Saturday, January 9, 2016

TIGDHWMWH #2

My second in a short series of things that I'm glad didn't happen while Mom was here will feature some more of my favorite critters. Last time we spoke about rats and maggots, this time I will mention the tarantulas, snakes, and my personal favorite: the tailless whip scorpion.

Tarantulas have been featured on this blog before, but I'm not sure you ever get used to them. I can handle them alright now, but I get a good jump every time I come across one (especially that one time it was on my toothbrush) then I grab my machete and cut them in half! Thankfully we did not come across any while mom was visiting or I'm sure she would have jumped right out of her skin!

A cleanly cut tarantula half next to a shiny quarter

Snakes are pretty bad. Luckily I have yet to have a snake inside my house. I did have that one in my host family house, but I'm glad none decided to make their first visit coincide with mom's first visit.

Snake from the host family house




Scorpions are bad. I haven't been stung by one yet but have heard first hand accounts that it is pretty painful. I do get some of them in my house and it would have been a possibility for them to show up with mom around, but even more common in my house is the tailless whip scorpion. Although harmless (and thus abundant in my house because I don't kill them), tailless whip scorpions are pretty freaky looking! I can't imagine that mom would have taken well to seeing one while locked up in a dark and strange place.


A normal, dead, scorpion

A tailless whip scorpion mid-molt! (Google images for a better picture)

Well that's all for this time! Next post I promise to feature less creepy crawlies for those of you that dislike them. Thanks for reading!

Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Anniversario

I live in the boonies. Fact. Also fact, just a little father into the boonies is a semi-autonomous indigenous reservation known as the Comarca Embera-Wounaan Sambu. I have a few Peace Corps friends out there and on November 8th they had the anniversary of its foundation. For this a whole big group of volunteers got together in the main town of Puerto Indio (a fellow Peace Corps Volunteer's site) and celebrated with the locals! Festivities included a tug-of-war, dance contests, food stands, and a parade. I don't have a ton of photos from the two day affair but I can share a few.

Embera family

Myself and Abby all dressed up for the occasion

Wounaan ladies ready for Tug-of-War

The whole group of PCVs in indigenous garb