Tags
Frizztext Story Challenge R, ramada, rancho, Spanish worlds that start with R, Tagged R, vampire bats, what is a ramada
From The Deck
Having grown up along the Mississippi River, I find comfort in streams, lakes and rivers. The alphabet challenge brings us to the letter R, which allows me to showcase my special view of Rio Jama.
One could not ask for a more pristine start to a day!
Riachuelo – Small river or stream
Rama – A rama is a branch, so what is a ramada?
A ramada is an open shelter that provides shade and is made with branches or bamboo. In the tropics, they are often topped with palm leaves. A rancho is a small hut or primitive living quarters, often constructed with natural materials.
Here are a few more Spanish words that start with R:
Rico – Rich
Rodilla – Knee
Ropa – Clothes
Rubio – Blond
Ron – Rum
Carving by Rycard Alcivar
Rabioso – (Rabid) The thought of rabies makes most anyone quiver! Can you imagine what it feels like to awaken and find that a vampire bat had feasted on your blood while you slept? That’s happened to me not once or twice, but five times in the twelve years I’ve lived in Latin America! My friends sometimes hand me a broom on full moon nights and say in good fun, “Fly home, Bruja Blanca!”
A biologist scribbled the scientific name, Desmodus rotundus, for this bat when I showed him the type of bat that had most likely bitten me!
I’ll leave you with a lively song by Shakira – Rabiosa!
(Sorry, the video will end abruptly!)
Visit Frizztext’s site to enjoy his own river stories as well as posts from other bloggers.
Z
Zeebra Designs & Destinations 
Thats it. I’m moving to your neighborhood.
hey
sorry it’s taken so long to reply! your comment gave me a great smile! you like the landscape, the ranchos, bats and all?!!!
I like it all. I’ll dodge the Bats!!!
(•_•)
♥ ❀ ✿ Namaste ❀ ✿ ♥
Vampire bats and Bruja Blanca…..wow, I’m learning so much about you Z! Better blanca then negra. I know because I saw The Wizard of Oz!
ha! who would have ‘thunk’ that vampire bats are attracted to me? i truly cannot figure it out – why me?
some people say that the bats ‘mark’ a certain animal and continue to feed on that one and leave the others untouched.
go figure..
I guess the rest of us owe you a big thank you! After all, if they are sucking your blood, then they are leaving the rest of us alone. Thanks Z! 😉
One could not ask for a more pristine … What a calmly beautiful view from you desk!!
yes, it is very calm here; i wish that everyone had such a serene comfort. thanks! z
I love the rancho! Is that yours? It kinda looks like something you would paint on the shutters.
5 times x vampire bat! Wow, but it must have had no effect. I am sure you are an angel, and with such magical, artistic gifts (and living in paridise).
my friends tease me when there’s a full moon; they hand me a broom! i am lucky to live in paradise, bats, scorpions and all! thank you for your feedback!!! z
my friends tease me when there’s a full moon; they hand me a broom! i am lucky to live in paradise, bats, scorpions and all! thank you for your feedback!!! z
Z, when you scroll fast through the nice pictures, the bat will give you quite the start. Take care, BTG
ha! my computer/connection won’t let me scroll through anything fast! thanks for that feedback! sorry that spooked you!
Five times?! Knew about two, wow, ouch !
Costa Rica : 3, Nicaragua: 1, Ecuador: 1
Do you have to go to a doctor or get shots after a bat bites you? 😦 You are more courageous than I would be! I especially like the photo of your desk with the art.
of five times, only once did a doctor take me seriously! if there is no rabies in the area/country, then the threat of rabies is tiny. i am told that i should probably be immunized, though finding a place to have that done is not easy… so i am with bats the same way i am with scorpions; i try to avoid another encounter!
Yikes and holy guacamole! 5 times? Once would have had me packing. You’re a trooper!
‘holy guacamole!’ i love it! thanks!
I think I will take the Rio over the Rabioso any day. Now I know the meaning of the Ramada Inn chain. Thank you.
i never associated the word ‘ramada’ with open-air thatched roof spaces either, but here in ecuador they truly give cool relief from the sun! z
A natural and appropriate building for the climate!
