Really Nice Teeth

I noticed, as a generalization, Ethiopians have very nice teeth.  Some of them have some decay but, for the most part, the teeth are nice and straight.  Whoopdeedoo, right?   Well, as a person who spent 4 years in braces and had 2 surgeries to correct congenital issues with my teeth, I do say WHOOPDEEDOO! 

What I don't get is if you have such nice teeth, why don't you show them off?!!!  I can't even count how many times I had to insist that people smile for me.  I know, I know.  Smiling for the camera is such an American thing, don't jam American values on people, but…it makes my heart so much happier to see photos of people smiling.

So here are some examples of the first photo next to the second photo.  Can you see why I'm the obnoxious American insisting they smile?

 

 

At one point, to tease several people that I had to repeatedly prompt to smile, I quickly mugged a serious face for 0.8 seconds for a photo I was posing for.  R, who was taking the photo, just happened to snap the shutter with my serious face…much to the delight of the onlookers!