Lake Flies Again

Every house has its drawbacks, right? Here in Musoma, it's not too difficult to find lakefront property. (Just one of the perks of a town located on a peninsula.) I am privileged to enjoy my house on the world's second largest lake and the beautiful sunsets just outside my back porch.

taken about this time last year

But, like I said, there are always drawbacks. We in Musoma pay for our picturesque location by suffering seasonal (i.e., returning, over and over again) plagues of LAKE FLIES. If you aren't familiar with this useless creature, take a look at the post from my memorable introduction to the species.

In fact, if the term "lake flies" doesn't make you cringe, take a look at the post anyway. You need context for what I'm about to show you.

This week we were invaded by massive swarms of lake flies, one of the worst assaults I've seen in a while. While we adults went about sweeping out the classrooms (as much as possible) and, in general, trying not to inhale or swallow the tiny insects swirling everywhere, guess what the kids did?

They did what creative, resourceful kids do: They used the lake flies to create games.

First game: Grab handfuls of the insects from where they've collected, say in my windowsills, and throw them at each other. We don't get snow in Musoma, after all. This first game was soon outlawed, when certain students responded poorly to receiving clouds of bugs directly in their faces.

Second game: Build a lake-fly man. Again, we have no snow. Although plenty of building material was available on my porch, the kids soon abandoned this second game. Little dead bugs don't mold or stack very well.

Third game: Run through lake fly swarms with mouths wide open, to see who can capture the most and keep them in their mouth the longest.

I kid you not. 
Seriously, how could I make this up?

See the cloud of specks against the background of the tree? Lake flies. See what my students are doing? I told you I wasn't making this up.

All through the morning break, I'd hear, "Cloud up!" and the kids would ready themselves to one side of an isolated lake fly swarm. They'd wait for the right moment, when someone would yell, "Cloud down!" and they'd charge through, mouths stretched open.

And yes, they found it disgusting. That must have been part of the appeal, because they'd run back and do it again. Kids came back into class complaining about their empty water bottles, because they needed to "swallow down the ones still stuck" in their throats.

Yeah, I have nothing else to say!