Missing life events & battling with tarantulas and rodents

This weekend one of my really good friends is getting married and sadly due to the “not allowed to leave the country for the first 6 months rule” I can’t be there.  Yesterday I went to the Peace Corps office for medical things and while I was there checked my mail.  I received on piece of mail…my friend’s wedding invitation for today.  I knew she was getting married today since I left the states but receiving that invitation made it real.  Just like their save the date which she also mailed to me here, it was beautiful.  I opened it and despite myself started to cry.  I cried for a couple of reasons.  One, I’m missing one of the best days of my friend’s life and she truly deserves a beautiful wedding. Secondly, these two are such a great couple you can’t help to want to be around them and I know there day will be so special.  I will also be missing out on seeing my friend’s future husband’s face when he sees her for the first time in her wedding dress which is always my favorite part, besides the cake. Lastly I cried because I’m so happy and excited for them!  I’m excited for their perfect day and I wish I could celebrate with them.   So yes I sat in the empty PCV room of the office crying. 

Missing out on life events is something everyone tells you will happen and most times you know it will happen before you leave  but I’m telling you right now, until the events take place you’re not prepared for it at least I wasn’t.  While I complete my service I will be missing out on at least 2 maybe 3 other weddings of friends (even though I’ll be allowed to go back to the states after this month, I can’t take vacation during certain parts of the year while I’m teaching, meaning I’ll have to miss some weddings ).  I’ve already missed out another friend’s baby being born and I know this will also happen once more.  It’s hard, but the thing that keeps me from going completely nuts is knowing that once I return home whether its to visit or for good I’ll get to be a part of all of my friends lives again and that makes me happy.

So I really have no idea how to transition from that to talking about that to creepy disgusting things so I’m just gonna do it…Last week after returning from a wonderful overnight trip to Granada I walked into my room threw my stuff down and went to get a glass of water.  When I returned I walked over to my bag, I had only moments ago thrown down, to get some headphones, when I noticed this black fury thing which reminded me of a fake spider.  I thought to myself, who would put a fake spider in my room?  Then it hit me, no you’re in Nicaragua this shit is real. I ran to the other room to tell my host dad “Yo tengo una araña en mi cuarto. Ayudame!”  He entered my room with a baseball bat in his hands.  I showed him where it was and he took a swing at it, missed and the thing scurried.  Diego chased after it and finally succeeded in squishing its guts out.  Totally gross. Last night once again as I returned home from dinner I entered my room and immediately saw another tarantula on the far wall on the opposite side of my room.  I was on the phone with Aaron and this time remained calm told him I had another spider and I’d call him back.  Diego had the same routine and walked in with his baseball bat.  This time he took one swing and didn’t miss.  The tarantula was dead. 

I returned to my bed and got under my mosquito and thought I’m awesome I can totally deal with spiders.  About an hour later I got up to get some milk from the kitchen.  I grabbed a glass and was pouring the milk when out of nowhere about 3 feet away from me a rat fell from the ceiling and onto the kitchen counter.  I lost my shit…sorry no better way to explain it.  I screamed and my host dad came running.  The rat stayed on the kitchen counter attempting to climb up the wall, so gross, I turned away as Diego went to get his baseball bat.  I went to my room as I heard Diego continually try to kill the rat with his bat.  This time no luck…the rat remained alive.  Diego searched for it for an hour and couldn’t find it.  It was at this point I decided I probably wasn’t going to sleep and I’m not awesome because I definitely can’t deal with rats.  Honestly that was the first time I’d ever seen a rat in my life  (I saw a mouse not to long ago but a rat…..NO!)  So how did the rat fall from the ceiling, well like most houses in Nicaragua the walls don’t go all the way up to the ceiling and there is a gap.  This means rats and mice can crawl up the walls and walk or fall of the ledges into homes.  What this means for me, as much as I like my host family, I’m going to start looking for a new place one with walls that go to the celling. 

So lot’s has happened and it’s only Saturday morning.  I’m heading out to Managua today to hang out with 2 other PCV’s to grab lunch and try to take my mind off things.  Nothing like an hour and a half bus ride filled with a million people to really start my day off right J.