Spiders and Other Stories

August 15th

     Wednesday. Karen and I woke up to go get ready for work, and Christina had all of her things packed. She was leaving today to go home. It was bittersweet. And since Caleb was taking her to the airport, we couldn't go to the cliffs, because we needed Caleb's car to help transport the rest of us.

Mariam, Karen, and I work lunch, but about halfway through serving, Mariam comes up and asks us if it is ok if she leaves to run a few errands with Desiree. We can cover for her, so we let her go. She told us to ask no questions about why she was going out, so we didn't.

But we were intrigued, and we talked about it all day. After work, we go to the lounge. Karen wants to watch Shrek 2...and even though we had already seen it twice now, I watched it with her while I wrote in my journal. I had gotten behind several days, and so I was catching up.

Dinnertime came. I had been looking forward to this dinner all week. Chicken pot pie, one of my favorites. I ate with Karen, Rachel L, Christa, Lauren (intern), David (intern), and Stephen (intern). We were having pudding for dessert, and I was so excited, because I really love pudding. But Rachel took it, and wouldn't give it back until I had finished my dinner. Thanks, Rachel. But I ate it...and it was good.

After dinner, we went back to the lounge. Mariam still wasn't back, and we were still wondering where she had went. Ulises came back from work, and brought a skateboard with him. He laid it on the ground, and came and sat on the couch.

Priscilla heard him lay the skateboard down, and she stood up, and asked us if we could take her outside so she could ride on the skateboard. We convinced her it was okay to stay in the lounge and ride, so she did. She just rode back and forth, from one side of the room to the other.

A few times, she almost ran into some things, but she caught herself and continued riding. And although there were a few close calls, and although me and Ulises shared more than one worried look, everything ended well. Caleb, Trey, and Philip come into the room.

They start talking about intern life. I told them about the Appalachian Trail, even though they already knew about it. Philip looked at me and said, "That's not how you pronounce Appalachian. You pronounce it app-a-lah-chin, not app-a-lay-shin." And that just set everybody off.

We thought it was hilarious. I had never heard anyone pronounce it that way, but apparently, everyone from where Philip is from says it that way. And neither of us wanted to admit that the other was right, because in the end, we both knew we were right. Mariam finally arrives.

And when we ask her about her day, she says it was good, and everything she needed to get done she had gotten done. And that was it. Caleb mentions that they are going to the Green house for a worship night, and Mariam goes with them. She manages to take Philip along as well.

Trey went with them too. So Rachel comes in and puts on Madea's Family Reunion Broadway Show, and she, Karen, and Andrew watched that. I got onto Desiree's laptop, because it is so much easier getting on a laptop than a phone when you are trying to set something up.

Ulises was on Priscilla's laptop. We had a very peaceful evening. After a few hours, Mariam, Caleb, Trey, Philip, and Desiree come back. They said it was a really powerful night, and Mariam was so overcome with emotions, she couldn't talk about it. So we didn't.

I made the bracelet for Mitchell. Karen needed to use the restroom, and since we are bathroom buddies, I walk with her. On our way, she sees a frog. Karen loves all things small. So when she saw the frog, she pointed her flashlight at it, and petted it.

So we are walking again, and she sees another frog. She stoops down, and is about to pet it when she screams, "That's not a frog!" It was a spider. A very LARGE spider. I pointed my flashlight at it, and expected it to jump or something. It didn't budge. Karen ran back into the lounge and told everyone to come out and see the spider.

She left me alone with the spider. That was one terrifying moment. I see everyone come running out, and we all circle, really close, around the spider. Suddenly, Desiree says, "Those are poisonous, and can jump like 8 feet!" We were out of there.

We all ran away screaming, further than eight feet, and then turned around and watched the spider. We gradually got closer and closer. Karen thought it was funny to come up behind me and push me, trying to make me fall onto the spider. That was not ok. I hate spiders. She tried it about 3 times. Everyone else thought it was funny. It wasn't.

Caleb was about to smash the spider with a shoe, when Mariam shouted out "STOP!! Don't kill it! It might be a good spider!" No spider that big is a "good" spider. So, we are all taking pictures of the spider, and eventually the surprise wears off, and everyone leaves.

I continue with Karen to the bathroom. On our return to the lounge, we find out that someone had killed it. So I go back to my spot on the couch when I remember my cookies. In the caf, sometimes for dessert, they serve prepackaged cookies. I love these cookies, and I love them even more when they are microwaved.

So I save my bag of cookies, but they were all crumbled now...I decided to pour the crumbs into a cup and microwave the cup. I took a spoon out of one of the lockers, and began to eat my cookie crumbs. Mariam just looked at me.

She asked me what I was eating. "Cookie crumbs," I responded. She laughed. I moved to the couch by the t.v. to eat my cookie crumbs in peace. She asked me what I was doing over there, and I told her I was eating cookie crumbs. She just laughed again. After I ate my cookie crumbs, I was still hungry.

And then I remembered about my pizza that I had brought from the caf last night. So I put mine into the microwave. Ulises saw, so he got his pizza, opened up my microwave, and put his in there as well. We are just talking by the microwave, and then Ulises decides he is going to check out the light switches next to the clinic door.

Nothing happens. We both look underneath the door while he is switching them on and off. Still nothing. So Ulises opens up the door, pops his head in, and turns the switch on and off. And then he saw people, and he quickly closed the door. He leaned up against the wall.

Suddenly, a man opens up the door, and since I am far enough away from the door, I guess he assumed it wasn't me, because then he peaks his head in further, and looks to the right. Directly where Ulises was hiding. Ulises smiled. I laughed. So they make polite conversation, and then Ulises leaves me to talk with this guy. Thanks a lot, Ulises.

We talk about famous people for about 5 minutes when Karen and Mariam came to save me. And then he struck up a conversation with them. I went over to Ulises, who had taken my pizza with him so no one else would take it. He gave my plate to me and asked if it was hot enough. Actually, yes. It was hot.

An intern who happened to be in the lounge at the time said that she wanted some pizza, so I gave her one of my pieces. After I ate my pizza, I challenged Desiree to a game of foosball. I failed. Miserably. So, maybe that isn't my game...oh well.

I went and sat on one of the couches by the t.v. Karen started watching Finding Nemo (the man had returned to the clinic when I was playing foosball). So I watched it with her. Mariam came and sat next to me, and began to tell me about her night.

Karen was pretending to feel left out, and quit watching the movie and went to work on a bracelet. Mariam went over and talked to her about her evening as well. Ulises came and sat next to me because he wanted to make another bracelet. So I taught him a new stitch, and we watched Finding Nemo. After the movie was over, we all went to bed.

Nickel

Christa, me, Karen, and Mariam working in the caf. Photo Credit: Priscilla

Karen and I!

Yes, I am secretly taking a picture of you.

The spider.

The spider compared to a quarter