24th Bathday

I have to admit, I am not the easiest person to surprise. I was born with the ability to sense when someone is hiding something from me, and I search for the truth until I find it. Maybe that’s why teaching middle school came naturally to me… So after surprising both Levert and Maital for their birthdays, they had to try and surprise me. But I knew it was coming and was searching for clues.

            Maital had told me to be ready to celebrate my birthday by packing specific clothing like hiking boots, a hat, and a bathing suit. Since this was the same trick we played on Levert, I didn’t listen. The night before my birthday, Maital and I were at home. Angela, our cook, had not prepared dinner for some reason, and Maital seemed mildly upset, although I was skeptical. No dinner prepared the night before my birthday?!? She told me that Levert had gone to buy fish, so we have to pick up something for Bushikori from an employee’s house. So off we went, to a house of an employee that came around the time that I left BCC. I wanted to throw a stone in the bush to see if Maital really knew where this employee lived, so I suggested we were walking the wrong way since the employee’s house was on the other side of town. (I didn’t really know, but since I was the Human Resource Manager of BCC a few months ago, there was a chance that I did.) Maital at first insisted that she really knew but after some pestering, she finally hesitated and admitted that she wasn’t sure, but she thought it was the way we were walking. Then I told her I wanted to take a picture and reached out to take her purse and she freaked out! Another clue…

            We kept walking, and I realized that we were going towards a fish restaurant we had never been to before. I didn’t say anything, since Maital already made me feel bad about trying to ruin the surprise. Eventually, I helped her find the restaurant, and there was Levert, sitting and waiting for us! The restaurant staff wasn’t so adept at handling surprises and repeatedly did things to make me think they were planning something, like when one of the waiters came to the table and started talking to Levert quietly or when the chef came out to explain to us what two of the dishes were and said the cake is almost ready before walking away from the table. Although I suspected that there was a cake in the plans, the chef solidified it! But, I was mostly worried about Levert pouring water on my head to celebrate my bathday, so I kept looking at his hands.

            We had a really fun time, and the toasts by both Maital and Levert were really heartfelt. At the end of the meal, the waiters and waitresses all brought out a cake and there was total silence. It was kind of awkward, especially when they set the cake down and left the twenty-five candles unlit. They were waiting for us to start singing to light the candles and we were waiting for them to light the candles! Finally, we started singing and they lit the 25 candles (one for good luck). Maital took a great picture of me blowing out the candles. Then Levert poured coke on my head (I had seen the bottle but was busy worrying about water); I was quite sticky until I bathed later on. I guess I had to, after all it was my bathday!

            The next morning, I woke up to Maital and Levert singing Happy Birthday and serving me French toast and hot chocolate in bed. It was really nice. Maital stayed home to spend time with me before I went off to work, and when Levert came back home to pick up Maital, he told me he would be taking me to work on his picky! What a nice surprise! So he took me out the gate to find a private hire taxi cab waiting for me with a birthday card on the seat. So Maital and Levert accompanied me all the way to Nabugoye Hill. Oh, Levert also had my shoes polished!! (We have black polish in the house so Maital and Levert have their shoes polished regularly – having clean, polished shoes are an important aspect of the culture. Unfortunately, we haven’t purchased a brown polish, so as Levert says, they were looking pretty tired, until, of course, my birthday!!)

            When I arrived home after work, Maital told me that last night was for the three of us to celebrate and tonight would be just for the two of us. So she took me on a walk to what she described to me as a three-course meal at three different locations. I was really excited and had no idea where she was going to take me. Also, there aren’t many places that serve hors d’oeuvres and probably fewer where one can find good dessert! So, after receiving a call from Beth asking where we were because she wanted to see me and Maital and receiving a few text messages, we arrived at the Green Gardens Hotel. We walked in and immediately saw Levert looking a little shocked. He told me and Maital to stand near the entrance and not move. Unfortunately, he put me next to the one pollen tree, which caused me to start sneezing, so we had to move. I moved over to the other side of the main building and waited thinking that Levert was helping to plan the evening for me and Maital. About ten minutes later, Levert came to explain that they wanted to have hors d’oeuvres ready when Maital and I arrived but that the place was too slow. We were going to move somewhere else. Then, as I got closer to his motorcycle, Beth and a bunch of our Ugandan friends came out of the building holding a cake with candles (this time they were lit!)! Even though I knew something was happening, I was really shocked that so many people had come to celebrate with me. I greatly enjoyed the surprise. After blowing out the candles, Levert poured water on my head!

I enjoyed the company of John Bosco, a teacher at Joshua Primary, Paul, Maital’s best friend from when she was in Uganda the last time, and Ronald, Paul’s friend. Later, Rachel, JJ’s daughter from the Abayudaya, came to dinner. We had really delicious fried fish and a beautiful birthday cake. The most exciting part of the evening was when I received my birthday present. Levert tied a handkerchief over my eyes and made me sing a Luganda counting song while he put the gift in front of me. He then took the blindfold off and asked me to open the big box that he had placed in front of me. It took me a while to unwrap the wrapping paper, and while I was trying to figure out how to open the box, something moved inside the box and I freaked out. I felt backwards off my chair (I was ok). After I composed myself, I opened the box and found a rooster! It is beautiful, and the most amazing part about it is that there are no feathers on the neck, just like Maital’s chicken. A match made in heaven (or the market).

It was a wonderful birthday full of many surprises, and I am really thankful. I also received lots of birthday wishes from many friends and family. Thank you! I look forward to celebrating my 25^th back in America!