And it finally happened...

Well, it finally happened. I've done my best to prevent it, but I guess you can only do so much.

Yesterday afternoon, after having a bawl-out session with the Peace Corps psychologist, I went to MetroCentro, the big mall in San Salvador, with another volunteer. We were planning to see a movie. I had left-over pizza from lunch that I was carrying in a bag that I was also using to carry all my crap (umbrella, papers from the office, water bottle, etc.). We knew that there was no way that the movie theatre was going to let me take food and a drink into the theatre, so we decided to put it in Jermain's backpack. We walked over to a table nearby, set his backpack on it, and I started to open it.

I felt a little tingle on my finger, like I was hitting something prickly inside his bag, so I moved my hand away to see what it was, and I saw a scorpion wrapped around my pinkie finger. That's right, folks. A SCORPION. Ugh. I yelled and threw my hand down, causing the scorpion to fly off. But it was too late. It had already stung me. I was jumping around flailing my hand around, trying to shake off the pain. FYI, that doesn't work. (But I think you THINK it helps when you're doing it.) People around me were staring at me with the look of, "What's the crazy gringa doing?"

Anyway, I went into the bathroom at the theatre to wash it with soap and water, as our nurse told us time and time again to do during training. By this point (about 2 minutes after it happened), my finger was super red, swollen, and REALLY hot. And I was losing feeling in it. Due to my continued attempts at shaking away the pain, women in the restroom just stared at me. I explained that a scorpion had just stung me, and suddenly, I had an entourage of women surrounding me trying to help. Even theatre personnel ran to get medical kits for me. During this time, I whipped out my phone to dial the nurse (another thing we are told to do immediately) and was told I needed to go to the office ASAP. So much for the movie break.

Off I went, in a cab. Of course, I end up in the slowest cab in the city with a driver that wasn't too with it. It would have been faster to take a bus! Anyway, FINALLY, we made it to the office, with my finger burning like crazy, unable for me to move it, and went in.

Apparently, scorpion stings can cause analectic shock, so it's important to take 2 Benedryl, which the nurse gave me. She also re-washed it (apparently there was no faith in my ability to do so), and gave me ice. Oh, man. That ice was the BEST feeling EVER!!!

So, after coming to the office twice that day for fun medical stuff, I left a second time, returning to the hostel where I was staying. On the bus ride back, the Benedryl started to kick in, and I was READY to just lay down and SLEEP. About halfway into the ride back, it started to sprinkle and I realized the umbrella that I had been carrying around all day was with Jermain, along with the rest of my stuff. So, I sent him a text message telling him that he could use it if he needed it. He responded, "What about you?" I said, "A little rain isn't going to kill me...I was a swimmer."

Of course this little conversation that we had through messaging each other continued close to my stop. As we moved closer to where I was going to get off, I moved to the back of the bus so I would be ready to get off. However, as I tried to read one of the last messages, I inadvertently got off one stop too soon. So, instead of walking about 2 blocks to the hostel, I needed to walk about 8. And just as I got off, it started POURING. Great.
I walked into a pharmacy close by and asked if I could have a small plastic bag to protect my paper identity and just sucked it up and walked it. Of course, I walked into the hostel DRENCHED. I went to the bathroom, walked to my room, and COLLAPSED. I slept until 1:00 AM, when I took my second installment of Benedryl, got ready for bed, and then slept until morning.

I've had enough time in the capital. I'm going back to my site now. :)

Oh, and if you're wondering what a scorpion sting feels like, the best way I can describe it is by comparing it to stubbing your toe. You know how that feels at first? Well, that's how a sting feels, but the immediate pain doesn't go away for about 3-4 hours. And then, you have about 12 hours of what it feels like right after the immediate pain (of stubbing your toe) leaves you. Even now, 18 hours later, I can still feel numbness in my finger!

You think this story is good? Read what happened to Laura Boddington last fall by clicking here.