Wasps, Geckos, and Bearded Dragons (and now monkeys)

You're never alone here. 

Geckos scatter up walls, across sidewalks, through our rooms, over our beds... all the while stopping to poop hither and yon. They're small and cute, but not inclined to stick around for photos, so this photo I swiped from the internet. About 5", give or take. Fast. And loud! You wouldn't think something that small could be that talkative or poop that big. Well, I was surprised, anyway.  

Yesterday on my way to class, I was taken by surprise as a two-foot lizard (as in 24 inches long, not being a biped) slipped across my path rather quickly. I don't carry my phone with me so couldn't get a picture, but it was here and gone so quickly, I couldn't have managed it anyway. So, again, another picture courtesy of the web.

Ah, wasps. They like me, apparently. I was hoping to live in harmony with one that seemed interested in my airspace in the bathroom until I realized it was building a nest right next to my toilet. The front office took care of that immediately. Then I noticed it was building a nest next to my sink, and I managed to take care of that. Then it decided to nest in a crack between stones in my shower. That was it. I went back to the front desk and they did something (I don't know what, I didn't stick around to watch) that will, hopefully, leave me wasp-free for the rest of my time here. Not my picture of the wasp, either...

As to monkeys, that's new since I started this post so just wanted to add it to the end. If you look at my recent classroom photos you'll see a shot with our school wantilan on the right and what I think I called a "social area" on the left. Some of the students mingle there and share treats. Well, apparently they leave treats there, too, sometimes.

This morning as I approached the wantilan, there were several men in the social area and the jungle adjacent to it. They were cleaning up a bunch of food packaging trash. If I understood them correctly, the monkeys discovered the food last night and get into all of it, having quite a feast. 

Ellen, our teacher, told us that one year monkeys came into the wantilan and did something, though I forget what. I also heard that two nights ago they went into the kitchen to protest the removal of some of the trees that they feed off of. They broke dishes to voice their opinion. Don't piss off monkeys - they take revenge. 

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