What's been going on in my corner of Waikiki

Hey guys, I am sorry to report that there have been no real exciting cockroach stories in the past couple weeks. I think we finally have them under control...just in time for us to go out of town and leave the place empty for a month. I'm sure when I return here in January there will be many stories worth sharing, and not just of cockroaches! I'm getting two new roommates and I'm hoping to start volunteering at a homeless shelter. I need you guys to hold me accountable for getting involved.

Some developing news: We found mold in our shower, so now we're convinced we are going to die. Hoping this isn't the cause of my roommate's and my stuffy noses. Thought we were all just giving each other the virus, which probably is the case. We should be getting it checked out and all cleaned up soon.

This is pretty disgusting, but today I was scrubbing down my shower. I had noticed the water not going down the drain and creating a puddle in the bottom of the shower and when I inspected further I noticed there was a rather large hair ball wrapped all around the drain. I bought some heavy duty rubber gloves and went to work. I scrubbed the walls and eventually made my way to the hair. I started to pull the hair up and noticed this wasn't a little job. The drain was missing one of its screws so I bent it back and peered in. Hair all the way down as far as I could see. Being brave, I tried pulling it up, but the thought of touching 500 other people's hair who had lived here before me got to me and I just about puked. I stopped and went down to put in a work order. Someone has obviously been neglecting that drain and it is not my job to unclog hair from the prehistoric time period.

Guess What? Another Cockroach Story...or two...or three

One of the worst feelings in the world is oversleeping your alarm and waking in a state of panic. A couple Thursdays ago that is exactly what happened. My alarm went off at 6:45 as usual. The last thing I remember is turning off the alarm and my face falling into the pillow. I finally woke at 7:30 to my roommates alarm. Rushing down the ladder to my bed, I grabbed my towel and took off for the shower. Not thinking, I ripped off my clothes and jumped straight into the shower. It was then I saw my little friend, Mister

Roach, scurrying up the wall to the shower. Letting out a cry for help, I danced around the shower until I could get ahold of myself and think. I reached out of the shower and grabbed a few squares of toilet paper. That sucker was quick. After some jabbing and more dancing, I trapped him in the T.P. and flung him straight into the toilet. 3 pointer!

~~~~~~~

I have been super busy these past couple weeks. Between time spent at school, work, and doing homework, I neglected doing the dishes. Piling up were bowls, spoons, and a blender. This probably contributed to the infestation I experienced. I was getting ready for bed one night. I walked over to the kitchen trash can to throw my contacts away. When one had been removed and disposed of I saw a black blob moving across the kitchen wall with my good eye. Knowing just what it was, I walked over to the closet and grabbed the Raid. It was going down. After I successfully hit my target and watched him squirm in his last moments of life, another black speck caught my eye. BOOM. Head shot. Killed that little fella too. It was then that I saw, inside my blender, a little roach crawling around the glass. The blender was upside down on the counter and he couldn't find a way out. Disgusted at the situation, I decided to take a moment and remove my other contact so I could put on my glasses and have a better sense of what I was dealing with. When I walked back over to the kitchen, the roach inside the blender was a lot bigger than I had thought. I think ginormous is a good word to use. I carefully planned my next maneuver and then I noticed there wasn't just one roach in there. There was the little one I had first seen and then the massive one I had since discovered. To make matters even better, they were crawling on the blades and making residence in the pouring spout. When both the roaches were up high and inside the spout, I lifted up the bottom of the blender, sprayed a little puddle of Raid on the counter, and set the blender back over it. I don't know what I was hoping this would accomplish. Maybe the fumes would eek up and kill them or some idiot would crawl down and through the puddle. Well that's exactly what happened. The little roach crawled out of the spout and began making his way down the side when he looked as if he jumped. He then crawled through the puddle of Raid and shriveled up and died. Suicide. Godzilla wasn't as easy. I tapped on the spout hoping he's run out afraid or something, but he was too smart. Or so he thought... Turning on the kitchen sink, I quickly flipped over the blender and began filling it with water. He floated out of the spout and began flailing his legs in all directions. I took the Raid and shot it down into the water where he was drowning. A couple more leg kicks. Dead.

The total body count after all this: 6. (I left out a couple more of the stories to spare the reader of some redundancy)

