“I was starting to settle into jungle life. It became part of my morning routine to clean up the bat shit after waking. I was on friendly speaking terms with the hornets. I couldn’t completely ignore him, but I could cook a meal and wash the dishes with the hand-sized spider splayed against the wall. But I still wasn’t ready for the scorpion.”

“He hasn’t even doused the rocks yet and I’m panicking. It’s not too late to leave. His opening speech is especially long. This isn’t prepared, he’s speaking from the heart, but man the guy is feeling some gratitude. And it’s going on and on. I appreciate it on one level. On another, I genuinely feel like I’m going to die.”