Random Tid-Bits

*It seems to me that time goes slower since arriving in Uganda. I asked Katie if she felt the same and received a negative. Then again the fact that I haven’t really done much this week other than try to adjust and watch what other people are doing may play a large role in this perception as well . . . Anywho, my second day, really early in the morning (I have no idea the exact time), I heard what sounded like chants and singing. Intrigued, I listened harder as the noise became louder and then began to dissipate as if a procession was passing by on the road. Later that morning I asked Lori what it was and she told me it was probably some form of the Ugandan military, apparently there is a barracks nearby.

*Also, I’ve decided that the dogs here participate in the ‘Twilight Bark,’ just like in 101 Dalmatians. On several occasions this week around 1 or so in the morning all of the dogs start barking and howling simultaneously, it’s just weird and not quite so annoying when thought about from this particular point of view.

*Yesterday Katie and I were eating at Flavours and without even thinking about it I took a bite of a raw carrot that was sitting on my plate. After about 4 or 5 chews into my mouthful I froze – eyes wide with realizations. 1) This carrot was meant to serve the purpose of décor, not nutrition and 2) This carrot is raw, meaning not cooked, meaning eating raw food here is almost a sure way to wind up with a bacteria, parasite, or some other form of unpleasant ailment. Hmm, now the question is what to do? I’m sitting in public, in a country whose rules of social conduct I’m not particularly familiar with, and I have a mouthful of food that is more likely than not going to make me sick in a relatively short amount of time. So I swallowed it. It was just one little bite, right? Surely that’s not enough to cause too much damage . . .

Well, as the minutes ticked by I felt my stomach start to change – not quite upset but not feeling exactly normal either. Uh-oh. . . maybe swallowing that bite of carrot wasn’t such a good idea after all . . . After thinking about this predicament for a few moments longer I decided to just wait and see what happens, I mean there’s not much I can do about it now. 24+ hours later however, I am happy to report no bodily reactions out of the normal so I guess it was just a false alarm :D. Whew, dodged a bullet with that one! I would like to say I learned my lesson from that little experience and will be a lot more conscious of this sort of thing from now on, but I’ll be honest, that’s probably not gonna happen. But I can always hope . . .

*Muffin had an hour long surgery on a table in the front yard to have her lady parts removed today. Timmy, fascinated, watched the whole thing out the living room window. Eating from that dining room table will never be the same again . . .

*One of the books I’m supposed to read talks about the Ugandan culture and how it varies from that of the Western world. There are awesome illustrations to go with it. Boy am I glad this is how Americans/Westerners are generalized, awesome. But I’m not going to lie, it is a little funny.