Friday, November 6, 2009

THE FRIGHT OF MY LIFE!!!!

I was at a bible study of mine the other day and we were talking away after the study. We had
talked about everything under the sun and were generally have a great time.

She explains to me how she is having some people around for dinner in a few weeks and that she is going to make them some traditional Belizean food as they are from Nicaragua.

She asks me if I have ever tried Cows foot soup. I tell her yes I have, it was the very first thing I had for dinner in Belize. She was delighted to hear this.

Then to my absolute horror, she excitedly informs me that she is going to make some extra and save it just for me!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just smiled and said how lovely that would be, but she really didn’t have to go to so much trouble. That it would be difficult for me to get it home without spilling it, bla bla bla bla. I tactfully managed to get out of that one, phew!

Oh man I got the fright of my life that day and no spider or scorpion was involved!

FUNNY THINGS THAT GO BY

I have to tell you all of some of the funny things we see here. These things are all very common to us now and we often don’t even notice them anymore.

You can be sitting down in an area surrounded by concrete and then suddenly a huge crab will just wander sideways past your feet. Or you ride down the road and have to swerve around the giant crab that is crossing the road. At first we would grab each other and say, check this out, and watch for ages, now we just say, there goes a crab.

Driving home on the bus, we had to stop while a bunch of horses crossed the road. We were on the main highway at the time, but the horses have right of way. Or while in the middle of Belize City we see a horse walking along, all by itself. While driving home from Belize City we pass 5 horses asleep on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. Again now we just say, there goes a horse.

The scorpions that walk through the house. I remember the first time I saw one I nearly died right there on the spot. My heart jumping out of my chest, adrenaline pumping through my veins. Now one will walk past centimeters from my foot and I just say to Dave, there goes a scorpion.

Massive bread and butter sized spiders that pop unexpectedly out from nowhere and run across you toes as you sit outside, even inside sometimes. Now we just say, there goes a spider.

The people constantly trying to break into our house in the night, even three guys at one time. Now we hear a noise and go to see what it is and say there goes a burglar.

These are just a few of the things that at first amazed us as to us it was rare to see if ever, but now we are so used to seeing the unusual we don’t even notice.

THE BARKING SPIDER!

Today we were wandering along the street and we heard this very strange noise. It sounded very similar to a dogs bark. We listened again and then there it was. This spider ran across in front of us making this weird barking kind of noise. It was running so fast unless you heard it coming you would have missed it.

So it turns out that we got to see and hear a very rear spider. Its called an African Barking Spider. Its only around at certain times and they are very rare here in Belize. In some countries they abound, but not here.

We are very proud to say we have been graced by their presence. If only we had the camera we could have take a picture of one. They say there aren’t many pictures of them because they are so fast. They sometimes sound as though they are in two places at once, kind of like throwing your voice. Amazing!

I will keep an ear for them again, you just never know when you might hear a Barking Spider.