Cohabitation in all its Glory

As of late, our little apartment in Lampang has become inhabitted with any number of species. We've put up with the geckos, mosquitos and small spiders but it's just getting out of control. One particularly enchanting experience which has happened to both Hilary and I is that we will take a shower and start drying off with the towel only to discover it's been taken over by a small army of tiny red ants which have a knack for finding sensitive regions on the body. Hilary has taken to dousing herself with tiger balm on a daily basis.

One night I came home to see the hugest spider ever scuttle behind the couch. I've never seen a spider crawl side-ways like a crab. This scared me more than the size of the spider. As Hilary was at Justin's house, I called Chan to come over and help me out. By then, the spider had moved to the stairs so there was no way I would be able to get to my room, much less sleep with the knowledge that this creature was somewhere in the house. When Chan came in she remarked, "Oh it's small!" and "It's not poisonous." Yet it seemed that it could take a significant chunk out of one's skin. She said that they were actually good to have in the house but I couldn't really agree with her there. She eded up using David's gnome hat (left over from the magical creatures party) to trap it and take it outside.

Then this week, I woke up and went to the bathroom. I hadn't put my glasses on and when i stood up from peeing, I noticed a dark "something" in the toilet. After I got my glasses, I was shocked to discover that it was a live mouse. Yes, indeed, I had peed on it. Not knowing what to do, I went and got the maid from our landlord's house. I thought she would take it out of the toilet, but instead she started to bludgeon it with a large stick. I couldn't stand listening to the squeaking and screamed in Thai, "Don't kill it!" She ended up taking it out of the toilet with a plastic bag and then promptly bludgeoned it outside the house. Great. So much for animal rights in this country.

We daily sweep up "gecko droppings" off our floor and cobwebs from the ceiling. Meanwhile, I wake up to a cacaphony of birds each morning in the mango tree outside my window. All of this I don't mind. I'm just hoping that the day will not come when I will find a scorpion or a snake in my toilet!