Street Cred

I can't speak for all Peace Corps volunteers in the world, but from my own personal experience and from talking with other volunteers, I think one of the reasons people join Peace Corps is to be bad ass. Sure, this might not be the primary objective for most volunteers (I hope not also), but I think it is a factor for joining the Corps. I know that one of my many reasons for applying was that I could rough it for two years and come back and have some bragging rights.

Once you are in country you start racking up bad-ass points. (This is all from my own perspective of course.) One might gain points for having no water or no electricity or might lose points for living an hour from the capital. In my tally, I gain points living in a place with no direct transportation (i.e. I always have to walk to go anywhere), but I lose points for having internet access in my home. I gain points for having gotten dengue fever, but I lose points for my somewhat ritzy living situation. I gain points for having a Salvadoran boyfriend, but I lose points for living in the cheapest department. I don't actually count points or compare to other volunteers' values, it just theoretical.

I mention this because yesterday I just gained some bad-ass points. I was going down to the cornfield (that along might gain me some points), to help prep the land for planting and to haul some firewood, when I noticed there was something in my pants. I figured it was just toilet paper balled up from being washed or something, so I knocked at it to see if I could slip it out of my pants. As soon as I touched my leg I knew that was a stupid move - it wasn't wadded up paper, but the hard shell of a scorpion. As soon as I felt the sting I took off my pants, not caring if other farmers were in the vicinity, and with my cuma (a machete-like tool) I pushed the scorpion out of my pants and killed it. Not feeling terribly up for work I went down to the field and told my boyfriend that I was going home because I got stung. On my way back home I felt some more mild stinging, but I figured it was just the initial sting bothering me. At home I took off my pants and realized that no it wasn't the initial sting, it was in fact a baby scorpion (I assume born in my pants), that stung me two more times. Lovely.

The pain, swelling, heat, and tingling in my leg was gone around the time I went to bed though it was never that severe. I did rest for a few hours but then I went for a run and did laundry by hand and went about my usual schedule. There is often numbness in the tongue and lips associate with scorpion stings, which was bizarre though not too much of a bother. So it was that thrilling of an experience. The whole thing probably shocked me more than anything. However, it did give me some street cred. I can now say that I've been stung by a scorpion while living in El Salvador. Point: scorpion. Two points: baby scorpion. Bad-ass points: Alicea.

This is not the actual scorpion that stung me...I didn't feel like running home to grab my camera. This is one that I've had visit me at home though.