!!!SNAKE¡¡¡

My friend Rudy had come to visit and we were seated at the table, playing cards and listening to music with my host dad, when we heard a scream. It was my host mom. The following is a literal translation of what they said to each other.

Host Mom: ¨Come quick, my love! There is a snake at the door!¨
Host Dad: ¨...¡Caramba!¨

We all bolted from the table and flew to the door in an attempt to see the snake before it scurried away. Luckily for us this would not be a problem. My host dad somehow managed to arrive before us with a rusty, squared-off machete that you can see in the above picture. He then pinned it to the floor with a deftly quick jab of the knife. Apparently his plan was not to kill it right away. ¨Go and get your camera!!!¨, he yelled as I ran to my room tripping over my sandals.

When I returned, Rudy informed me that this snake was ,in fact, the dreaded ¨Terciopelo¨ or ¨Fer de Lance¨ as it is more commonly known in the US. Heralded as the most dangerous snake in Costa Rica, I was relieved to see this particular serpent trapped under a steel blade, instead of sinking its poisonous fangs into the legs of me or my loved ones. Here´s a little background:

¨The Fer de Lance is considered the most dangerous snake in Costa Rica, responsible for 46% of all bites and 30% of all hospitalized cases. This species is irritable, fast-moving and agile. It is also regarded as being more excitable and unpredictable than B. atrox, and has a reputation for being aggressive. Its large size and habit of raising its head high off the ground can result in bites above the knee. It has also been observed to eject venom over a distance of at least 6 feet (1.8 m) in fine jets from the tips of its fangs.[7]¨

What happened next still astounds me to this day...

Host Dad: ¨You ready to take the picture?¨
Me: ¨...Yes, I´ve already taken one.¨
Host Dad: ¨Ok, GO!!!¨

With Daddy Yankee blasting in the background, my host dad then released the snake allowing it to scurry and slither to and fro on the tiled floor. In the minute of sheer confusion and fear that followed, Rudy and I rapidly leapt and scrambled one way or another, grabbing and holding each other for support (moral and physical), while trying to avoid the path of the also very frightened and confused snake. I suppose my host dad thought that releasing the snake would allow for a great opportunity for me to snap a photo of the beast ¨sans machete¨, but in reality, it made for what would appear to be a very dangerous and ironic game of Dance Dance Revolution.



There´s the photo that almost cost me a coronary. I hope you enjoy it. My host dad eventually killed the snake and Rudy and I each took turns posing while it was dripping blood from its head-wound. These pictures are priceless, but unfortunately they are saved to the internal memory of my camera which I did not bring today. Please enjoy this picture of Rudy posing with the about to be deceased Fer de Lance.


I would like to dedicate this blog to my sister Caitlin who, in November of 2007, taught me how to ¨Crank It¨.

Don´t call it a comeback...

I originally planned to update this blog about once every two weeks. Then it turned into once every month. Now, you and I are sitting here almost exactly three months from the last entry and we´re both wondering what happened. I´d like to think that its all your fault.

So much has happened in the last three months. I pulled off a gigantic Halloween extravaganza for my town´s children that included costumes, 12 kilos of candy, 6 games, and a haunted house. This was quite a feat considering that my town has a lot of people who are religiously opposed to Halloween. The whole situation reminded me a lot of the movie ¨Footloose¨ and I was playing the Kevin Bacon part, trying to convince the town that Halloween wasn´t really a one way ticket to ¨Diablo¨. Although I´m not going to name names, there was a John Lithgow character but I was successfully able thwart his attempts to impede the progress of my Halloween preparations. Everything went off without a hitch and the kids seemed to have a wonderful time.

For Thanksgiving I went to the United States of America (perhaps you´ve heard of it?) and got to see my family and friends and dog. I would say the hardest thing about Peace Corps. for a lot of volunteers is being away from their families. This definitely holds true for me and I can´t explain to you how amazing it was to see all of them. I also got to drive to Pennsylvania from Chicago and was able to make commemorative pennies in four different states. I´m not sure if everyone knows what I´m talking about here, but there are these machines that you put fifty cents in and then one penny. You turn the wheel to the design you would like imprinted (i.e. The Indianapolis Speedway) and a few cranks later, this flattened copper oval pops out of the bottom slot. I´m not sure if this is illegal or not, but its so much FUN it should be!!!LOLZ!

I had a bit more to write including a snake story but my bus is coming, so I´ll leave that for next time. I´d like to dedicate this blog to my Aunt Barb who reads this blog and prints it off to give to her friends.