~~~~~~~~~~

A couple nights ago, I was ironically drying my blender. I had finally scrubbed it from all the Raid and roach infestations that had taken place inside its glass walls. As I set it down I saw a big, disgusting roach crawling down the wall in front of me. "HOLY COW THAT THING IS HUGE!!" I ran to get the Raid (which is surprisingly not empty yet) and Gaby came running to watch. As I sprayed the big mama another roach ran behind our oven. I let loose a stream of spray that hopefully hit him and sent him falling behind the oven. To my right I saw another and then another. As I kept spraying I noticed they were coming from behind the light under our kitchen cabinet. I took the spray and shot it up behind the light and waited. More came scurrying out, some fell out dead, and little minuscule baby roaches slid down the wall with the stream of Raid. After the battle had been won, I began laying down some long term Poison all around the light, except on one side. The poorly designed light was too close to the edge of the cabinet to fully lay down all the poison. I got my flash light and looked back behind the light. What I saw were holes in the cement wall with wires from the light being fed into them. The perfect breeding ground. They may feel safe back there, but the war is coming. Last night was a turn for the better. We claimed 13 lives and killed the mother roach with her sack of babies. Death was in the air. Or maybe that was just the potent smell of Raid...

Roach dead in my blender

DEAD

A roach and some roach poop. We really do clean the counters, promise!

My Best Friend

The idiot that was inside the blender and crawled through the puddle

Mama Roach

Pile of dead Roaches

Roaches Roaches Everywhere

They're getting bigger...and smarter. Over the last couple of weeks, many cockroaches have made attacks against me and have succeeded in escaping. They know when to strike. As soon as I take my contacts out there seems to be hundreds of little black moving blurs all over the walls. I race to find the Raid, clumsily tripping over the carpet or any other random thing that would not usually be an obstacle. Aiming the can in their general direction I let loose a stream of spray and suddenly they disappear. Either the spray hit them and they fell to the ground or they made a leap of faith and are now relying on the carpet to disguise themselves. Either way, the carpet is like a black hole, leaving me wondering where the stupid things disappear to.

They also like to wake up bright and early for a surprise visit. They love surprises, especially in the shower! The other morning I rolled out of bed, grabbed my towel and headed in to enjoy a nice steamy shower. Thankfully I turned on the water before I climbed in, because as I did, a big ol' roach ran from the drain to safety. All I saw was a black blob moving across the floor of the shower and up the wall. Already naked and not quite feeling running into the room to get the Raid, I took a tissue, picked up that little pervert, and threw him in the toilet. Sayonara buddy! Not even two days later, I was showering and minding my own business when I see something moving along the shower curtain. Guess who was feeling dirty and wanted a shower too? I'm not for sharing the shower.

My favorite of these stories has been long going. I'm convinced it is the same roach, primarily because I don't want to believe we have multiple roaches that are the size of Godzilla. I first saw him in the kitchen. When I laid eyes on him I had to do a double take to make sure it wasn't a small dog. When I realized what it was, I froze. I couldn't think. I couldn't move. I failed. By the time I made it to the closet a foot away to retrieve the Raid, he had disappeared into the cabinet. I frantically opened the doors to find him, but he was gone. I'm convinced there's a door to Narnia through the cabinet. Maybe that's why my food keeps disappearing. And to think I was blaming my roommates. How silly of me!

The second time he made an appearance, I was doing my makeup at my desk. Looking at the mirror I thought I saw something moving behind me. I kept turning around to figure out what it was, but I found nothing. Turns out it was nothing behind me. He was climbing up my wall right in front of my face. He must've known I saw him because he ran and tried to hide behind a decorative lei i have hanging above my desk. Not wanting to ruin my lei, I gingerly moved it aside and captured the roach in a tissue. I underestimated his size. When I pulled the tissue away, the big boy fell to the ground below my desk. I quickly located him and then ran to get my best friend, Raid. I attempted spraying way back there, but the last thing I saw was a little roach butt escaping behind my dresser. I thought maybe the Raid had by chance hit him and he was crawling away to contemplate his crumby life and die. Nope.

