Eight-legged escape

Today our tarantula escaped her cage - I'm sure she just wanted to strut her stuff in an early celebration of Halloween. Nevertheless, it was an extremely alarming event, because I was previously under the impression that the tarantula was 100% incapable of leaving its cage - this was the sole reason the two of us have been able to live in peace together these past 14 months. Today was a game-changer. Luckily, the enterprising young son of our housekeeper was on the scene to sound the alarm before the oversized spider could make it past the patio. However, the situation begged the obvious question, "what if Matthew hadn't spotted the escaper?" Or, getting more to the point, "what if the tarantula had gotten into my room?"

I informed my host parents in no uncertain terms that it was horrifying and frightening that the spider had the ability to leave its cage - they laughed at me. My host mom explained that it had only gotten out because - she thinks - she accidentally left the lid a tiny bit open after feeding the tarantula. The "she thinks" in that sentence will be the subject of my nightmares for the next week - what if it really just opened the lid on its own?? But at least Lourdes was trying to ease my fears. The same cannot be said for Javi, who came by my room later on to tell me that he's going to make a leash and start taking the tarantula out on walks around the house. Admittedly the thought of man walking spider was amusing to contemplate, but it was also an utterly terrible idea for the exponential increase in escape opportunities said strolls would provide. So, blog readers, if you don't hear from me after this, it's because I've been eaten by a giant spider - don't say I didn't warn you.