Scorpion bites and Honduran sites

Many volunteers spend 27 months in El Salvador without ever getting stung by a scorpion.

I, of course, lasted 3 weeks.

Here's how it happened: I woke up last Wednesday night and felt a little chilly (I know, right? It is "winter" here.) So I pulled my blanket a little closer around me and felt something scrape my back hard. I thought there was a staple in my blanket and drowsily did nothing, but then the pain intensified.

Scorpion! I thought. After all, being stung by a scorpion has been one of my biggest fears since before I left the States. Especially when I heard your tongue swells up so you can't talk (true sometimes) and that you can die from them (a lie.)

Anyway, I jumped out of bed and a wave of dizziness and nausea hit. I sat down, put my head between my legs and wondered whether I would throw up. Then it was randomly over and I started looking for my attacker. I pulled off all the covers, the pillowcase, the mosquito net, searched and shook, killed a moth and a fly, and nothing. My host mom came in and asked if there was an "animal" in my bed. I was tempted to say, yes, there was a cow, but I killed it and threw it in the trash, so I'm fine now, thanks.

Really I explained that something bit me and it hurt like a bitch. My host father, by then awake as well, overheard and said, "Scorpion!" We searched again and found no such creature.

"It was an ant," my host mom said. "It left already."

Doubtfully, I went back to sleep.

At 6 a.m. my alarm went off. I opened my eyes and the first thing I saw was a weirdly-shaped black animal with a curly tail on my mosquito net -- on the inside. I stared at it in weary triumph, thinking I had been right all along. Then I realized there was still a scorpion 2 feet away from me, panicked and bolted. My host mom was nowhere to be found so I had to approach my host dad, whom I have a much more formal relationship with. He was washing his pickup.

"Excuse me, sorry to interrupt, but I believe there's a scorpion in my bed."

He ran inside and somehow the rest of the family materialized in my room. Everyone watched as my host mom calmly picked up the scorpion with some tissue paper and threw it outside. It was actually pretty anticlimactic. I was expecting her to touch it and fall down dead or something.

Other than a dull throbbing pain in my back (and randomly, in my hand) the next day, the bite really had no long-term consequences. Apparently small scorpions do less damage. I didn't have much time to dwell on it, though, because I had to catch a bus to the faraway mountain province of Chalatenango, where I was scheduled to spend 4 days with a bunch of volunteers for an "immersion experience."

I arrived in Chalate at the house of John and Katie, the married couple of volunteers whom I was officially visiting (a bunch of other volunteers came up just to hike and hang out as well.) We were super high up and I was cold all weekend. We were near the border, but I didn't realize how near until John pointed out the window and said, "By the way, that's Honduras."

This is the part where I tried to post a picture of Honduras but the Internet cafe wouldn't let me. Soon, my dearies, soon.

The first night, I had to stay with a family in John and Katie's village, which was probably my most trying experience so far. The wall of my bedroom was covered with flies, I was cold, wet and slightly ill, and the family kept asking about a visa to the States. I was thrilled when John came to pick me up the next day and the other volunteers arrived. There were about 6 all told and they gave me really helpful answers to the millions of questions I had even though they all only have a month left in their service and their heads are in a way different place.

On Saturday we hiked to the Punta Más Alta -- the highest point in El Salvador. The views on the mountain were STUNNING. That night we ate pupusas, hot chocolate, fudge and watched Enchanted in Spanish. Considering drinking is not really culturally appropriate here, it was the best party I could ask for -- it was actually super fun.

We've been pretty damn busy this week as well -- Tuesday we got into San Vicente for our weekly meetings, for which I usually dress a little more professionally. So I was wearing dress pants and sandals, my friend Anna was wearing a skirt and dress shoes, and then our tech trainer goes, "Hey everyone, we're going to clean up a river! Sorry I didnt't give you advance notice!" Oh, Peace Corps.

One thing I've learned about Salvadoran kids is that a lot of them are super shy or they're just not paying attention. This became evident during the river cleanup, which we did with kids from a nearby volunteer's site, as well as during my first English class, which I taught to 5th and 6th graders today at my village school. They barely wanted to talk at all, but it was nothing that Pictionary couldn't solve.

The youth group continues despite pouring rains and hora salvadoreña, which means that those that do show up are an hour late and we have to make rushed decisions before it gets too dark for everyone to walk home safely. We're taking a trip to a nearby waterfall Saturday and we have projects in the works to do a bake sale and use the proceeds to plant trees. One of the kids who's most excited about this is a deportee with a MS-13 tattoo on his hand. Don't worry, we remain alert.

We get a lot of the American news in Spanish on the Salvadoran channels, since everyone has a relative allá (literally "over there" but most often meaning "in the States.") But we don't get everything and I'm upset to be missing such a crazy election. And I want to hear all your news too, so get on that! Post a comment, e-mail or call!

Paz y amor.