The day started like any other: breakfast, worship, English lessons.
But the plans for the night were different. In honor of my teammate’s birthday, we were going to spend the night in beach front Bungalows. When we arrived, it was paradise… but doesn’t it always seem like that at first?
The ocean was so close, we could taste the salt. We found a cute restaurant overlooking the water, with the friendliest Australians working there. Later, we decided to “let-loose” and go for a moonlit, ocean swim.
Anika and I headed back to our assigned Bungalow after our swim, and that is when the evening took a turn for the worse.
*CUE TWILIGHT ZONE MUSIC*
Earlier that day, we had the pleasure of finding out that our heads were the new home to a family of lice. Like any missionary in a third world country, Anika and I did the sensible thing and doused our heads with Listerine mouth wash before bed.
I snuck over to my snack bag in hopes of grabbing one last blueberry dewberry cookie (it’s a Southeast Asia thing). Much to my surprise, they were gone. DUN DUN DUN.
I turned off the lights, and we began to slip into a peaceful slumber…for 30 seconds. A strange crinkling noise circling the room, alerted us enough to turn the lights on and investigate.
We found nothing.
I turned the lights out again. MORE CRINKLING.
I flipped the lights on and armed myself with the broom in the corner.
Still, nothing.
Three hours later…more ruckus.
I was awoken by a fearful scream, shortly followed by a large something falling onto my face. I screamed and flailed about.
“What was that?!” I asked Anika.
She answered with a concerning statement, “I don’t know, but it was eating my hair”. She then went on to tell me that she felt something tugging at her hair. She refused to believe it was a creature, so naturally she turned over on her side to snuggle closer to me. The beast then ran across her back. She instinctively back handed it, which sent it flying at record speed onto my face.
I turned the lights on in a frenzy.
I looked all around the room, but there was nothing to be found.
Just as I started to become discouraged that my detective skills were failing, the evidence started rolling in.
I remembered the crinkling noises, so I slowly walked over to my snack bag. ALAS! There was a hole in the side. My thoughts started racing, “Could a rodent have chewed open my bag and stolen my dewberries?!”
I then noticed some feces in the corner. They were too small to be Anika’s, so I was able to rule her out quickly. RAT POOP!
The night’s events replayed in my head. The dewberries, the crinkling, the screaming, the flailing!
So the case of the missing dewberries was solved.
Anika and I woke up giggling about the shenanigans of the night before. Our positive attitudes could not be crushed.
I can’t say I’m surprised that a rat frolicked across my face on the World Race. I can’t say I’m happy about it either.
Lesson learned: When you expect paradise, there may be a catch. However, it’s your reaction to that catch that really counts.
In the wise words or Jesus and Bob Marley, “Don’t worry about a thing”.
