Simple Living Island Style

10 pm, the power goes out (again). The fans go off. It’s currently 93 degrees in our third floor apartment. I wake up at 1am in a pool of sweat, lie a sheet on the tile floor and throw my pillows onto the floor. Then I see it! A spider 2/3 the size of my fist. I scream in my head, grab a shoe and throw it at the horrifying monster. The monster runs under my bed (yes, last night there was a real monster under my bed). I can’t get to the monster so I wonder what to do. Now mind you, I am a self declared princess. I do not like bugs. They are fine from a distance, but when cockroaches crawl over my face or fly at me in the shower, I tend to scream; having a gigantic spider in my room is no small thing. So, I ran into this dilemma, where do I sleep? If I sleep on the bed, the monster could climb up and get me. If I sleep on the floor it could waltz its way to me. I choose the floor. It’s further away, and frankly, cooler (and harder).

Next, I shine the flashlight under my bed. I don’t see the spider but I do see plenty termite dust that has come from the termites living in my bed frame, and try to roll over. Mind you, living in Chuuk for two years might have made me a little crazy, so while I’m trying to forget the monster and fall asleep, I jump and slap my ear, because I think I made the spider mad at it came out to attack me (spiders are vengeful little ogres in my imagination and craze). Luckily, the spider did not eat me. I lived until the morning, but I think I still have a monster under my bed and I’m not sure what to do about it.

That’s just a sample of simple living in Chuuk. Bucket flushing, wind up flashlights, showering outside in skirts when we have no water, and flushing our dish water are other examples. So, as much as I value living in Chuuk, this little princess can’t wait for an air conditioned room and a bed with no bugs come June! Maybe when I get home I’ll stop being crazy…or be more crazy. Crap!