Sunday, August 06, 2006
It's a dangerous, dangerous life
So I took out my laptop from its case today and what do I see next? There was this enormous spider right inside the case! Enormous here means more than an inch long, almost two, light color, but with a really wide, fat body and hairy legs. That's all I could see in the fraction of a second that I spotted the creature, since I then instinctively threw the case away from me, onto the floor. "What happened?" asked another student puzzled. "There's a big spider inside the case!" I explained. He then just gets up and kneels down next to case, picks it up and, almost sticking his nose inside it, asks "Where?"
I am just horrified thinking the spider would jump out and attack him any minute but he very calmly turns the case every which way, shaking it, looking for the spider. Nothing. He looks at me inquiringly. "It's in there! And it's big!" I emphatically warn him. He almost sticks his head inside the case again, then he finally spots the spider, who probably got scared with all the thrusting about and maybe tried to go for cover in one of the inside pockets. So the student just tears off a tiny bit of paper, like a 2-3 inch bit, and again, to my horror, sticks his hand in the case. I thought he would take off his shoe and beat the case to a pulp, but no, he opts for a tiny bit of inane paper. First thought that comes to my mind is that he is going to squish the creature inside the case (bleah!). But then, just as gingerly as when he first looked inside the case, he pursues the little thing inside the case - at first without success. He finally succeeds in grabbing it with the little torn paper, not squishing it all. Then he strolls down to the doorway, opens the door, and flings the spider back into the outdoors. (Theme of Born Free in the background ;-). All the while I just stood there, immobile, too startled to move, first because of the spider, then because of the absolute calmness of the guy. If it were now, I would have rushed after him to get a better look at the spider because I have never had such a huge spider near me in my life. "Did you see that?" I ask him. "It was immense!" He just looks at me with a bemused little smile, a chuckle in his eyes, probably thinking, "Women! One little spider and they get all nervous." And no one more than me hates these stereotypes of women on little stools, cringing because of a white mouse underneath, but I don't think it will be in this life that I am able to gingerly go after a gigantic, venomous, monstrous spider with a little piece of paper.
Next, a very uneasy thought creeps in about where it might have come from. Did it get in the case from my bedroom? Do they attack at nite? :-) Are there legions of them? OK, so I kid, but still it was odd, I don't live on the ground floor. Then I remembered there is a construction site nearby, who knows? The thought of these huge spiders crawling about, specially at night, is not the most pleasant, in any event.
A few weeks ago I saw even bigger spiders, but they were on trees. In fact, I only caught sight of them because the sun was shinning right behind them and it completely illuminated their huge legs. Beautiful sight! But these were those pencil-thin legs, incredibly thin, and I don't think these spiders are dangerous at all. They were probably more than 3 inches long, but they were just legs. But this one, really fat and hairy and huge, oh Jesus! Anyways, probably not the most aggressive or it would have attacked the student (or me!).
So I am walking a little while later on this concrete and pebbly path and I am wearing one of my favorite pair of beach sandals. They are made of some really cushony rubber, so unlike regular beach sandals, which usually have a hard and longlasting rubber sole, these are like heaven. They probably won't last more than a summer, but it doesn't matter. It feels like you are walking on a cushion no matter where you walk. But the sole is not very thick, maybe half an inch or so. However, it's the quality and type of rubber that makes them so comfy.
So I am walking along and all of a sudden I feel a tiny sharp pain under my toe. "I probably stepped on a big pebble and the edge pressured my toe," I think. So I walk a little more and feel the same pricking pain again. "That's weird, I'm not seeing very sharp pebbles on this path." And I continue walking. So then I go indoors, upstairs, and finally down again, climbing down the stairways, when I feel the same sharp little pain again. "Completely flat stairways, totally level, not a single possible pebble in view. What in the world???" I immediately take off the sandal to try to discover the answer to the mystery. I then spot a speck piercing through the sole, could it be a tack or tiny nail? I then prod and bend the backside of the sandal and a piece of glass is propelled into the air, having gotten lodged and stuck in the sole. I was very lucky because if it had been just a tiny bit bigger, I would have now a cut and bleeding toe. The bit of glass was big enough to slightly pierce the sole and prick my toe, but fortunately too tiny to do any further damage.
