I met Aragog
30Jan07
Last night, I saw a spider that was bigger than I am. If it had opened its mouth, I swear it could have swallowed me whole. Said spider was 2 feet from my front door.
I love Costa Rica.
(Sorry for the lack of photo, but I was far too busy hiding behind my friends to have the presence of mind to collect photographic evidence of my perilous situation.)
Update: Okay. So there was another ginormous spider tonight! It is called a pica caballo, aka tarantula. That’s right, a goddamn tarantula. I took a photo this time:
Wow! That’s a big spider. Is that common to see spiders like that when you live in the city?
that is not big.
Eep, I had one too quite recently. They have eyes and watch you move, I’m sure.
Mine: http://tomaw.net/static/spider.jpg (pattern of the surface is not down to me, honest…)
Wait. Was this spider in your apartment? I would definitely have screamed. I alot. One time, I was babysitting, and saw one of those HUGE crickets. I’m talking about the ones that are probably 2 inches or 3 inches big. So, what did I do? I ran into the kitchen and got a clear tupperwear large container. I then attempted to throw the tupperwear on top of the bug, but of course that just made it jump around and made me silent scream. (The children were sleeping.) So then I dropped the tupperwear on top of the bug from as far away as my arm could reach, and waited until the parents got home, and told the dad he had to deal with the bugs. Awesome.
Nice! That would have warranted a silent “wtf” and then an immediate grab for the nearest blunt object in sight. That is one huge bug, glad I don’t have to deal with that stuff up here.
Hi, I’m moving to San Jose in July to start teaching at the British School. I’m from Northern Ireland and I am excited but scared of moving to somewhere where I don’t know a single soul and your picture of the spider has my heart racing!!!!! Ok, I am terrified of just the picture! Do they bite?? I am going to read some of your other posts in an attempt to calm down.
Haha Rachel, don’t worry! They’re actually very uncommon to have in your house and only one tarantula in CR is anything to be afraid of. (Actually, it’s the one on the photo, but again, it’s going to be very uncommon to find one in your house here in San José.) Also keep in mind that most creepy crawlies are not fans of humans, so they’re going to try and stay as far away from you as they can… I think this guy just got lost and couldn’t find his way back out again. Here in the city, though, you’ll find yourself fighting much more benign enemies: ants, flies, and the occasional cockroach might happen into your home, but that’s about it.
Any idea where you’ll be living in the city, by the way? If I’m not mistaken, the British Institute is located out here in Los Yoses, which is very close to me. Maybe we’ll be neighbors.
Hi, well, that is pretty reassuring cos I genuinely nearly had a heart attack! Going to be living in Rohrmoser, thats the word on the street anyway, actually don’t really have any idea ’till I get there. Hopefully, we will be neighbours and if not neighbours can still meet up and have a chat. I’m looking forward to meeting new people and any advice would be most appreciated. I only found your blog today and it’s fantastic, giving me a real insight into what awaits me- aragog and all!!
Got your name and info from Oscar Zamora. He and I were playing pool online and I asked a few things about CR and he said you were an expat and I should look at your stuff to see the American point of view since he is a native. I am 65, male, almost retired, I have MS and I want to spend my final years looking at something besides city streets, traffice jams and the greedy, self-indulged people with entitlement attitudes here in southern California. Except for the spider (which, if I were a woman, I would scream too) CR sounds like the garden of eden. What have you found and how do I go about finding out more about the daily humdrum of NORMAL life there in CR. I take it that you live in the main city. Is that what you would recommend. How easy would it be to hire a livein someone for the final months when I probably won’t be able to care for myself? I would appreciate any info that you could give me.
Will Krebs
wckrebs@juno.com
Seal Beach, California 90740