Random Funny Stories…

Today I was in the middle of teaching one of my phonics classes and a student had put their pencil inside the desk. But when she reached in to get her pencil she pulled out something much different. She said, “Teacher, there is a tuth.” Not sure what she was talking about and definitely not expecting, she lifted up her hand and in it was someone’s tooth Sick out. This is not the dentist so please do not dispose of your teeth in my classroom. Ha.

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On Sunday it had been raining in the morning. As we were coming back from church there were a couple groups of kids who seemed to be laying down in the middle of the road. As we passed they moved but left behind plastic bags that were being held down with stones. Curious as to what was happening, I asked. Glenn told me that when it rains the white ants (which are these big ants with wings that kids collect, wash, “fry”, and eat- and yes I have tried them and they taste like burnt popcorn seeds) hide in the ground sometimes. If you put bags over their holes and make loud noise then it attracts them up and you can catch them in the bags. The most amusing part of it was when I got out of the car I could hear tiny, high-pitched, screeches from all the surrounding streets. The noise was like an echo throughout our neighborhood so there must have been quite a few kids out trying to call the ants up from the ground. Who knew?

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Sunday night there was a concert of local Christian artists at one of the hotels. Some people from church were suppose to be performing, so I went with a group of friends. Well, a few things to know about my concert experiences here in Uganda is 1) most of all the singing is in Luganda or Swahili, which I don’t speak. 2) I am pretty sure that EVERY song that is performed is by lip-singing (which makes things fairly amusing when words are coming but the lips of the person are not moving because they are dancing), 3) People are not shy to walk up (or dance up) to the stage to give money to the performer. In fact it is very common to appreciate your favorite singer. 4) I was one of 2 mzungus there, so I automatically draw a little attention from the kids, which is no big deal but amuses me.

Well, I had been sitting nicely, kind of dancing in my seat to the musicians who had come up. There was one performer who the crowd went wild for. His song was lively and upbeat and he brought about 20 dancers on stage with him doing local dances. So people from the crowd were flowing to the stage to give him coins. One of the Bible College students that I was with then put a coin in my hand and said, “Natalie, we go.” Not much of a choice in it he grabbed my hand and we started walking. Let me paint a little more of the picture. The whole time I had been sitting in the front and now it was dark, so not all of the kids had seen me there. I was still somewhat unnoticed as I walked with my friend to the stage. But then we reached the area where the spotlights for the stage also brought light onto the ground. Well, if you know me and music that has a fun beat, it is hard for me to stay still and not dance. So, of course at this point I am dancing as I finish my way to the stage and give my coin to the singer. But as I turned around and was shaking my shoulders in the local-dance-move way then you could hear a slow eruption of giggles from the kids in the crowd as they saw me, in the light, dancing. Ha. It just made me smile and I finished dancing to my seat. I won’t lie though, my heart was beating fairly fast once I sat down. Not from over-dancing but from the adrenaline of drawing attention. When in Uganda, do as the Ugandans. (One of the Bible college guys said on our way home that his favorite part of the night was seeing me dancing. And it was a fun memory for me too.)