Tarantulas crawled over my mosquito net, bats flew around the ceiling…those were my sleeping arrangements two summers ago when I took a service trip to Costa Rica with eleven high school students I had never met. The most memorable part of the trip was the two days spent in Límon. I experienced new things such as building a labyrinth and learning about the lifestyle of women in Límon through a craft presentation. It was not until night time that the chaos, which stained my memory, began.

There were four boys, seven girls, and two counselors all in one cabin with a mosquito net around each bed. Approaching the cabin, I heard a loud scream followed by three girls running in terror. There was a six inch beetle resting on one of their beds. After much commotion, the counselors were able to restore order when a new, potentially worse, problem arose. Crawling through the cabin was a giant, furry tarantula. I watched anxiously as our counselor grabbed a water bottle and smashed it down on our uninvited guest.

Everyone began to relax, and it seemed like we would survive the night; however, our peace was short-lived due to the sound of flapping wings across the cabin. I slept with one eye open hoping the hole ridden net would protect me from the flying unknown. The next morning, our counselors revealed the truth, “You just had a sleepover with a family of bats!”

Never in my life did I imagine myself, someone who would rather pass time shopping in New York than roughing it with Mother Nature’s critters, spending the night in a cabin with such a variety of wildlife. It was truly a bizarre incident that terrified me at first; however, I now cherish that night because I stepped outside of my comfort zone while cementing new friendships in a way that I had never done before. This made the entire experience not only rewarding, but also made me aware of a new part of me that I did not know was there.