A few nights ago, I was the last one to go to sleep. After turning all the lights off, I climbed into bed using my phone's flashlight as a guide. When army crawling across my bunk to my pillow, I noticed yet another black blob. I aimed my light on it, and sure enough, my friend was back wanting to cuddle. I scrambled to find a tissue, but at such heights I could only come across an old crumbly one. I had no faith in the situation. I corralled the little menace away from my bed and over my dresser. I nervously tried to hit him with my tissue a few times, but I missed horribly. When he got over top of my dresser he began to climb on the ceiling and get farther and farther out of reach. Knowing this was my last chance, I reached out and attempted to hit him into the ceiling. It ended up being more of a soft slap and he fell to the ground never to be seen again. Currently he is eating all of our crumbs and growing. He's seeking his revenge.

October 24th

I've been sick for almost 3 full weeks now. I thought I was getting better, but last night took a turn for the worse. I have an awful cough and I'm so congested. Just my luck since I had an interview this morning. My interview went surprising well, despite my cough. The manager was super adorable and nice. He told me to come in for a second interview later with the head manager. I met with him in the afternoon and that went well too. After my interview I took a math test and a personality test. If I pass both of those, I'll have a job! When I went to take my math test the manager from the prior interview turned to me and said, "Hey, just a hint. There's a lot of math problems on there so you can just go ahead and use your phone to calculate." Shocked at him I blurted back, "Are you trying to tell me to cheat?!" He could only stutter and reply with a sort of "no." When I came back to turn my test in I said to him, "By the way, I didn't cheat." "Good, it was a test." I don't know if it was really a test and he was testing my integrity or if he was covering his tracks. Either way, he's still adorable...and I was totally flirting. The head manager talked a little about if I'm good at my job, I'll get moved up and then he mentioned something about an assistant manager position opening up. Not going to get my hopes up, but I can actually see opportunity for growth here where I couldn't at Jakes. God is good!

October 22nd

And the LORD continues to be great! Got a call this morning for an interview at Jungle Fun. I turned in my application Saturday and not even a full two days later I have an interview. I'm so stoked and just awed at how awesome God is. I'm super scared for the interview though. I haven't had an interview in two and a half years when I first applied at Amazing Jakes. This is going to be an interesting experience, especially if I get the job. Amazing Jakes is the only job I've ever known! I know that if this is the job God has planned for me, I will get it no doubt.
After that start to my day, nothing could get me down. I ran into a man at the bus stop after school. When he started talking to me I was a little uncomfortable, but then I realized he just needed somebody to talk to. He informed me of a good Mexican restaurant to eat at and the times I need to go there to get the good chef. I'm not sure if he was homeless or not, but he was a great little character. You never know who you'll meet or how God will use you to impact their day or even their life. Always be ready and willing to talk to even those who don't look the most appealing to the eye. Let Christ shine through you and be the light to the world.

My Weekend 10/19-10/21

This weekend started off with church Friday night. The theme was salad, so being super creative I came up with an m&m salad made up of all the different flavors of m&ms, a skittle salad comprised of all the flavors, potato salad, and fruit salad. Naturally, the m&m and skittle salads were a hit. Who eats salad to be healthy anyways? At CORE group we discussed the devil and his evil schemes. How he's a liar by nature and a murderer. It's so cool to go through struggles and then hear God's word aimed directly at where you're struggling. Since I've been in Hawaii and have been on my own, many of the devil's flaming arrows have seemed to be aimed directly at me. Yet God always comes into the picture and reassures me and guides my path.
Friday night I spent the night at Allison's house and then we woke up bright and early the next morning to participate in the Walk-Run to End Hunger. A two mile walk or 5k run to benefit the River of Life Mission House and the work they do with the homeless. It was such a great experience seeing all the people come out to praise God and support putting an end to homelessness.
After the Walk-Run, Allison went back to my place to crash. After a nap we decided to explore Downtown Honolulu. We found all sorts of awesome spots to take pictures and swing from Banyan trees. There's so many random things be found in Honolulu. My RA suggested I take a picture with every statue on the island and create a blog about it. So I started one. You can see all my statue pictures here: http://themanystatuesofoahu.blogspot.com

