Giant Ants and Salamanders

I just spent the past two minutes screaming.  Why?  Because there was a giant ant on my suitcase.  I didn't scream because of the ant.  I had thrown my carry-on off my suitcase; the ant was then on the ground so I tried to squish it.  It became immobilized for a few seconds, and then it tried hobbling about on its injured limb.  I tried to pick it up with a piece of paper but it rushed at my finger.  That's when the screaming began.  I'm not really afraid of ants.  I'm just afraid of giant ants.  It was so big!  Unnaturally big!  Or at least, unnaturally big for ones that live in our house.  It was like the queen ant or something.  Ridiculous.  Anyways, this creature of God would not die.  And after lots of stomping (it was carpet), it finally just sat there clinging with its giant pinchers to the carpet fibers.  I said aloud "that's it" to no one and got a pair of large scissors.  Right before I did the dirty deed I even thought "I am killing an innocent, harmless creature" but it didn't matter.  That poor giant ant got chopped in half by the cold-hearted Jasmin.  Do you know what I did after I cut it?  I screamed some more.  It really freaked me out.  The funniest part is that I'm still in the U.S. of A.

So of course this got me thinking: I'm about to head to Ethiopia.  It's in Africa.  I have NO CLUE what kinds of bugs and animals I will run into while I'm there.  This summer I followed a blog from a Canadian girl who was teaching in Kenya for the summer (I call her Kenya Girl).  Kenya Girl sometimes wrote of these giant spiders that would be in her hut and how difficult they were to kill.  The handle of her broomstick became her weapon of choice.  I hate bugs.  I would rather deal with mice than bugs.  This is probably because mice usually look cute.  Granted, I will be living in an apartment in the capital and not a hut in the middle of nowhere, but there will still be creepy crawlies.  Kyle said there are salamanders everywhere.  I'm not a fan of reptiles and amphibians.  Not really birds either.  Or fish.  Wow, I think I just realized I'm not really a fan of animals.  Apparently my little sister, Amber, has enough love for animals that the rest of our family can do without.

Ethiopia, can we please agree that it's ok for me to be afraid of your bugs and animals?  I don't like the ones I've grown up around for 22 years, so why would I like the new ones?  Who knows, maybe they will be pretty and I will oo and ah at them.  Otherwise, I'm going to have to remember which suitcase I have stored my heels in.  Of all the shoes, my heels have the flattest firm surface.  Tennis shoes have grooves, flip-flops are too flimzy, my flats have grooves, and my TOMs are too soft.  Heels will be my weapon of choice.  Ugh.