Rats vs The Tooth Fairy

Yesterday my friend Matthew lost his first tooth. Instead of the Tooth Fairy coming they tell kids that rats will leave money under their pillows! Can you imagine being excited about a rat crawling under your pillow at night???? I had heard this before in my time here and it shocked me then, and shocked me again yesterday :) So I thought this week I would write about a few differences in culture.

Matthew missing his first tooth

Unless they were mice (rats) like these below... I guess I wouldnt REALLY mind that!

A National Holiday that is Announced the Day of:

So on Wednesday this week I found out that we would have a national holiday on Thursday or Friday... Excuse me... on Thursday or Friday... this is yet to be determined...???????? In Uganda everyone celebrates both Muslim and Christian holidays. Apparently the date of the holiday Eid (pronounced Edy (think like the ice cream)) is determined based on when they see the full moon. AND it is specifically about when they see the full moon in Saudi Arabia. I learned this after I asked a million times about what happens if it is cloudy in your country. I also stated that we know ahead of time when the full moon will be... why can't they just always observe it then - but that is not the tradition for Muslims. At the end of the day I still could not wrap my brain around closing all government facilities with barely a 12 hour notice for a national holiday. :) My American brain REALLY REALLY struggled this week!

What did I do yesterday...??? I cleaned - with a few little helpers!

Kissing VS No Kissing

I attended my first Ugandan wedding two weeks ago. One of the teachers at the school's daughter got married. It was a beautiful wedding and both the bride and the groom absolutely loved the Lord. Since it was a Christian wedding it was not so different from what I am use to, but about midway through the reception I realized there had not been ANY clinking of the glasses. And then I realized the bride and groom had not even kissed at the church! So I started talking to my Ugandan friends about the kissing tradition at weddings in America and they were absolutely shocked! I will say this should not have surprised me since in Uganda there is absolutely no PDA including hand holding. (In Kampala.. most people can get away with holding someones hand, but absolutely no where else in Uganda can you do that). 

With Teacher Joy (Her daughter is the one that got married)

The teachers (L to R): Justine, Loyce, Ruth, (Esther), me, Mary

And of course a picture with Esther :)

It makes me laugh that even after nearly a year in a different culture some things still surprise me. (Or make my skin crawl like the idea of a rat under my pillow) But, I have come to really love my Ugandan brothers and sisters and respect their culture.

My time in Uganda is quickly coming to and end. One question I have been asked frequently lately is what do my last few weeks in Uganda look like - so here is actually a fairly detailed answer :)
- Sunday Sept 10th: New AIM short-termer comes to join me at the school!!!!
- Week Sept 11th - 15th: POTENTIALLY the last week of school (this is yet to be determined :) )
- Week Sept 17th - 23rd: ALSO POTENTIALLY the last week of school :) Otherwise, I will try to see a lot of my Ugandan friends outside of the school this week and say good bye.
- Aug 29th: Last wheelchair distribution in Jinja :(
- Aug 30th: Move out of my flat at Kireka Home and say a lot of really hard good byes
- Aug 31st - Sept 1st: 8 girls crammed into a car for a 2 day girls road trip to Lake Mburo National Park
- Sept 2nd: Debrief of my time in Uganda
- Sept 3rd: Say final good byes :(
- Sept 4th: Leave for Scotland
- Sept 4-9th: Stay in Scotland and pray for baby Arant to be born :)
- Sept 9th: Final Debrief in Atlanta
- Sept 10th: Home Sweet Home :)

As always, thank you all so much for your love and support! I love each of you so much!

Laura