After spending lots of time in Honolulu, we went to the University of Hawaii volleyball game. We were terribly misinformed that UH was going to be playing Hawaii Pacific, so we showed up in our HPU gear. UH was playing a school with Pacific in the name: Stockton Pacific. So basically we looked like fools but had a great time anyways!
Sunday brought church and Gaby's birthday. After church I went to the mall in desperate search for a birthday cake. Found a macadamia one and it turned out to be freakin delicious! Gaby's 20 now and the old fart out of my room.
Sunday also brought an answer to prayers, the 3rd one since Wednesday! I've been stressing out about going to Guatemala over Christmas break and trying to decide of it's really where God wants me at that time. I've sent emails to the pastor of the church down there and haven't heard anything back from him, so I was assuming it wasn't going to work out. Well, Sunday I got a Facebook message from him and it looks like I'm going to Guatemala the first two weeks of January. If everything works out that is. Which I'm praying it does.

Homelessness and the Christian Faith

I wrote this essay for my writing class today:

Christianity is the largest religion in the United States with 246,780,000 claiming to be from a Christian denomination. Currently, there are 643,067 homeless people on any given night in the United States as well. With so many claiming to be part of a faith where Christ himself commands believers to love the “least of these,” why is there such a disconnect between what Christ commands and what is actually being done? The Bible clearly states the believers’ duty among the poor and needy, so much so, that Christians are without excuse for their lack of convictions and wanting to help.

As a Christian, I, myself, have seen first-hand the great responses many Christians have towards the homeless. Their hearts lie in working with and ministering to them. I have worked beside fellow believers collecting clothes for a clothing drive and I have seen great organizations that have been put in place to help the underprivileged. But this isn’t enough. While many want to help, there are far more who are pleased with their comfortable lifestyles, unwilling to go out of their comfort zone and get a little dirty.  They seem to have forgotten that Christ himself claims in Matthew 8:20, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to rest his head.” Christ came to minister to the world and didn’t have so much as a futon or blow up mattress. He also traveled many miles through the desert without arch supporting sneakers. 

Christ says in Luke 10:27 that the second greatest commandment, after loving the LORD with all your heart, is to “love your neighbor as yourself.” Many people take this verse to mean that you need to be kind to everyone, but the job goes well beyond that. To truly love someone, more responsibility is needed and required than just being nice to someone. Followers of Christ are called to defend and care for their neighbors. In Psalm 82:3, the believer is told to “defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.” Furthermore, in Leviticus the LORD spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai and gave many different laws that the Israelites were to follow. Among these, the LORD commanded in Leviticus 25:35,  “If any of your fellow [neighbors] become poor and are unable to support themselves among you, help them as you would a foreigner and stranger, so they can continue to live among you.” The LORD doesn’t just suggest helping your neighbor, he commands it.

Throughout the Bible, the LORD states that rewards will be given in heaven to the righteous ones who lend care to the poor. God offers incentives to do the work individuals all around the globe should already be doing for their fellow human beings.

Proverbs 19:17 states that “whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done.” In Luke 14:13-14 Christ tells his followers to invite the needy to their social events: “But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” Christ interacted with countless numbers of people who were poor, needy, and outcasts in their own cities. He wasn’t concerned with how foolish he looked dining with and serving the lowest in society. He wanted to connect with them on a more personal level. Christ wants his followers to relate with the needy the same way he did. Inviting the homeless to dinner may seem drastic and unsettling, but Christianity isn’t about being comfortable; it’s about serving. Christ wants his followers to dine with the lowest of people to create a more personal relationship that might otherwise not occur by simply handing the man sitting by the gutter a few quarters.

God is described as the God of the weak and needy many times throughout scripture. Isaiah 41:17 states “the poor and needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the LORD will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.” Later, Luke 6:20-21 says, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.” And finally, in James 2:5, James writes that God chose those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised. Looking through these verses, it is apparent that God cares for and loves the poor. As His disciples, it is among the Christians’ responsibilities to have that same love and care for the poor as God does, to look after the least of these.

