My roommates and I are so classy that we keep a giant can of Raid on our kitchen counter. You never live alone when you live in a Cambodian home, and I've grown accustomed to sharing my space with creatures I rarely encountered back in the US. One important lesson I've realized: All creatures are NOT created equal. Some are downright obnoxious, but others are mildly irritating, easy to ignore, even endearing. So, being a good teacher, I've created a quiz for you to test your intuition (and astute memory of previous blog posts) about my experiences with these common creatures. Can you guess which bug or vermin belongs to which description below? Take your best guess, then check against the answer key at the bottom. Post your scores - I'm curious!
a. Mosquitoes
b. Rats
c. Spiders
d. Cockroaches
e. Ants
f. Gecko lizards
1. I think squashed ______ smell like freshly cut grass.
2. After turning on the kitchen light at night, I always hesitate before entering, to allow time for ______ to run out of the room.
3. ______ are much smarter than I’d like them to be: they frequently switch up their favorite hiding spots in my room, and make quick getaways once I’m on the alert.
4. In contrast, I find ______ quite stupid: I always know where they'll hide, and often they run TOWARD me in an attempt to get away.
5. The only creatures that I find satisfying to squash with my bare hands are ______.
6. Fried ______ are said to taste somewhat like Cambodia smells.
7. A 7th grade lesson last year was livened up when a dead ______ fell out of our air conditioner.
8. ______ are responsible for the bloodstains I discover on my bedsheets some mornings.
9. Sometimes we keep dead fish laced with poison under our sink to allure ______ to their doom.
10. ______ are at their peak during cool season, resulting in the fact that I have to keep the fan on even if it means shivering in a sweater. (These days, I shiver in a sweater when it’s about 74 F, so don’t feel too bad for me.)
11. Everyone’s rather fond of ______, even though they often defecate on the walls.
12. I often feel bad for ______ after spraying them with Raid: it takes them so long to die, and they look so pathetic flailing around. So I wait until they're seriously irritating me before I spray them.
13. At the Bible camp last year, I had to comfort girls who were rather disconcerted by the giant ______ and ______ in the cabin and bathroom.
14. Most roads have dead ______ flattened into them.
15. ______ are usually much smaller than the species I knew in America, but can descend by the hundreds in a matter of minutes.
16. A zapper racquet kills ______ in a delightful way that my roommate Michaela refers to as “my own personal fireworks show.”
17. Two ______ live permanently on the kitchen counter, and a third in my bathroom.
18. Most of my Logos friends would agree with me: ______ are far and away our #1 archnemesis. (Hint: And that's not only because they've given some of us dengue fever...)
Answers: 1.E 2.B 3.A 4.D 5.A 6.C 7.F 8.A 9.B 10.A 11.F 12.D 13.C,F 14.B 15.E 16.A 17.F 18.A
Two teachers and I took a week to lead 11th and 12th grade students on three different service trips around Phnom Penh. It was last-minute, stressful to plan, and disorganized. But none of that really mattered: overall, it was amazing. Praise God for how He uses us in our weakness! Photos and details available here.
