Costa Rican Memoir #8, parts 4 & 5

senorgatoychogito
Originally uploaded by Randuwa.

Part 4 "Tarantula"

As the incident with the fire ants would suggest, living in a place that is so different from the one you've grown up in is bound to present you with encounters which you would never have imagined. The house that Mr. K and I shared was built by Costa Rican standards and reflected the needs of shelter in a Mediterranean Climate zone. So the entire place was framed in 2 x 4's, and interior walls were all paneled with thinner planks. Exterior walls were only sided on the exterior leaving the framing exposed on the interior. No insulation, no furnace, no AC....no need. The hottest season (January to March) only sported temperatures in mid to high 80's; and the coldest (October/November) only ever dipped to the mid 50's. So fans and clothing supplied whatever needs comfort might demand.

Two of the walls in my bedroom where exterior. One bore a window with a wide sill. Since the only furniture was a twin bed and a small dresser, I placed a trytich brass picture frame on the window sill -- a short distance from my bed. One night after getting into bed and shutting off the light the picture frame crashed to the floor. Too heavy to do this on it's own, I wondered if in the motion of entering the bed and flipping the switch for the light, I had missed a small earth tremor.

So I immediated reversed my movements and flipped the light switch on again. And what did I discover? A full grown tarantula gingerly making its way along the window sill. Apparently, hindered by the picture frame, it had found a way to remove it as an obsticle.....

The photo is of our neighbor's pets: Senor Gato and Chogito. I include them in this memoir, because without their watchful presence, the infestation of interesting fauna would have doubtlessly been much more interesting and problematic.

part 5 "Frankenstein Shower"

In a home without central air or heat, it's no surprise that there was no hot water tank either. To heat water, you simply placed in on the stove which worked for most things..... The shower was the exception. So to remedy this the water was heated by a coil wrapped around the pipe of the shower head. And this coil had two wires that emerged from the base of the pipe against the wall to a "Frankensteinesque" toggle switch mounted on the wall next to the shower.

The routine? Get naked. Turn on the water flow. Reach over to the toggle switch and pull it down while stepping into the water! And I swear to you, I never got used to this. The only comfort was the knowledge that IF it failed, my death would be amazing and swift.