The Jungle

For those who don't know, the UMAR campus of Huatulco is built right on a national wildlife park reserve. It is incredibly beautiful and I'm sure that is partly why all the students and staff arrive to work in a good mood. It's such an excellent work situation. It's Paradise.

So we get a lot of wildlife, mostly lizards: small salamander like critters and big iguanas. After a while, you don't necessarily notice and walk right by a two foot iguana chilling out on a tree branch right beside your head. I saw two beautiful pheasants around sundown last week. I don't keep my camera handy nearly enough.

Crystel asked, "Do you think that's a spider?" early Monday morning before the lights were on in the hallway. It certainly was. It was a substantial tarantula, dead. Maybe the cleaning fluid on the floor did it in. Thor picked it up with a piece of plastic. "Dead or not, the hairs are very irritating to human skin." That's nice to know. You should be aware of one crawling on you long before it has a chance to bite.



Friday, someone came into my office. "Do you want to see two iguanas having sex?" Well, they're animals so I didn't jump up out of my desk, figuring it would all be over in seconds anyway. They were still at it. Two of them had crawled under the flowered bushes right outside our office building for a little privacy. That idea went all to hell as half the English department showed up for the performance. It must have really put the pressure on. As much as possible, it was surprisingly beautiful. They're big lizards so right away they have that going against them but it wasn't over in seconds. In fact, they seemed rather loving and tender, savoring the moment. Maybe I read too much from their faces but see for yourself. They look kind of sweet.