Creepy Crawlies

Remember that lizard in the ɲεgεn back at the Training Center?  I only wish that was the worst of my creepy crawlies!!

As far as ɲεgεns go, I’m pretty happy with mine.  It’s big, it locks from both sides (this is a huge deal), there’s a cover over the hole, and there’s a bucket with soap right outside the door, so I’m pretty sure that means my family washes their hands post-ɲεgεn (also a huge deal – Go Family!).  ɲεgεns at night can be a totally different story.  Again, mine isn’t too bad, but of course nothing is perfect.

The Story:

1. The Spider. 

There’s a big brown and white spider that comes out every night and sits in the same spot on the inside ɲεgεn wall.  Not a big deal.  I’ve noticed he’s not there during the day, so I’ve started looking for him at night, and I’ve decided to name him Phinneas.  I am definitely my father’s daughter regarding my relationships with spiders: I’m not afraid of them and I actually think they’re pretty cool.  I’ll never kill one.  So Phinneas is not a problem, but he is there.

2. The Roaches. 

Let’s face it, nobody likes roaches.  They’re big.  They’re fast.  They have long, twitchy antennae.  They live in undesirable places.  And they’re slimy when you squish them.  *Shudder*  I’d heard “horror stories” from the other PCTs in my village about cockroaches all over their ɲεgεns at night, and I was like, “No roaches in mine, mine is clean!”

Famous last words. 

My ɲεgεn does indeed have roaches.  I’m sure they’re down there somewhere during the day, but I only ever see them at night, so I tell myself they’re not there during the day.  At night I can see anywhere from 1-4 hovering about 3-5 inches below the ɲεgεn rim when I remove the cover.  Usually shining my light on them sends them scurrying out of the light, and this is an excellent time to employ “Out of Sight, Out of Mind,” something I’m already pretty good at.  And if the light trick doesn’t work, I can always splash some water onto them.  So again, not the ideal situation, but manageable.

3. The Ants.

I may not be afraid of spiders, but I HATE ants with a burning, fiery passion.  I detest any ants indoors.  The little ones, when outside, are fine, but I LOATHE any big ants, particularly inside.  My ɲεgεn doesn’t technically count as “inside,” so the little ants running around are fine, but every now and then there’s a big one, and that is just not ok.

4. The Night of Friday the 11^th.

I walk into my ɲεgεn and lo and behold, there’s a big, fat cockroach sitting smack dab in the middle of the piece of metal that covers the hole.  The roaches are evolving, they can escape the hole!!!  I have no choice.  If I want to pee (and believe me, I really do) I need to move that roachy metal piece, only to have to scare away even more roaches.  Blegh.  So I bravely shine my light on Roach and he thankfully scuttles off to the corner of the ɲεgεn.  I check on Phinneas, in his normal spot as usual, remove the metal cover, and scare away the other roaches.  So now I’m squatting over a hole to do my business, several cockroaches are merely inches from my butt, and my back is turned away from the Spider on the wall and Roach in the corner watching me.  I can think of SO MANY places I’d rather be at this moment (although maybe not my bathroom from Rich Hall last year.  Given a choice, I’d choose the creature-infested pit latrine.  Seriously.).  I finish as quickly as humanly possible, wash my hands, and move onto teeth brushing.  I’m getting everything ready when wouldn’t you know it, a Giant Ant comes hustling over, heading straight for my toothbrush!  I am very picky about toothbrushes (and loofahs), even in the States.  Nothing that isn’t absolutely unavoidable should EVER touch my toothbrush, and now my Worst Enemy of the bug world is coming right at it!  This was the last straw.  The spider is fine; I even named him.  Roach and his buddies are tolerable.  But there is no way in hell I’m letting a big juicy ant get anywhere NEAR my toothbrush, and I squashed that little bugger faster than you could say, “slime!” 

These were all of the things on my mind as I headed off to bed.  I sleep under a mosquito net, which hangs from my ceiling/walls over my bed like a canopy.  Aside from protecting against malaria (and lymphatic filariasis!! J) breeders, it gives me a nice sense of privacy.  My bed is my sacred space.  I don’t go on it until I’m completely ready to sleep or rest.  My feet need to be clean to enter and it’s my own private world.

So this night I’m lying in the little private world of my bed, lights off, glasses off, listening to my iPod.  Next thing I know, I’ve just seen a big, red spider on the INSIDE “wall” of my mosquito net!  INVASION!!  I bolt upright and start to panic.  Like I said, spiders are cool, but NEVER in my bed!  I scramble for the flashlight I keep under my pillow and panic when I can’t find it.  I’m really getting worked up until I realize: 1) I have no light.  It’s pitch dark.  How could I have seen anything?  And 2) I’m not wearing my glasses.  How could I have seen anything?  So fairly quickly I realize the spider must have been a dream, and I start to calm down.  However, I was not about to go back to sleep without confirming the dream hypothesis.  I find my light and of course, there’s no spider.  Not fully convinced, I triple-check my entire sleeping area just to be sure, and thankfully, no spider is found.  So I curl up way over on the other side of my twin bed, and drift off to a sleep full of buggy dreams.  :)