This is your view from your house! Wow. It is spectacular. I love rivers but am afraid of them in Jamaica. We have had heavy rains and I am afraid of flooding!
yes, the river is quite dangerous during the rainy season. entire trees wash down the river, and i marvel at the power of the river/its current during those times. the other 8 months are beautiful, and the river is quite calm and tranquil.
i hope that the rainy season is kind to you this year. i’ll be watching jamaica via wunderground tropical…
my favorite pic:
the third, mano-rojo-amarillo-river-house-rio-jama
your painting, window, river-view!
Good grief! I can’t imagine wakening to a bat feasting on my blood. You are one tough lady.
How big are the vampire bats? Is it like a mouse sized bite or a cat sized bite? Do you know you’ve been bitten by the fang marks in the morning, or do you feel the puncture when it happens? And do the “shoo” if you wake up and brush them away, or cling until they’ve had enough? How much blood to they take? Finally, as for rabies, is that common in bats there? Forgive me, but I feel this is a unique opportunity to ask these questions…who else will I run across, ever in life, who has been bitten five times by a vampire bat??? Beautiful, thrilling post, Lisa, thank you!
hey cindy!
the bats are ‘smallish.’ with wings folded, they’re probably the size of a hen’s egg. one never feels the bite; the bats are quite stealthy, and their razor-sharp incisors scrape away a tiny piece of flesh. they have an anticoagulant in their saliva, so the blood flows, and the bat laps.. all while i was sleeping! i awaken to find the bite. with my history, i am quite cautious about camping or staying where the windows are kept open at night; i’ll write a post about it!
Thanks so much for the information! I’ll look forward to the bat post!
Ah, now we know the secret to your productivity–vampire bats!
ha! yes, they must give me the power to work through the night and go to sleep with the rising sun!
Reblogged this on Oyia Brown.
I love your views – waking up each day to the views and also sunsets, nothing better. Wonderful!
i returned home just before sunset today(have been with the tour group for 24 hours!) — it was so great to sit on the deck and watch the birds come home to roost! si, it’s very special! thanks!
z
What a peaceful place to start and end your day. 🙂
thanks! i returned home yesterday at sunset, and it was so peaceful, as it is now. you are so correct! z
Hi Lisa, I think you might find “family” an interesting topic on http://www.oilpastelsbymary.com. Enjoy!!
hey thanks! and to think that while you were ‘penning’ this, i was also writing one that included you! how great! thanks, hermana/sister!
How funny Lisa and thanks!! Take care ~
Shoot, girl – in Liberia we just ate the bats! Well, not exactly. The ones that get served up for lunch there are fruit bats, not vampires. They get their name because that’s exactly what they eat – mangos, papaya and such. No blood sucking for them.
There are huge colonies of Mexican freetails here in Texas – especially in Austin and outside San Antonio. In the summer, you can see them coming out of Bracken Cave on radar – there’s a pic of a radar capture about midway down, here.
I think I’d take a bat bite over a scorpion sting. On the other hand, scorpions don’t have rabies. Talk about a rock and the proverbial hard place!
Ok, here’s another question. If rama is branch, is rama the word a former Mississipian would use for bourbon and branch water? 😉
I recognize your Zeebra house on Playa San Miguel? Do you still own it or did you sell? Any Vampire bats there? I don’t sleep we’ll anyway & I’m sure that if I thought one of those creatures would bite me in the middle of the night, I’d never close my eyes. Yikes!
ha ha ha! yes, the bats can make one not sleep well! ditto for the worry about snakes! z
The adventure and excitement never ends. I’m totally hooked. Beautiful post!
thank you! z
The vampire bats broke the mesmerising spell of that pristine river view Lisa. 5 times…Yikes!
yes, they have a way of breaking a great spell! when i see a bat, i say, ‘stay. away. from. me. ‘
What a perfect view, Lisa. I prefer not to think about vampire bats. 😯
same with me! if there’s ever any doubt about a bat, i sleep totallly beneath the covers!!!
If there was any doubt about a bat, I wouldn’t sleep at all. 😀
haha! you made me laugh!
The day before I saw the pictures you have here of the bats, my husband was cleaning the front of our house during the day and a bat flew out from behind a shutter. They are pretty intense creatures for sure!
i always loved bats, and the idea of having them around t eat insects, especially mosquitoes.. but after realizing that they were vampire bats — yikes, i never dreamed that they would prey on me!
yes, they are intense, but i am sure that yours are the nice guys!
Very nice imagery.. Love it 🙂
thank you; it’s a very happy floor!