After returning from our amazing weekend of travel across Uganda we jumped back into the school mode. Unfortunately, on Tuesday Sarah was sick and had to stay home from school. We think it was from sitting in wet clothes on the bus all day Monday. To be honest, we've all been feeling a little under the weather this week. Thank God I brought a z-pack with me to knock my own runny nose and congestion. I don't want to be sick with only one more week left in Uganda!! Anyway, Nora and I taught together on tuesday and did a fun activity with the P4 (4th grade) class. This class only has 12 students in it, so we are able to do a lot of fun things with them. When we came over this summer we brought around 40 dry erase boards that had been donated to us. We gave one to each of the students and had "board races". Since the board were new to them, it took a little time for them to get the hang of how the activity was supposed to go. But once they figured it out, they had a blast! We gave the "winner" a skittle every time we asked a question, and it was amazing to see how thankful they were to receive 1 skittle. Their faces just lit up like crazy!

This past week was very rainy. We were told that the rainy season would be over by the time we left, but I'm starting to think that's not the case.... We couldn't play outside with the neighborhood kids on Tuesday because there was a horrible thunderstorm. We were all really sad because we missed the kids so much. We hadn't played with them since last Wednesday, which was almost a whole week!

Wednesday was another good day at school. I taught math in my P1 class and I used some of the math games that we brought over from the learning tree at school. Since we didn't have enough games for everyone to play with partners, I adjusted the game so that we could play it as a whole class. The game was meant to help practice addition and I called a different student to come up the the front of the room to spin the two spinners. Whatever numbers the spinner landed on were the two numbers they had to add together. It was so cute to see how excited and eager the students were to come up to the board. There were also some students who are more shy and didn't volunteer so I decided to call on them to help the rest of us out. One little girl, Sadia, seemed really nervous to come up, but I talked her through everything and she did a great job. It was so rewarding to see how much a little special attention can give a student a total boost of confidence!

When we got back from school on Wednesday, Nora, Sarah and I decided that we would go outside and try to soak up some Ugandan sun. We weren't out there for too long when Nora noticed something strange on her foot. It was kind of gross looking and we thought it might have just been dirt, but the closer we looked we noticed that there was definitely something under her skin. Nora asked Garrett, one of the maids at the convent, to look at her foot because she figured she would know what it was..... and she did. Nora had a JIGGER in her foot!!! In case you don't know, a jigger is a small worm-like creature that burrows itself under your skin. They can be very dangerous because they can lead to all kinds of infections if not taken out right away. We were warned about them before we came over and instructed to wear shoes at all times because they are very common here. Luckily for Nora, Garrett knew what to do, so she took a needle (hopefully it was sterilized...) and dug the jigger out. Sarah and I watched, and let me just tell you it looked painful. I'll spare you all the details, but just know that it was really gross..... and I've made it a point to take extra time and wash my feet even better than I was doing before!!

Thursday was another exciting day at school. The three of us always teach together on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the older grades. On Thursday, we did a really fun art project with the students. We started out by reading one of my favorite books.... The Rainbow Fish!!! And afterwards we gave them a fish cut out and had them decorate their very own rainbow fish. And as a finishing touch, we gave their fish beautiful, shiny scales just like the Rainbow Fish had in the story. We had scales cut out of foil that we glued on to their fish. The kids loved the shiny foil scales and they all seemed to enjoy decorating their fish. We decided to hang up their fish in their classrooms so that everyone who walked in could see them!!

Another quick story that I would like to share with you happened on Friday. I walked in my class and was greeting my students like always and then I said hi to Gertrude (the classroom teacher). We talked for a few minutes and then I noticed something on all of the students' desks. Gertrude took the initiative and put alphabet sticker strips on each of the desks to help the kids remember the alphabet. I know an alphabet strip doesn't sound too exciting, but for me it really was. I've felt like the teachers don't really want to use a lot of the things that we've brought over, but seeing those strips made me happy because it shows that she's trying to incorporate new things in her classroom. We're definitely helping this school in small ways, but it's these small baby steps that lead to long strides!