The Pest Control Shop

Hi!! Since my last post I have had many bizarre, terrible and wonderful experiences. But today I thought I'd tell you about Glenside (which is a little town/suburb outside Philly).

Philly has a train station. Quite normal? Yes, probably. Here is a photo of it:

BUT, this is where the normality STOPS. The first shop you come to on the highstreet, to welcome you to Glenside, is a Pest Control Shop. The window display is UNBELIEVABLE. It looks like it hasn't been changed in 100 years and shows all sorts of creatures caught locally by the pest control man (who is probably over 100 now as they are looking for a replacement, judging by the window advert). The window also displays things devoured by insects, like an early 20th century leather suitcase eaten by termites, old books also devoured by termites and many other wonders.

There are two particular creatures that caught my eye and made me quite nervous. See if you can spot which ones I mean (I won't make it hard for you). And please think "dinner plate size" to get an idea of their expanse.

OK - let's have a look at them a little more closely...

 

AAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

I have definitely been on the outlook for slow moving, large orange things. And as a result, i have noticed strange spider webs in the local foiliage, with a disconcertingly large tunnel entrance (sorry no photo availble - I was unwilling to risk my life hanging around outside a potential tarantula's nest taking photos!).

There are, thankfully, other shops on the street. They are all somewhat grimy and old - strange thrift shops and jumbly shops selling stationary covered in dust. There is also a Dunkin' Donuts. And, thankfully, one lovely cafe... phew! The library is old and strange (in a 60s kind of way) and the librarians are overly smiley, which also frightens me. And they charged me $15 to send an international fax today (with a smile). The elderly lady in the Bank of America branch I have joined is nice, but doesnt know much about banking - to the extent that I am wondering if I am on a Truman Show equivalent and she is actually a poorly-cast actress! In fact, if I ever take an unusual detour e.g. to the pharmacy on the highstreet (which is also incredibly decrepid and has "hazard" tape up across the entrance, with people still going in and out) I have a fruitless conversation where the person looks at me blankly and sells me something I didn't want.  Can you see where the Truman Show idea comes from??

Seriously, people seem to really genuinely not know what I'm saying quite often, which I think is a vocabulary thing rather than my accent or because I am generally frightening (which I won't deny).

To give you a run-through of all my activities so far - I have started my lectures (hooray!) - which I will tell you about another time, I have been into Philly itself, I have been to a discussion group with other Christians in mental health which I will do every month, I have joined a book group, I have tried American tea (and wept bitterly at the taste!!), I have since started to cope with American tea and now drink it out of desperation, I have done two grocery shops (which is a story in itself), I've made some friends - I think - you never know though, do you! ;o) I have been shocked at the amount of sugar in everything (even bread, cereal and hummus!) and I made scones to win over my housemates, which worked. There is more. I obviously still continue the normal things like showering, going to the loo, brushing my teeth, etc. but I don't think there are any issues of a cross-cultural interest that need shared. So for the sake of time, I will leave it there, with a few pictures of Philly itself to give you a parting flavour of it.

I will post again in a week :o)

 Thanks for coming! Have a great day!!