I recently went on a long bike ride into my Provincial city which is about 16 miles away. I embarked on this journey partly because I wanted to see if I could do it and survive, but really I just wanted to get some Fruit Loops and spaghetti sauce because I had been craving both for like 2 months and there was no other mode of transportation at the time and nowhere else to buy those items. So I set out on my journey determined to make it to my destination before high noon for fear of heat stroke. Not only was this ride challenging do to the fact that it was so far away, but it was even more challenging because I didnt have an ipod to distract my mind. I somehow lost the only cord I had to charge my ipod and it had been sitting in my closet dead and unused for weeks. I was left with my own thoughts and had to find alternate means of entertainment. So I simply began to count. I counted everything I could keep track of. And when I finally got home that night I made my list.
During my 32 miles of extreme (for me anyway) bike riding, the following is what I saw.
72 Motorcycles 32 Trucks 27 Temples 42 Rice fields 17 Bright green houses 25 Dogs (about 7 of which gave chase) 4 Cats 13 Snakes (4 living, 9 dead) 18 Frogs (2 living, 16 dead) 7 Seven Elevens 6 Vilossa Raptor looking lizards 5 Bridges 8 Buses and 3 turtle
So after 2.5 hours, 32 miles, 2 t-shirts and some very sore lady parts later, I made it home with my spaghetti sauce and Fruit Loops!
I have reached a milestone in the evolution of me. Its the first I can actually point to since I've been here in Thailand. But now I can honestly say that I am no longer afraid of spiders! Amazing, I know! It was a long hard fought battle but in the end I can say I came out a winner, or a loser depending on your perspective. You see, Thai spiders are nothing like the spiders you will encounter anywhere else (well maybe in the amazon but thats beside the point). They come in many different shapes, sizes, colors, sounds and physical attributes. Some hiss, some click, some are the size of an ant, others the size of a softball, some jump, others run, and they are all everywhere. I swear these spiders have more powers then Spiderman, and I can honestly say that I have encountered most of them during my stay here.
I started out really scared of them. Bordering on arachnophobia (although back in my early Thailand days, anything thing that moved made me want to run down the street screaming and crying, flapping my arms in a disparate attempt of flight). But, no matter how hard I tried I could never escape them. They are quite literally everywhere here. They chase you, stalk you, repel onto your head, hiss at you from clothes in your wardrobe, live in your shoes and make homes and babies on your bike, but no matter how many you kill, there are 800 billion more ready to take that ones place. In the past year or so I have graduated from complete hysteria at seeing a spider, to caged fear, to watchful suspicion, to mild annoyance, and now total acceptance. I accept the fact that no matter what I do i will never be free of spiders. This was a revelation I discovered only yesterday. You see yesterday, as my morning alarm clock went off I opened my eyes to find that a spider had made a web in my left eye socket. How is this possible you might ask. Well yesterday night, as I peacefully slept, a spider proceeded to spin a thick, fully functioning web from my eyebrow, to the bridge of my nose, to my cheek and everywhere in between. Due to my relatively deep sleep and subsequent lack of movement, this spider chose to make its home on my person.
Now any normal person would freak out at this discovery so early in the morning. Even if it didn't actually happen to you, one can appreciate a certain horror in the situation. For example, when I told my mom this story she immediately screamed. And when I told my arachnophobic aunt this story... well you can imagine the tears, screams, hyperventilation and sobs that followed. Me on the other hand, with my highly evolved psyche, simply removed the spiderweb from my eye and continued to go about starting my day. It wasn't until I actually told this story to my family that I even realized that this was something worth freaking out about. In fact, my family is still freaked out that I never actually found the spider. Me, I just shrug my shoulders and keep it pushing. Because I have reached this stage of acceptance stage in evolution of me! So thank you Thailand... Thank you! I couldn't have done it without you.
Name: Porscha Home: Chai Nat, Thailand About Me: The opinions of this blog are mine, and mine only. They do not reflect the opinions and/or views of the Peace Corps or the United States government. See my complete profile
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