Brianna: That STINGS!

Editor's note: We challenged all of our finalists to "Write a fun blog post you think will make 18-25 year olds smile."

I’m sure you’ve all heard the old joke “If you were ever stung by a jellyfish, I love you so much, I’d pee on you to save your life!”

Well, this nearly happened to me. 

I’ve vacationed to Canada’s East coast a few times with family, and they have HUGE purple jellyfish that line some of the beaches. Low and behold – I had never ever been stung… Until this past February.

I saved up enough money to go on a vacation to Cuba with some classmates for our spring break this year! It was all so exciting! One hot and sunny day, my friend and I decided to take a quick dip in the Ocean. We were swimming back to shore when I suddenly felt a quick jolt of electrifying pain on my left arm. I told my friend how much it hurt and she said “Oh you probably hit some sharp seaweed or something” – Is there even such a thing?! I got out of the water and continued to complain, it really hurt! I showed my arm to my friends – it was red!  One of my friends replied “Bri you’re just sun burnt”. However, I am pretty sure that sunburns don’t spread at a rapid rate. I insisted that a jellyfish had stung me, and no one believed me. Then my arm started to puff up, and of course this is when the offers of love began to happen. “Bri let me pee on your arm! “ “No let me! I’ll pee on you Bri”, I rolled my eyes and looked for the lifeguard.

The lifeguard spoke very broken English, as I inquired about my puffy, sore arm. He was trying so hard to explain to me I was fine. He said, “They aren’t poisonous – go and get some peanut butter to put on it”.  “Peanut butter?” I thought… Then after a few more tries I understood he was saying “Vinegar”. Thank goodness I didn’t soap myself up with PB!

So I put some ice on my arm, and sent my friend on a mission to get me vinegar. About 3 minutes later he returned…. Not with vinegar, oh no… But a bottle of white wine. He said the restaurants didn’t have vinegar, but that they said wine was a great substitute. He explained that the chef said to him “Chugga chugga on the arm, chugga chugga in the mouth; your friend feel much better.”

So there sat my group of friends, taking turns pouring the free wine on my arm… and in their mouths!

It turns out being stung by a jelly there, is like being stung by a bee here. Painful for about an hour… Except over there, Karma rewards you with a complimentary bottle of wine.

And that, Young and Free; is my two cents.

Bri

(Stay tuned for future blogs about saving for a trip – so you too can be stung by a jelly, or avoid that and go straight to the fun with friends!)