Some Notes on Spiders

Rwanda's got em.  And they are not kidding.  Here is a little guy I nicknamed Tom Selleck that has been hanging out in our living room.  I realize that the glue only helps so much to give perspective of size, but I honestly did not want to get any closer to him.

Here is a similarly sized fellow that had been residing in on of my housemates' bedrooms.  They tried to put him outside, but they relieved him of a few of his legs in the process.  He's still hanging around, literally, but his best web spinning days may be behind him.

On Friday morning I woke up and freaked out a little cos there was a spider in my bed.  I flicked him out.  Then moments later, I noticed he came back, so I marveled at his speed and persistence. Then I noticed the spider I had flicked out, was still in the middle of the floor.  This was an additional spider.  This motivated me.  I got out of the bed to shake the sheets and 4 more spiders tumbled out, for a total of 6.  Spider bed!  I'm not sure if anything can be done to reduce this.  I kinda doubt it.  They don't seem to bite, so I guess I'll just have to get accustomed to these things.

Here are some great pics I took in the dining hall, waiting for dinner with some of the girls from my family.  Here are Yvonne and Grace who are like two peas in a pod, always together:

 And here are me and Honorine, and I love that she is laughing in this pic:

 Here is everyone on the first day of school, January 7.  Some of us are happier than others:

Oh here is a random turkey that was trotting around the last time I was in Rubona.  I'm not sure why, but I think of turkeys as wholly American so I was surprised to see him:

Running: I've been running to a nearby radio antenna from the village.  Nike + tells me it is 13K round trip, so about 8 miles. From 2.7K-4.5K on this route, it is just straight up really steeply and I am miserable.  There are always a few little kids who come up and run with me, making the whole process more difficult.  After that though the run is pleasant, and as you would imagine the downhill on the way back quite easy.  I'm going to try and make time for this every day, which will probably work out to 2 or 3 times a week.  It's grueling at points, but there are some lovely views on the path.  This me is at the 11K mark:

Remind me to tell you next time about: "Monsters, the creation of" w/r/t a certain contest I proposed and am certain to lose.

Seems like I picked a doozy of a year to not watch any of the NFL playoffs as both Broncos/Ravens and Falcons/Seahawks games have seemed insane!  At this point I am pulling for an all Harbaugh Superbowl.