Tooth Fairy Vs. The Rats

I don’t know when or where the whole tooth fairy idea came about, but this week I learned from our neighbor boy that they have a very similar myth here in Uganda. Since he’s of the age of losing teeth, he started telling me how when he loses a tooth, he puts it in the corner of his bedroom and while he sleeps, a rat takes the tooth and leaves some money. I was so amused by this and I started to tell him how we do the same thing in the states only our parents tell us that there’s a tooth fairy who leaves us money. I almost told him how eventually, kids figure out that it’s really their parents who give them money, but then I realized he still hadn’t figured it out and there was no way I was going to spoil it for him!

This boy is quickly becoming our friend as he loves to come by to “converse” and see what we’re doing. When he wants to kick a ball around, he knocks softly on the door and asks me, “Is the neighbor in?” It’s so cute how he doesn’t call Michael and I by name, just “neighbor”. This boy has incredibly good English, in fact, I don’t think I’ve ever heard him speak in his native language. Once he starts talking, it’s hard to get away. One day after talking with him for some time I went inside to continue some work. When I came out a few minutes later he was there waiting and he said, “We are still conversing.” Some of the things he talks about cause me to think that I’m talking to an adult and then I remember that this boy can’t be more than 7, maybe 8 years old! I look forward to getting to know him and his family more in the future. We visited them once and they’re a great family. Lately we’ve gotten into the habit of gift giving...like the other day, Michael baked some bread rolls and told the boy to give them to his family. Immediately after taking them over, he came back with some bananas for us!

After some motherly nagging, I’ve finally made an apartment video tour as promised, so at the end of this post there is a glimpse of where we are currently living. Unfortunately my camera doesn’t record sound so it’s a silent film. Basically right now we have more space than we know what to do with. We’ll fill it up eventually but we decided just to get by with the basics until we are both working. Decorative things, and plants and flowers will come later, and we’re even doing without a fridge and a dining table for now. Those things are such necessities in the US, but it’s so easy to live without them here in Uganda. Most people don’t have them and would probably feel awkward anyways as eating at a high table is very Western. Our second bedroom is lacking beds right now but eventually we’ll be able to host visitors overnight. I can’t really compare the floor to anything in the US, but it’s basically a smooth, polished cement.

Anyways, we’re just enjoying having the place to ourselves and hosting visitors whenever they decide to come over. Our place has become quite the hot spot on Sunday afternoons! The last couple of weekends we’ve had 6-8 friends/sisters/cousins over at a time. I’m really loving Michael’s friends and family so much...we have the best time together eating, dancing, playing games and watching movies. I never expected to have such close friends this early on, but I’m so thankful for them.

Last Saturday we were tired of sitting around the house so we went to the beach in Entebbe with some friends. The waves were so good at Lake Victoria that day and we basically spent the whole afternoon jumping in the waves. I assumed that because this beach was the closest one to the airport that there would be a fair amount of tourists there...I was wrong. All eyes were on me and even when I was in the water everybody wanted to swim close to me. Maybe those who have a more outgoing personality would enjoy this but those who know me well won’t be surprised to know that this made me very uncomfortable! One high school boy even asked Michael if he could take a picture with me, as if I was some kind of celebrity! Thankfully I have a great husband who kindly said "no, sorry, this is my wife."

It just cracks me up because so many people on the street here look at me as some kind of big, important, celebrity and sometimes I just want to tell them how incredibly normal I am! It’s not easy to get used to this when the last thing I want to do is be the center of attention. It really gets to Michael too. Now he just stares right back at people, which makes them quickly look away in shame. We’re learning that if you don’t want to be stared at, you just have to stare back, because almost nobody wants to be stared at!