Attack of the King Cobra!!!!

    My dad calls me "Amy the brave" and secretly I like to think it is true although I am scared of many things such as very long worms, Dr. Kim (my old principal), and large groups of ants.  But more than any other fear I am afraid of snakes.  Before I went to Kenya I did a quick google search and have myself a few nightmares from what I learned.  There are many snakes in Kenya, including the cobra.  The cobra, in particular freaks me out because its hood and its ability to raise its body. 
     One of the first conversations I had when I got to Kenya was how to aviod snakes.  My program director loving laughed at my snake fears and confidently told me that she would be very suprised if I would even see one (even though her mother-in-law died from a snake bite.)  Feeling a little better, I set out to Tanzania and then to Ratta, Kenya.  I was feeling great at this point, no snakes spotted in Tanzania, Phyllis was right, I was going to have no problems with snakes!  I could not have been more wrong.
     My FIRST encounter with snakes THIS WEEK was walking to the market with David.  As we left our compound and turned the first corner, David almost stepped on a Green Mamba snake.  Still, after closer inspection, (by David, I was sprinting away screaming) the snake was injured or dead (although it had disapeared later so I think it was just sleeping or pretending to sleep.)  My dad later sent a very cheerful text telling me that the mamba was nicknamed the "three step snake" because you took three steps before you died if you got bitten.  Lovely Pa, thanks a lot. Still, I can deal with half dead snakes that David almost steps on.
    Yesterday, I had gone for a run and had finished a small workout.  I was feeling really good about myself as I almost skipped off to my first class.  David and Andrea (our wonderful housemate) both had earlier classes and therefore were already gone.  So, alone, I set off to my first class.  I had just stepped past my gate when I felt, rather than saw, something raising to my right. I looked and there, two feet away, was a fully-grown king cobra raising up hissing and hood unfolded.  Well, there was Amy the brave staring at the snake and the king cobra staring back at Amy the brave.  Alas, Amy the brave could not move.  I think I took one step back in suprise, but as the snake rose higher and higher, I could not will my legs to move.  I realize that I am very lucky, many cobras in the area are spitting snakes and this snake at this point would have spit at me if it could.  As it was, the snake was trapped between me, and a stone wall to its back and therefore felt like it needed to attack in order to live.  Still, as I looked in absolute horror at this black, huge cobra that had risen to a height I though impossible, I could not move.  I was trapped in my worse nightmare!  Questions like WHY ME? ran through my head, the girl who had spent a year at this same location before me had never seen a snake but I had not only seen two in the first week but was about to be attacked by a huge king cobra! 
    I realized the snake, realizing apparently that I was not going to move, was going to strike, it was like watching a huge, black coil tensing.  I lept to the side just as the cobra stuck.  Luckily for me, I had a skirt that fell to my feet and close toed shoes.  The snake hit the side of my skirt and did not bite me.  I sprinted to the side screaming for help and the snake made a hasty escape also.  I am thankful that it did not turn around after it missed me to bite the back of my legs.  I did not make it to class that day.  I ran back inside my house.  Locked the door and all the windows for good measure.  My students tell me today that yes, there are many cobras in our area but usually they do not venture out on the road and stay back in the "bush."  I am left unscathed by the snake encounter but with a lifetime of nightmares.