so there was no questioning whether he could remain. Clearly he had to die. I looked around for a weapon but found none in my room. I would have to let him out of my sight. A quick dash to the next room to grab a broom. I slowly moved the table and made my first attempt. Holy shit this one moves fast! Of course I screamed. I also note that no one from my host family came running though not two moments earlier they opened their door when I was going to the washroom to ask if I was OK. Really, my going to the washroom is alarming but a scream is perfectly normal?!?!? No wonder I’m having cultural communication problems!! Peeing is cause for concern, screams no big deal...got it. Anyway back to my friend or rather enemy. He crept into the corner under the bed near the bedpost. I shoved the bed at him. I still saw movement. Damnit will this thing not die!!! I pulled the bed away from the wall and made another attempt with the broom got him attached to it and started slamming the broom down over and over again. One more good whack and I bent the broom handle..oops! I scooped him up and took him off to the garbage in the other room. No way that thing is staying in my room dead or alive!! So, although I had been ready for bed at the time, I was clearly wide awake after that my skin all creepy crawly.
Here he is. I really don't feel the picture does him justice, but then I did whack him up pretty good so there's not much left of him.
Water
You don’t realize how important water is and how much you use it until you don’t have it. First there was the drinking water. I tried drinking the local water, but it seemed to upset my stomach so I switched to bottled, much better, no more problems. Then there is water in general that you use for showering (3x a day remember), brushing your teeth, cooking, cleaning, washing your hands, flushing the toilet, etc. Since arriving in Suriname our house has ran out of water twice. Unlike in the city, at my place in the country we don’t have an endless supply of water. Where I live, we rely on the rain to come to fill the holding tanks or we get water brought in. Well, it’s the hot-dry season so it doesn’t rain much and even when it does rain the rain evaporates from the ground as quickly as it falls. And given the demand for water and the short work hours, it sometimes takes days for the trucks to come and bring water when you call. The first time we ran out of water, we drove the car up the road to the neighbours filling any empty container we could with water. And on a regular basis I see other neighbours going up and down the road with wheelbarrows and containers to go and get water. For sure I have to say my least favourite activity is going for water. It’s hard work, water is heavy!! When there is no water, I have to say, it sucks. To flush the toilet you have to slosh in water from a pail. Your (very necessary) daily showers are now reduced to tossing water over yourself using a small bucket. Thankfully I brought anti-bacterial wipes for my hands. Who knew I’d need those more at home than when I’m out and about! Still, you learn to get by on very little water and you learn to be very resourceful. And you learn to appreciate how nice it is just to turn on the tap and voila….water. Who knew I’d learn about water conservation here. Everyone remember when you’re brushing your teeth, turn off the tap.
Relentless
The men here are relentless. I can’t walk down a street without men making kissing or psst noises at me. At first it’s a nice boost to the ego, but after awhile you just want to turn around and scream shut up. Oh, and god forbid you should actually be nice to any of them because then they REALLY don’t leave you alone. The other day I was walking home and a few men were sitting in front of the corner store. They said hello. Trying to be nice and neighbourly I said hello back as I walked into the store to buy water. Then one followed me in and proceeded to follow and stare at me while I shopped. I don’t understand why being polite back means follow me and stare at me. Brutal. And apparently they don’t limit their forwardness to seeing you in the flesh. My phone rang the other day and there was some guy on it who had apparently had dialed the wrong number. But he liked my voice so wanted to stay on the phone and talk (yes Dave, I know I have a phone sex voice but still!!). He kept saying you have a nice voice, maybe we can meet, it’s not every day you call a number and such a nice voice answers the phone….on and on and on. I told him that I was not interested in meeting him to which he said oh you American girls, you don’t like to do things like that. I told him he just lost any chance of meeting me by calling me American and that assumptions can only get you into trouble, try I’m Canadian and I’m hanging up now. Still he says, yeah but maybe I can call you again sometime. Sure, whatever floats your boat buddy!
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