Eight-legged Freaks

Well, Drew had said that I would fill everyone in a little more on what exactly we saw in Freetown Christiana in Copenhagen and, as promised, here goes. For any of you who have been to the Haight Ashbury neighborhood in San Francisco you will have a bit of an idea of what the Freetown Christiana is like. Christiana was an old military base of sorts that was abandoned. After its abandonment by the military the homeless and different squatters of sorts started to move into the area. They settled it and eventually earned a semi-legal status of their own sort of community. The buildings are covered in graffitied murals that are extremely political in nature. When you first walk into the area it is really like walking into a different world. There were vendors at different stands and other folks just standing around in common areas. There were fires burning in barrels and signs everywhere that warned against taking photos. These signs are an echo back to the free cannabis trade that used to occur in the Freetown. Though cannabis was never legal in Copenhagen, many did not mind keeping the cannabis trade contained in the Freetown area. The Freetown area had its own community standards against any drugs harder than cannabis and, throughout the entire city of Copenhagen, there was very little in the way of hard drugs. Since the open trade has been shut down (in 2004) there has been an explosion of hard drugs on the streets of Copenhagen. One of the most interesting things that we saw in the Freetown was a sign as you leave that informs you that “You are now entering the EU”…and it does, indeed, feel as though you are stepping outside of the EU when you are in the Freetown.

Alright, so I have some very exciting news for everyone. As many of you already know I have ‘suffered’ many years from an absolutely debilitating fear of spiders. It is an absolutely ridiculous fear but, nonetheless, has left me in tears or paralyzed with fear more times than I actually care to admit. Anyway, I was looking at a brochure for a local tourist attraction; Butterfly & Insect World and noticed that they had something called Spider Phobia workshops. I gave the place a call and made an appointment so this past Thursday I headed out there in hopes of coming to grips with my ridiculous fear. Kevin, the man who was helping me, met up with me about a half hour before the handling sessions at Butterfly World. He showed me around the different exhibits that they had and was very gentle when bringing me to look at the cases with different spiders in them. It was nice to have someone helping me who was so understanding and considerate of my fear. After the handling session (where Drew and I held a millipede and a python!) Kevin pulled me aside for a little one on one time with Abbey Sue. Abbey Sue is a rose tarantula. Kevin worked me up to holding her, very slowly. First he started by allowing just one of her legs to touch me while he coaxed her from one of his hands to another, then he let her leg rest on my hand, then we had two legs touch, then we had her first legs touch, then she walked across my hand on the way to his and, finally, I held her. I was even okay when she moved a little while I was holding her. I discovered that I really was okay with holding a tarantula because they are such a slow moving spider. I also discovered that they are an incredibly primitive spider and can be killed just by dropping them a few feet. So, after I got comfortable with Abbey Sue we moved on to the real challenge: a common house spider. Really, I must clarify that this “common” house spider was HUGE (probably close to 1-1 ½ inches in diameter…very leggy). I have rarely seen something like it in my home but I’m glad it was so big because it really was frightening. We put the spider in a Rubbermaid container and Kevin manipulated his movement. It was incredibly nerve-wracking for me and Kevin was very patient in reminding me to keep breathing and stay calm. After a while of Kevin manipulating the spider’s movement he put me in charge of it. With a long stick I was required to push the spider around and get used to it’s quick, jerky movements. This was honestly one of the scariest things I have ever done but, after a while, I realized that the spider (almost completely blind) had no idea I was coming until I actually touched it. I had to work to get the spider on a flat part of the bin as it was full of ridges and, once there, place a plastic cup over the spider. Once the plastic cup was placed there I would slide a piece of laminated cardstock underneath and lift the spider, still in the cup, out of the box. This is a method that I can now use to remove spiders from my home. I practiced this technique about five times until it was closing time at Butterfly World and Kevin had to kick me out. This session was so incredibly fulfilling for me I can’t even explain but it felt good to finally realize that I am able to control my fear of spiders. I still hope that I never have a house spider like the one I practiced with crawling on me but, if I did, I know I would survive! Plus, Kevin equipped me with my very own plastic cup and slider so I can continue to catch spiders all on my own!

The rest of our weekend was very nice. We had a house trip with students on Friday to the Scottish borders region. We went first to the Bowhill house which is where the Duke of Buccleuch (the Duke who owns the house we stay in) currently lives. It is just one of his many properties (he is the largest private landowner in Europe with more wealth than the Queen) and it was magnificent. It is crazy to walk through a “family home” and see the same paintings hanging on the walls that you see in textbooks. We also saw a model for the renovation that was intended for the house we currently live in. Had the renovation actually happened our house would be at least four times its current size and I’m guessing we wouldn’t be living here! After the Bowhill house we went to Melrose Abbey where the heart of Robert the Bruce was buried after it was brought back from the crusades. We ended the day with a stop off at Scott’s view, a magnificent viewpoint over the Border’s landscape and one of Sir Walter Scott’s favorite places (thus the name).

On Sunday we led a group of students up Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh. Arthurs Seat is an extinct volcanic ridge with great views of the city. It is a good challenge to get up the ridge but very rewarding once you make it to the top. Drew, as always, chose the hardest way up and the hardest way down and ended up coming down about half of it on his butt.

We had a nice St. Patrick’s Day. After a hearty meal of Irish stew, Irish soda bread, Irish gingersnaps and green punch back at the house we headed into Edinburgh to celebrate at one of our favorite Irish pubs here. Many of the students were a little more hardcore and actually flew to Dublin for the day to celebrate…I don’t ever remember being that crazy when I was a student here but I guess times are changing!

It seems as though spring has finally arrived in Scotland and it is glorious! We head off on spring break tomorrow. I’m not sure we’ll be able to update along the way so I’m sure our next blog will be incredibly long!!