Perhaps it was a moth, you think (you've never seen one that big before). Or even just a slightly delayed response from the spider in the web that you walked into (that doesn't explain the flying thing you saw right after). Neither of those potential, perhaps more rational, answers are capable of shaking the fear that it *was* a bat, though. Surely you're just overreacting? You always do (at least, that's what everyone else thinks).
You keep silent, seeing no injuries on your hand once you're in your house (no one will take you seriously). But when you take a shower, all you can you think about is the thud of something hitting your hand (what. was. it.).
And the next day, you feel a scratch on the skin on your hand as you cut the zucchini.
What happened that night, exactly? I'm still unsure, and as more time passes, I find the events blending together, making me that much more uncertain. But regardless of what actually happened, the end result was rabies vaccinations, and that's what I'm going to talk about, mostly.
We went to my primary care doctor early Thursday morning. She said something along the lines of “don't worry about it, if it was something to worry about, there would be visible scratch/bite marks” (note: she did not bother to inspect my hand). We left, and most of the rest of the day went as normal, though I couldn't really stop thinking about the situation because of the amount of ambiguity to it.
So, that night, we visited the nearest emergency room to get a second opinion, which ended up being a great decision. The physician assistant who examined me, in contrast with the doctor from earlier, said something like, “it's hard to say for certain whether or not it was a bat, but based on the situation, it seems reasonable to assume it was, and since we don't have the bat to autopsy (note: when they have the bat, they can have its brain tissue examined to confirm if it has rabies first), I'm going to recommend that you get the rabies vaccination series as a precaution.”
I will say, for as many horror stories as I have seen on the internet about getting the rabies vaccines, it wasn't terrible? I was definitely shocked when the nurse came over with four vaccines, since the PA hadn't mentioned that, but other than that, it was fine. One slightly-larger-than-average shot in each limb, with the leg ones being slightly more painful than the arm ones for whatever reason. I will be returning three more times for more shots.
It was definitely a less traumatic way to end up in a situation where one needs rabies vaccinations–no traumatic puncture wounds required! And besides, it wasn't really the hypothetical bat's fault. To my knowledge, a lot of bat “attacks” happen when they mistake humans for other animals and/or are disturbed and accidentally smack into one. Basically, they're not usually out to get people.
There are definitely other things that could be elaborated on, but I'm going to hold off for now while those thoughts brew in my head. As one last note, I will say that I'm glad that at least one medical professional took me seriously (which is one of those “things”).
And yes, in case you were wondering, my friends and family (and the nurses) did make vampire and were-bat jokes. I have already accepted that I will never escape them.
I move out of my dorm in a couple of hours. I should be trying to sleep, but it's so quiet—my roommate is gone—and it just feels so wrong. I've made so many memories in this building/with the people of this building, and while I'm glad to be living in an apartment next year (so excited to have a kitchen!), there's just something about living in a dorm that's a once in a lifetime experience. It's going to be weird to go home for a couple of months, and not be able to easily hang out with friends at any hour of the day (or at all, considering our different locations).
In other news, the end of this semester went better than the end of last semester: while I'm not proud of any of my final projects, it seems I will be getting As in all of my major-related classes. One year down, three more to go.
Like so many other people, I traveled to see the total solar eclipse! Getting there was a bit of an experience—my dad and I made the last minute decision to completely change our plans based on the weather forecast, but it ultimately paid off... there wasn't a single cloud in the sky during the eclipse!
It's so weird to me that the last time I saw a total solar eclipse was when I was 12. So much in my life has changed since then. It's going to be even weirder next time, because it will have been more than a decade. I wonder what weird reflections I'm going to have then.
It's been quite a while since I last talked about roller derby here, by which I mean, the last time I did so was when I joined the team. It's been six or so months, and after clearing the last of the prerequisite skills, I'm finally at the point where I get to attend practices that emphasize derby techniques and strategy more than learning to skate (I'm also technically eligible to skate in bouts!). I recently attended my first practice of that type and absolutely got my ass kicked, both figuratively and literally (I regret looking at the bruise).
It's extremely weird to go from being fairly competent at practices to sucking at them. While definitely frustrating, I am also aware that it's fairly common, and that I'll develop my skills with time (which I have plenty of, considering that I'll be here for a couple more years at least). I'm curious to see if I develop into more of a blocker or a jammer—I kind of thought I was going to be more of a blocker, but I finally tried jamming for once and enjoyed it more than I expected (ignoring my limited endurance), so who knows what will happen. Regardless, I'm enjoying myself a lot and am excited to keep going (even if half my body aches right now).
Sometimes, you just have to be an English major whose brain doesn't want to cooperate, by which I mean, I've barely been able to focus on reading or writing for the past couple of days. It's extremely frustrating, especially because I care about the subject and want to do the best work that I can, but I can t and I'm not entirely sure why. I'm going to try to give my brain a break by listening to some of my readings while working on an art project—maybe that will help?
My pointless, extremely materialistic hobby is magnet collecting—whenever I go to an interesting place, or different city/state/country, I tend to buy one since they're fairly easy to find, being a very souvenir-y thing, and besides, they can be justified as "semi-practical" (by which I mean, they make the fridge look nice). Anyways, several of my friends sometimes bring back magnets from their travels for me (♥), and since I started collecting in early high school, my collection has ballooned to sixty or so magnets. The whole reason I'm bringing this up though is because I strongly suspect the collection is going to expand a ton over the next couple of months: most of my previously mentioned friends are going abroad over the summer, and I will be taking a trip in the near future as well, and these circumstances have inspired me to try to created a magnet map for this site (if I can not dox myself in the process)!
Unrelatedly (except for the fact that the magnets will be on the kitchen fridge), I know for certain that I will be living in an apartment next year and since the food at my college sucks, I won't be purchasing a meal plan. So, I'm in the process of collecting recipes and learning how to cook for myself. Tonight I made vegetarian chili and cheddar drop biscuits, and both came out pretty good! Here's to hoping that I'll find recipes for and make more delicious food soon.
If you'd like to see the blog posts from this site pre-renovation, click here!