Author: Amy Medina Page 157 of 235

I’m a fan of Charlotte as much as the next person (or Pig) out there, and I know all the good things they do, but unfortunately, spiders this big just don’t belong in people’s bathrooms.  Especially not when they first wake up in the morning. 

It just goes to show how much I love my husband, and how tired I knew he was, that I did not go running and screaming back into the bedroom and wake him up to save me. 

Instead, I emptied half a can of bug spray onto the poor creature.  I practically asphyxiated myself in the process.  I don’t think that much bug spray is supposed to be released in a room that’s 8′ x 4′. 

I really am not that squeamish, and I don’t have a phobia of bugs or spiders.  This picture just doesn’t do justice to how large this creature was, with all of its legs extended.  At least four inches diameter, I would guess.

I don’t know if I will ever, ever be able to use the bathroom at night with the light off after this.

You knew the importance of your food being fat free, but I bet you never knew that your dishes, too, could be fat free. 

And shinny. 

It’s going to be the new weight-loss craze; I just know it.

There’s a dairy company in Tanzania that has a partnership with the Netherlands.  That makes sense.  Dutch=Dairy.  I get that.

But Alaska and eggs? 

What on earth does Alaska have to do with eggs? 

As far as I know, Alaska is not known for their egg production.  Did they have incredible amounts of egg knowledge to share with this poor third world country?  Did the government of Alaska give a grant to Tanzania to assist with their egg production?  Is Alaska shaped like an egg?  Did the owner randomnly point at a map when choosing the name?  Are they hoping all the Alaskans that live in Dar es Salaam will choose their eggs instead of others? 

I will wonder every time I buy these eggs, and I will probably never know.  But at least I will know that these eggs are “as fresh as they should.”  Because we all know, that’s pretty important. 

But I will also think of my friend and Alaska-dweller, Wendy, every time. And so this post is in honor of her.

Oh–and one more thing you should know about Tanzanian eggs.  See the “Yellow Yolks” declaration?  Well, that’s to distinguish between the “white yolks.”  Bet you didn’t know that egg yolks could be white.  But oh yes, they can be.  Yellow yolks is what helps you know that the chickens have been fed more than, say, dirt to eat.  So I am happy to pay extra for yellow yolks.   So even though I am sure our eggs are usually “organic” and “free range,” the label I look for is yellow. 

(Technically this picture might be a lizard and not a gecko.  But anyway.)

It never fails.  And every time, it cracks me up.

Whenever we have teams come, or visitors from the States, they sit in our living room in their groggy, jet lagged state.  And the first time the cameras come out is for the geckos on the wall. 

It’s always the geckos. 

And I think to myself, “There’s a gecko on the wall?  Oh…yeah, I guess there is.”

There are geckos on the walls every single day, probably at every hour of the day.  I just don’t see them anymore.  Well, unless one gets smashed in the door jam.  Or if I open a cabinet and one jumps out at me. 

But I’ve been thinking.  Most of my posts recently have been about adoption, or parenting, or HOPAC, or the kinds of things grandparents want to see.  But I haven’t done much recently about Tanzania.  And I suppose, that’s because after 8 1/2 years, Tanzania hasn’t seemed interesting enough to write about anymore.  Because it’s just normal life.  And isn’t it like everyone else’s? 

You mean, you’ve never had a gecko jump out of your cupboard?  (Trust me, I would take a gecko any day over a two-inch cockroach.)

So.  In an attempt to better observe, appreciate, laugh, and record my life here, I’m going to start a new category called,

“The Interesting and The Amusing in My Daily Life.”

I hope you will be interested and amused.