The Bible clearly states that it is within every Christian’s responsibility to help the weak and needy. While there are many people who are intently involved in helping the homeless, so many of the needy still remain without hope. If every Christian were following the Bible and doing their moral obligation to help the poor, homelessness wouldn’t be an issue. Currently there are about 384 self-professed Christians for each homeless person in the United States. Why then are there those without a meal tonight? Why are there women crouching in the musty corners outside of abandoned buildings? Why are there men suffering from addictions with no one there to help them? There is no excuse except the unwillingness to step back from one’s own luxuries and see the need that is surrounding them. Everyone is guilty to some degree. It’s easy to get caught up in work and school, to simply forget that there are people whose suffering is greater than putting up with an awful boss or a challenging teacher. Christians need to take a step back from their busy lives and look at what the LORD instructs his followers to do for the homeless and needy. To love, to clothe, to feed, to serve, to invest in them on a personal level: this is what the LORD commands.

Living with Roommates

10/17/12

I wrote this as a journal for my writing class:

The prompt:

Describe an argument you have been involved in or witnessed recently. What was the issue? What claims were made on each side? What support, if any, was used for these claims?

Recently, I witnessed the most terrifying and idiotic argument of my life. It almost beat out last night's presidential debate. Living on the first floor of the Ohia in dirty Waikiki, you'd expect to have some un-pleasantries. Not only must my roommates and I listen to the sloppy drunks out on the street late at night, but we must also go into epic battle against cockroaches every morning and evening. They use guerilla warfare and wait until we are most vulnerable to attack: groggily wandering to the bathroom in the morning or crawling half-asleep into our bunks at night. We are well equipped with roach spray and traps hidden around our room, but their numbers are still many. 

The other night, my roommate Chelsie spotted one. He was scheming to crawl in bed with Gaby, my other roommate. He sat there, gripping onto the wall above Gaby's bed, waiting for the opportune moment to strike. Gaby crawled up the ladder to the bed to get a closer look. After a five-minute stare down, Chelsie exclaimed, "Are ya gonna kill it?!" The look on Gaby's face could only be described as one of horror. She crawled down from her humble abode and go a tissue. After retrieving my Puffs lotion-filled-amazing-for-sore-noses tissue, she made her way to the battleground. Another five-minute stare down, a lunge, a retreat. Repeat. 

Chelsie exclaims, "Kill the bug!" (With some explicit words removed)*

Gaby replied in her soft little Mexican accent, "I'm scared."

"Of what?!" Chelsie shot back, "It's a bug."

Gaby went on to explain that this wasn't just any cockroach, it was a super duper dangerous cockroach that was magically going to hop out of the tissue, crawl down her arm, up her body, into her mouth and down her esophagus. 

"Gaby...kill the bug." (More explicit words removed)

About fed up with this nonsense, I jumped in with the loudest and scariest voice a girl with a sore throat can have: "GABY, KILL THE BUG! IT'S NOT A FREAKING TYRANNOSAURUS REX! IT'S NOT GOING TO RIP YOUR ARM OFF! NOW KILL THE BUG BEFORE IT CRAWLS AWAY."

"I don't want to. I'm just going to leave it there."

After convincing Gaby the cockroach had plans to snuggle with her during the night and then crawl into her mouth and plant its eggs, she caved

"I'll kill it," she said, voice shaking. Another five-minute stare down. "I'm going to get the roach spray."

"NOO!!!" Chelsie and I both exclaimed. "There's a gap between your bed and the wall. It’s going to fall."

"No it won't," she claimed.

Confident, with roach spray in hand, Gaby approached her opponent. She let her spray loose and the roach fell into the dark abyss beneath her bed and between her dresser and the wall, never to be seen again.

Currently, he is a survivor of Raid and is putting together a large militia to strike back. He's recruiting them from near and far. They will attack. Gaby won't be ready.

*This is a simplified version of the story. The argument really went on for about 20 or so minutes.