And now...back to island fun (the real reason we're all here)!

1:27 am: Yes I'm awake and you want to know why?? Because I just awoke from a dead sleep as I thought I felt something brush against arm over my sheet (ironically enough, before retiring for the night, I thought "the bugs have been pretty good in the house with the exception of the ones in my crazy imagination when I dreamt ants were coming out of the showerhead!!"). You can only imagine my surprise, when I reached for my glasses, turned on the light on the bed stand (which I now have thanks to my recent visit home and stealing it from my oldest child) and found a flipping millipede on my bed! He must have touched my arm and when I turned to get the glasses, fell into the bed covers.

 

For those that don't know what a millipede is - I will explain it as I just learned a lot from a sign in the Cinnamon Bay ruins trail!

Gongolos, as they are known by some locals, are these big old millipedes with  glossy black (think patent leather) exterior that look like they should be part of an aliens movie. If that isn't bad enough, they’re also filled with acid! Of course, if you step on a gongolo, the resulting ooze is unlikely to eat through floorboards, but  if it touches your skin, it will sting quite a bit and leave a stain for as long as a month! The West Indies folks will say "you are going to get ink in your eye" when they see one closing in towards a person.

So back to my situation, I have never jumped so fast or so high out of a bed before in my life!! And what to do now??? If I kill it on the bed... well, I don't want that grossness where I sleep! So I nonchalantly (think screaming "f" bombs and shaking in my flip flops) decide to shuffle his gross body to the floor with a magazine that was getting ready to go to the trash.

Okay - alien legs is now on the floor. I kind of made up a rule that insects on the floor would be graciously saved and put outside where they belong,, HOWEVER, he invaded my bed so this could be superseded by the "in my bed at 1:35 am clause". I chose amnesty for him and decided that I would get him outside with card stock (thick enough that it couldn't bend). The SOB fell back on to the bed while I was getting him from the far side of the room towards the fresh air outside that he "deserved." As I knock him out, I mean off to the floor, he wiggles toward my foot and " fight or flight " knee jerk reflexes just took over and the card stock became my weapon. I didn't mean to cut him in half.... Really I didn't ...  

Who knew card stock was so powerful?  After sweeping his bisected self to the other side of the bed, I decided it was just time for him to go for a swim. So I am sorry, little old scary gongolo, I completely understand that while living in St John includes living with all types of insects, I cannot have you or any of your friends think they can invade my personal space- especially as I sleep!! 

Needless to say, I did not sleep much more and I kept my light on while I muddled around with the internet, Facebook, and reading, until I took a quick snooze at 4:45 - which lasted until the rooster outside my opened bedroom window decided to wake me at 5:28! 

But remember, this is paradise - so all is good!!  

For those of you who need a little science in your life, here's a thirty second clip of these guys!