whaddya make of this...?

here is something amusing that happened to me last week.

i have this habit of flossing my teeth. i sometimes floss two or three times a day. my teeth are very clean; i do it a bit obsessively since i had a tooth pulled last year. in rwanda, flossing is not really part of the oral hygiene landscape. people use toothpicks. they are on every table in every restaurant i’ve ever been to — road side cafe or 5 star international — toothpicks abound.

at my house, where i do my flossing, there is only one garbage can. so i have developed this bad habit of flossing in front of the tv, or flossing after coffee on the terrace, or flossing while i check my emails. (i know, its disgusting, but i live alone at the moment!). i twirl the used floss into a long braid and then tie a knot in the middle. then i either leave it where i was sitting or i remember to take it to the sole garbage can in the house, which is ever-so-conviently located outside near the garage. let’s just say that i leave it laying around more than i walk it to the garbage can.

the other day, i am at the hotel ibis, sitting on the terrace, having a coke and waiting for one of my translators to show up. as i wait, one of the staff at the hotel come up to me and says, ’susan-ah, i hear you like to clean your teeth alot’. i am looking at this guy, jean-paul, in total confusion. ‘pardon?’ i say. he says, ‘yah, i heard from [the woman who works at my home] that you like to clean your teeth with thread’.

ok, this is interesting i think. first, i am the topic of conversation between rwandan’s who may have never flossed. maybe they are wondering what exactly is it that i do, and why. but jean-paul interrupts my thinking, as he says, ‘yes, in rwanda, prostitutes also use thread. they have very dirty mouths.’

hmm. does he think i’m a prostitute?