Ayiti -- that's Haitian Creole for Haiti, where I am going in March. I'm reading my "Creole Made Easy" and got my MMR shot and prescriptions for the malaria and typhus vaccines yesterday, as well as a prescription for Cipro, which I really hope I won't need.
The village of Medor has no running water, no potable water (so eating anything, especially anything uncooked, is gonna be dicey), no electricity, no postal service, no government, no roads. Our group of 13 is going for the dedication of a new church, which we helped raise money for, and also to conduct surveys of the water sources we identified as part of our clean water project. The sources are several miles on foot in each direction, and since I'll be there the week before the 1/2 marathon and will be missing my runs, I volunteered to hike out to the farthest ones -- should be a blast and I'll get some awesome pictures.
A bunch of visiting bishops and priests are also coming for the dedication, and there will be parties and celebrating Haitian style -- lots of singing and dancing -- every day. The priests and bishops are staying in the rectory with Pere Leroy, the pastor, and Fr. Stan, a great guy from Africa who I met this summer. Our group is staying in the convent next door. So get this -- the rectory has a flush toilet that runs on a generator; the convent has a latrine. So Pere Leroy, who can basically pull it out and pee in the bushes whenever he wants, has a toilet, and the nuns, who are women and therefore get PERIODS, have a latrine. This is SO typical of the sexist, screwed up Catholic church!
And I just found out that there are TARANTULAS in Medor -- that come out when you use the latrines!! One woman who heard this at a meeting this week has promptly dropped out -- she's arachnophobic. And let's face it -- who really loves spiders?? So I've decided I'm gonna tell Pere Leroy and Father Stan that they better leave the rectory door unlocked at night, because if I have to go, that's where I'm goin'! I am NOT going to a latrine with tarantulas in it in the pitch dark, not even for a good cause!!
The good news is the nuns do have a refrigerator which they keep stocked with beer, and they love to play cards. I'm sure we'll have way more fun with them than with a bunch of priests!
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4 comments:
Please do not continue to foster the bad reputation the poor tarantula has developed over the years. They are relativiely harmless and in fact can make very good pets.
Although the tarantula can be frightening in appearance to some, the chances of being bitten by it are rare and, because it has a rightful place in the outdoors, it should not be wantonly killed or persecuted. If its presence is not desired, it can be easily placed in a container and transported to some area where it can continue, unmolested, to live its useful life.
Cautions
Even if through carelessness a bite should occur, the venom when injected into man causes only slight swelling, with some numbness and itching which disappears in a short time. The chances of being bitten are so slight that one has little need to worry.
Tarantulas are harmless to humans and are often trained as pets, although they can inflict painful bites if provoked.
Although both males and females are capable of inflicting a bite when threatened, they rarely do so and their venom is considered to be non-toxic to humans.
Bites are unlikely to cause problems other than pain at the site. Skin exposure to the urticating hairs will cause itching and a rash.
First Aid: Clean the bite site with soap and water and protect against infection. Skin exposures to the urticating hairs are managed by removing the hairs with tape.
It's very nice that tarantulas are not poisonous. However, please correct me if I am wrong in saying the concept of being bitten, perhaps on one's sensitive underparts, by a large, furry, biting creature...in a latrine in the middle of the night...would make even the most intrepid person cringe a teensy bit. This has nothing to do with smearing the poor tarantula's reputation and everything to do with instinctive human response.
The tarantula has no interest in the sensitive underparts. So I doubt if you run much risk of being bitten there.
Unfortunately the human insticnt is to crush out what we don't like or understand and in this case the tarantula doesn't deserve its reputation!
OK, whoever you two anonymous commenters are, for one thing you need to be a little more creative with your aliases.
Secondly, who said anything about persecuting or crushing tarantulas? I said I would go to the rectory and avoid them entirely. This seems like a very sensible course that doesn't hurt any poor widdle creatures!
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