Giant centipedes. Just typing this makes me want to put on a hazmat suit in case one is currently lurking in the shadows. Please picture in your mind the largest centipede you've ever seen in real life. Then increase the size of it by a minimum of 400%. Remember Honey I Blew Up the Kids? I'm talking enlargement of ridiculous proportions.
I encountered not one, but TWO giant centipedes in my very own living room. Not the 12-inch-plus type rumored to be creeping around these parts, but still big and disgusting.
Sorry for the blurry picture. I was jumping, screaming, swearing and flailing, while still trying to get close enough to show just how big this nasty creature is. Also, they don't exactly sit still and pose for a photo op. They aren't as fast as I would have thought, but all their big fat legs are constantly moving. This one had a tendency to rear its head and first few sets of legs up as though it was trying to walk in a more human-like manner. As though it was trying to say WATCH ME EVOLVE. I WILL RISE UP AND DESTROY YOUR RACE, STUPID HUMAN. YOUR FOUR LIMBS ARE NO MATCH FOR MY 2908329832 LEGS.
Sorry, I get carried away when I have to think about giant centipedes. Now that I've experienced them, they are the one thing I fear most in Dominica. More than our place being broken into, more than hurricanes, more than Chris failing out of school. My biggest fear is that one will crawl up my leg when I'm not paying attention.
There's a transformer in the background here so you can kinda see how big it really is. I was worried my cats would treat centipedes as toys, but they seem to understand that centipedes are meant to be feared and left well alone. They tailed the centipedes from a couple feet away like they were trying to just keep tabs and make sure they didn't attack anyone. Not even half a swipe of a paw. Phew! Actually the reason I found them in the first place was because while reading I saw the cats stalking something and looked up. Good thing for kitties.
Speaking of kitties, let's move on to the good new creatures. I mean, who doesn't love kitties?
There are a lot of stray cats and dogs here. The dogs I'm mostly indifferent about, because they bark all the time and drive me crazy, but I'll still sneak them bits of food when they come begging. But the cats! The cats here are different than any strays I've ever seen. They are so friendly! Some of them seem to like me more than my own two cats combined. We were waiting for our food outside the restaurant Shawarma King the other day, and made a new friend.
She had been sleeping under a table, but when we sat down she went into full-on friendly kitty mode. She immediately jumped into Chris' lap, since he is some sort of cat magnet. Seriously, all cats love him to death, to the point that it's weird.
I've heard stories about the strays here. I know about the ringworm and the mites and all the other reasons you should be careful when you have healthy cats already at home. But how can you not pet this kitty:
After this she jumped into my lap and purred until she fell asleep (we had a long wait for our food). When we left I almost cried. I was just about ready to stuff her in my backpack and take her home. But I couldn't introduce her to my cats without a full vet workup first, not to mention the fact that Lola can't stand other cats. Well, males at least, not sure about females. Anyway, Chris seems to think that you should never have more animals in a house than people. What nonsense. Just wait til he's not around...
And one more animal I almost forgot about: giant crab! I see a lot of dead smushed crabs on the streets, which is weird because the sea is a 15 minute walk away (if you're walking quickly). This picture is also terrible because it was almost pitch black outside and I had to blindly snap a shot before it waddled away.
Actually it sort of looks like the crab is going to pick up that stick and use it as a weapon. Yikes.
Also, if you missed it, there are pictures of an iguana in my last post. So many creatures here!
Otherwise, not much is new for me. I started my standardized patient "job" yesterday, which is something I'll talk more about after another session or two. My life is full of reading, swims in the sea, and home cooked dinners. Oh, and sunsets! The sunsets have been gorgeous lately.
One of these days I'll update Facebook with more pictures. I have lots more, but it takes forever to upload pictures on Blogger so I'm picking and choosing the best ones.
And this one was taken right off my very own porch:
Love it!
I swear I'm going to post pictures of our apartment soon. We finally got it decorated, but now it's a mess again. Excuses, excuses...
