The Birds: Mexico-Style

It was a typical day in the mountains of Chiapas, or so we thought. The second group of travelers from the US had just arrived in Tenango for a 2-week medical ministry there after a long day of driving in heavy rain. The rainy season had just begun, but the skies had cleared, and it was shaping up to be a beautiful afternoon. And then everything changed.

Many folks recall the Alfred Hitchcock movie, "The Birds." In the film, there are several episodes of violent attacks by swarms of birds. Well, on that fateful day in Mexico, we happened to witness our first termite hatch. I've read up on this a bit and learned that literally hundreds of thousands of termites were released in a swarm - all leaving their nest to start a new termite colony. I can certainly vouch for the sensation of being swarmed by hundreds of thousands of termites, but I can happily report that they didn't bite, sting or otherwise harm us in any way. And the whole experience was over in less than 1 hour. That said, it was quite a sight!

Termites flew anywhere and everywhere - down blouses, up pants legs, into mouths, noses, ears and eyes. When they touch something often one or more wings fell off, so there were thousands of wings left in their wake. The wings ended up falling into even the tiniest of crevices, our suitcases, hammocks, you name it. Perhaps the funniest experience was watching Lindsey Abrams try to enter data into a laptop computer that had several termites flying around the screen and keyboard. How could she type?! How could she see what she was typing?!

And then, just like that, it was over. We had heard from Jan Feliciano that termite hatches often occur over 3 day periods, so we braced ourselves for 2 additional blasts. I'm happy to report that the Monday episode was the only one. Perhaps the other two had occurred before we arrived.

After one gets over the slight trauma of the experience, it is possible to reflect on it. It was an amazing illustration of the perfection of God's creation - even if we don't exactly cherish termites in the broad spectrum of creation. These relatively tiny creatures developed right on schedule, took flight as if synchronized by God himself, and then set out to create new colonies, insuring the continuation of their species. And while the swarming was disruptive to us for a few minutes, it was relatively brief in light of the potential for new life for this particular species.

So, should you find yourself in Mexico during the last week in May or the first week in June, be prepared to witness this amazing display of God's creation at work. If the trauma seems too much, go crawl in your sleeping bag in your hammock with a good book and headlamp. Be sure to pull the hammock completely and tightly over your head for about an hour. When you emerge, the hatch will likely have passed and all that will remain will be the discarded wings.

But...if you can stand it...it's quite a show!!!