This past Monday, I was sitting outside with my friend under a tree, waiting for class to start. A leaf fell in my hair, so I pulled it out. Except, it was not a leaf! I suddenly realized I was holding a BEE! I automatically opened my palm and flinched, hoping the bee would fly away, but instead, it stung me and fell to the ground. Holy mother of GOD, I could not believe how much it HURT! I saw a goopy thing on my hand where it stung me, so I quickly grabbed it with my thumb and forefinger, and tossed it to the ground. I should note that I was unleashing a string of obscenities from the moment I laid eyes on the bee. I just couldn't believe it was happening! Or how much it hurt! And did I mention the PAIN?!

I made a beeline (haha!) to the nurse's office, and my friend accompanied me, awesome girl that she is. I was freaking out, but fighting it, too, taking deep breaths to keep my heart rate normal. I didn't want the poison to accelerate through my bloodstream. I had my allergy medicine, but since I'm not allergic (or really, didn't know if I was, this was only the second time I'd ever been stung), I wasn't actually sure if I should take it or not. The nurse assured me I should, so I did. And since I hadn't taken the medication in about a year (what can I say, my allergies have been all right for a while...), it didn't take long for me to feel pretty sleepy! I iced my hand in the nurse's office, and she said she didn't feel a stinger inside my hand, so all was well.

I was surprised that she didn't feel a stinger. I didn't think that I'd removed it. I still felt confused until I found a very interesting video online that shows in slow motion exactly what happens when a bee stings a person. In a nutshell, their abdomen gets ripped out (yikes). And that goopy abdomen part left on the skin in the video? Definitely what was on my hand. I found it all pretty fascinating personally.

While waiting in the nurse's office (I'd been told to sit with the ice and just relax for twenty minutes), my friend and I discussed various things, including bees. "So," she asked, "bees die when they sting, right?"

"Yeah," I said.

"Then... How is that a defense mechanism??"

It made me laugh and I had no idea how to answer her, until I started searching online yesterday. The same site with the video says: "If a Honey Bee stings a wasp, because the wasp has soft tissue, the bee can pull her stinger out and sting again. However, if she stings an animal with tougher tissue, such as a frog or a human, the barb gets caught and the stinger tears out of the abdomen, along with the poison gland. This will kill the Honey Bee."

I guess it's an okay defense mechanism after all! Just not against people. Or frogs.

I ended up missing class that day. In fact, we headed back to the classroom just as everyone was leaving. I tracked down a girl I'd spoken to before, and she said she'd photocopy her notes for me. Then I spoke to my professor, who gave me a copy of her slides for the day (she does power point presentations). So, I was covered notes-wise.

I watched the rain as I stood under a canopy outside, and called Joe, who came to pick me up from school. I could already feel the effects of the medicine and sure enough, I konked out on the ride home. I slept for several hours after we got home, woke up to eat dinner, then slept the entire night through and STILL felt groggy the next day. Crazy!

My hand got pretty swollen and nearly a week later, it is still swollen! Apparently, this kind of swelling is called a "local allergic reaction." It's still itchy, too. Hopefully it should only take a few more days for the swelling and itchiness to finally go away.

Man. Beestings are no fun. I kept thinking that word was beest-ing when I saw it online, too. Like, what the hell is beesting? That sounds dirty! Then I finally realized what it was. Quiet, you, I'm not crazy! (Or illiterate.)

So anyway, yesterday I was standing around with two of my friends, and something fell in my hair. I totally jumped! "Something's in my hair!" I announced dramatically. "Is it a bee or a leaf?!?!" My friend looked and said, "Just a leaf. A small one." I shook my head and the leaf fell right out. And then we all busted up laughing!

I'm sure it'll take me a while to get over the whole experience. For now, I'm just hoping to steer clear of bees altogether. With the onset of cold and rainy weather, that shouldn't pose too much of a problem. Of course, that's what I thought on Monday, when I sat outside in the first place...