My dearest friends, I have a confession… I am so over these bugs. I leave Panama in 9 days to start my journey to Lesotho, Africa (month 4!!!) And I am already done sharing everything I own with every kind of bug, insect, and arachnid you could think of (and even some you can’t think of). I was doing alright with these tiny (but really not so tiny) creatures, but today was the day. My breaking point. The day I put my foot down.
My team and I had spent most of today in Boquete, Panama a small town a couple hours North shopping, trying new restaurants and relaxing. We arrived back at our house around 4:30pm groceries in hand, ready to call it an evening. Ashley was outside taking laundry off the line so I decided I should probably get mine too.
Okay you need some context here. A few days ago I was made aware by Jess that a rather large spider (about the size of Jessica’s hand) had made its home in a pair of my under garments. Cool. I jokingly, but not really told my Jess she could go ahead and burn them because they weren’t that important to me. So I left them out there a few extra days hoping it would move onto a new home or at least someone else’s clothes. (Back to the original story)
I walk outside and Ashley tells me that this infamous spider has left the undies and I was in the clear to collect my things. WHHOO! Great my plan worked. Jess came outside at this point and we begin looking on my phone to see if we can find a picture to match the spider she had seen earlier in the week. I legit googled “scary looking spiders”. I know. I was just asking for nightmares. Anyway, we can’t find any that match and I’m starting to get the creepy crawlies so we give up. I start picking up my clothes off the table and realize that a lower calf length pair of socks (my favorite socks on the race) I had picked up had been out on the table for probably two weeks at this point because it’s too hot to wear them so I never brought them in from drying. I’m already slightly on edge from all the talk and pictures of scary spiders so I figure it wouldn’t hurt to check them all the way (turning them inside out).
So here I am on my back porch minding my own business turning my sock inside out and BOOM! Scorpion in my sock. I flip. I honestly thought it was a huge spider because it was all curled up in there and you know, to turn a sock inside out you have to partially put you fingers down in there!! So I’m centimeters from touching this thing, I fling the sock out of sheer terror and that sucker lands ON me!! I flail, luckily he falls off my shirt and onto the ground and then scurried into the house…. INTO THE HOUSE! That’s even worse than in the sock. Thankfully Jess and Ash had my back and corralled him into a corner while I had a breakdown on the back porch… honestly it was unexpected, but I cried for a solid 20 minutes. And you wanna know the worst part??? I finally get up the courage to collect the rest of my things from outside and….
You remember that spider…
The one that started this whole story…
He was STILL residing in my undies. I almost touched him as well because Ash had checked my clothes and told me they were all clear so I picked them up and there he was. In all his scary glory…
Obviously this spurs on more tears because I’m already worked up over the whole scorpion in my sock, then on my shirt, then in the house thing, but Ashley saved the day again and got him out/killed him. (She also killed the scorpion… with a broom).
Moral of the story… always check your socks for scorpions. And don’t call me if you find one.
Stay Blessed,
Marah
