A Rude Awakening

You know, just because there haven't been new posts in a few weeks, doesn't mean my adventures here are over.  Not by a long shot.  

The day after I wrote about my bathroom spider visiter, I went in there again and a spider jumped out from the corner.  It must have been the sibling of the one I'd killed yesterday; they looked exactly alike.  This one I showed no mercy, and didn't even try to get it out the window.  Let's say that two days, two spiders, two heart attacks, one tiny room: I'd had enough.

A week or so after that I spotted a larger spider on my ceiling in the landing room, above my book shelves.  By this time I knew right where the spray was, and I was pissed.

Last week I had an encounter with big ugly.  I'm praying they don't get bigger (but I'm not holding my breath).  I went into the kitchen at 9 pm last week on Tuesday and a piece of the black on the microwave door moved.  I was less than thrilled.  I had so much adrenaline I was shaking as I sprayed that cockroach.  There was so much spray used that it congealed on top of the counter.

On Friday night I went out to go to the convenience store.  It was dark out, around 8 or 9 pm.  I put on my shoes, open the door and start to walk outside and there is a huge spider, about the size of a grapefruit sitting on the stoop of the house, startled buy the light turning on (movement activated).  I pulled my foot back inside and let that door shut so fast.  It took me three minutes of heavy breathing before I finally went outside.

Then later Friday night, okay, it was really Saturday morning, I caught a sibling of Thursday's cockroach crawling across my floor.  There was a little less panicing while I sprayed this one, and more remorse about having to wash my floor when this was over.

That brings me to this morning.  5 am.  I felt something on my arm and rolled over.

Only to be bitten by a 7 inch centipede.

I'm starting a song:

Three spiders surprising.

Two roaches flying.

And one centipede biting me in my sleep! 

With all this action, is it any surprise I felt remorse for injuring the centipede?  It freaks me out a lot, but honestly, I'll take one centipede if it means it'll eat all the roaches.  I hope I didn't kill it.  That could mean baby centipedes really soon.  I hit it with my water bottle and got it's rear.  It hid behind a picture I haven't hung up yet, and when I went to get the spray, it disappeared.

So to surmise:

My kitchen is infested with cockroaches.

My landing is claimed by spiders.

My tatami room is centipede territory.

Now I'm thinking I'll sleep in my bedroom.

So what lives there?

Adventures in Bug Land

I just went to the bathroom here at middle school.  Like I do everyday.  And I went to the far stall with the western toilet.  It took me a minute after I sat down to realize things were a little different today.  There were things moving on the window.  

They were some form of bee.  Probably a kind of wasp.  Their bodies were longer and leaner than I was used to seeing.  Their wings not as spread out.  And they were walking on the window, that was closed.  

I then looked up to check on the small object I had noticed last year when I first arrived.  About the size of a softball.  I always thought it was a beehive of some kind.  But it was small, and it looked hard and old.  I figured it was from several years ago and the people here never cleared it out.  This not being abnormal since the students and teachers are responsible for the care-taking of the school.  The people here also just don't seem to be as anal about cleaning here.

There were several half inch holes in the softball-sized-now-confirmed-nest.  And there wasn't just one.  There were three.  I wanted to die.  I wanted to scream.  I wanted to run.  The last of the three won out.  Unfortunately, at the time I was stuck.  It took my tired brain a few minutes to realize what was happening.  

So I had to wait.  And watch the newly born wasps crawl all over the window looking for an exit.  And of course, this window was in the stall with me, less than a foot away.

I just about had a fit, being trapped like that.  They were almost two inches long.  I busted out of that stall hoping they wouldn't  figure out how to fly before I did.  I washed my hands and ran into the teachers office.  I was speaking pretty loudly.  Mostly in English.  Luckily one of the English teachers was there.  

They killed the bees.  And when they tried to take the nest down they had to get a hammer because it was so hard.  

Even though I was scared, do you think it's strange that I feel good that the nest wasn't a dead thing?  I still didn't like it, but it was kind of cool to see something break out and try to live.  It was fulfilling it's intended purpose.  

Of course, any bug that's inside has to die.