What is next, gigantic rolling boulders coming down the hallway when I go to my room?
I am just horrified thinking the spider would jump out and attack him any minute but he very calmly turns the case every which way, shaking it, looking for the spider. Nothing. He looks at me inquiringly. "It's in there! And it's big!" I emphatically warn him. He almost sticks his head inside the case again, then he finally spots the spider, who probably got scared with all the thrusting about and maybe tried to go for cover in one of the inside pockets. So the student just tears off a tiny bit of paper, like a 2-3 inch bit, and again, to my horror, sticks his hand in the case. I thought he would take off his shoe and beat the case to a pulp, but no, he opts for a tiny bit of inane paper. First thought that comes to my mind is that he is going to squish the creature inside the case (bleah!). But then, just as gingerly as when he first looked inside the case, he pursues the little thing inside the case - at first without success. He finally succeeds in grabbing it with the little torn paper, not squishing it all. Then he strolls down to the doorway, opens the door, and flings the spider back into the outdoors. (Theme of Born Free in the background ;-). All the while I just stood there, immobile, too startled to move, first because of the spider, then because of the absolute calmness of the guy. If it were now, I would have rushed after him to get a better look at the spider because I have never had such a huge spider near me in my life. "Did you see that?" I ask him. "It was immense!" He just looks at me with a bemused little smile, a chuckle in his eyes, probably thinking, "Women! One little spider and they get all nervous." And no one more than me hates these stereotypes of women on little stools, cringing because of a white mouse underneath, but I don't think it will be in this life that I am able to gingerly go after a gigantic, venomous, monstrous spider with a little piece of paper.
Next, a very uneasy thought creeps in about where it might have come from. Did it get in the case from my bedroom? Do they attack at nite? :-) Are there legions of them? OK, so I kid, but still it was odd, I don't live on the ground floor. Then I remembered there is a construction site nearby, who knows? The thought of these huge spiders crawling about, specially at night, is not the most pleasant, in any event.
A few weeks ago I saw even bigger spiders, but they were on trees. In fact, I only caught sight of them because the sun was shinning right behind them and it completely illuminated their huge legs. Beautiful sight! But these were those pencil-thin legs, incredibly thin, and I don't think these spiders are dangerous at all. They were probably more than 3 inches long, but they were just legs. But this one, really fat and hairy and huge, oh Jesus! Anyways, probably not the most aggressive or it would have attacked the student (or me!).
So I am walking a little while later on this concrete and pebbly path and I am wearing one of my favorite pair of beach sandals. They are made of some really cushony rubber, so unlike regular beach sandals, which usually have a hard and longlasting rubber sole, these are like heaven. They probably won't last more than a summer, but it doesn't matter. It feels like you are walking on a cushion no matter where you walk. But the sole is not very thick, maybe half an inch or so. However, it's the quality and type of rubber that makes them so comfy.
So I am walking along and all of a sudden I feel a tiny sharp pain under my toe. "I probably stepped on a big pebble and the edge pressured my toe," I think. So I walk a little more and feel the same pricking pain again. "That's weird, I'm not seeing very sharp pebbles on this path." And I continue walking. So then I go indoors, upstairs, and finally down again, climbing down the stairways, when I feel the same sharp little pain again. "Completely flat stairways, totally level, not a single possible pebble in view. What in the world???" I immediately take off the sandal to try to discover the answer to the mystery. I then spot a speck piercing through the sole, could it be a tack or tiny nail? I then prod and bend the backside of the sandal and a piece of glass is propelled into the air, having gotten lodged and stuck in the sole. I was very lucky because if it had been just a tiny bit bigger, I would have now a cut and bleeding toe. The bit of glass was big enough to slightly pierce the sole and prick my toe, but fortunately too tiny to do any further damage.
What is next, gigantic rolling boulders coming down the hallway when I go to my room?
