Back in NYC, time for an update

From a while ago:

Bits of White Tiger by Aravind Adiga that I loved:

(about family members) "At night they slept together, their legs falling one over the other, like one creature, a millipede."

"My father's spine was a knotted rope, that kind that women use in villages to pull water from wells...The story of a poor man's life is written on his body, in a sharp pen."

From June 8, 2011

In the a.m.: "This morning I woke to the sound of howler monkeys calling and birds hopping on my corrugated roof."

and then in the evening:
"What a funny day. Tonight I worked until 7 p.m. Walking home the fog was dense and still. My flashlight at full power could only show me the rocks right in front of my feet. The light extended from my hand in a solid cone. There were single, split second flashes of lighting, so fast I wasn't sure they had even happened.

And then to add to the already beautiful, spooky-but-not-scary atmosphere: as I approached the gate to my house to lean over and unlatch it from the other side I froze and then jumped back. There was a thin brown snake on the waist-high gate, about 2 1/2 feet long. Half of its body was wrapped through and resting on top of the gate, the other half poised, waiting in the air above the gate. If I had actually reached over the gate to unlatch it I could have given the snake a little kiss on the top of its i-think-its-not-triangle-shaped head.

I am not afraid of snakes. I think they are beautiful and interesting. Startled by them yes, scared no. Until I moved to Costa Rica and learned that there are 27 speices of venomous snakes in this small country. Did you know that Costa Rica is one of the world's top (or maybe the actual top) exporters of snake venom antidote? They have enough deadly snake venom to make lots of snake anti-venom and ship it all over the world.

Yes, I got myself educated on venomous snakes. I went to the serpentario three times and learned the difference between a triangle head and a round head, cat pupil and round pupil. I know about that nostril looking pit that venomous snakes have in their faces and it was all very interesting.But it only gets you so far when it's dark and foggy and there is a snake in your face. There was nothing about this snake that told me it was venomous but I still didn't want to kiss it.

I found the longest stick I could (a good 8 inches - great job, Ginna) and gently poked the snake with it, hoping that this would be enough to convince it to move elsewhere. No such luck. After a few more pokes at its thin, long body I remembered that young snakes can be more deadly that adult snakes because they will dump all of their venom into you at once, having not yet learned how to control their bite. This was a long but young looking snake that was begining to zigzag the top half of its body, lower half anchored firmly to the gate. David Attenborough has taught me that this is ideal striking stance. No way I could move faster than this little guy.

Finally, the thin brown snake slowly moved into the bush next to my front gate. I gingerly opened the gate and let myself in, scrutinizing every stick I could see. I turned to look at the brown snake in the green bush but could not find it. Sneaky little bugger.