Team teaching and Dancing! What more could you ask for?

I feel so at peace when I dance the Acholi dance after school. If anyone remembers the documentary about the Ugandan dance that was up for an academy award, this is the type of dance that my kids do after school! I love it and embrace it! It was great to see my dancing friends and get back into the groove. The combination of singing and dancing is so uplifting. Of course the children all laugh that a bunch of Mazungoos (white people) are dancing their Acholi dance and shaking their hips, but after a while they started saying to me "Madam, you are getting it! Much better than last year." :) I just smile and say, "That is because I have amazing teachers." It is so important to empower these children when they are faced with so much oppression and adversity. I asked one of the students who told me she had been abducted by the LRA when she was 14 for about four months and then escaped if she thought they would come back. She is scared they will and she thinks they might. To live in that kind of fear on a day to day basis just boggles my mind. She asked me if there was any war in my country. It told her we were at war outside of our country, but I have never experienced one that was taking place inside of my country or right outside my door. I am just getting a small taste of what it is like to live in an area that has gone through war.
But then I look around and people are laughing, loving life, learning, dancing and going on with their lives. They inspire me and make me realize what is really important in life. My student asked me if I would go and plant flours with her in front of the dorm. I said I gladly would!!! How important it is to share days together and have human connections with one another. That is something that I am going to bring back to my New York City life style when I get home. Today is a day that we are honoring our teachers and we are going to have a picnic together! I can't wait!!! I am wearing my overalls and cap and making pasta! It is going to be a great exchange!
Team teaching this second go round has been awesome! Irene and I are on a roll and encouraging the kids to concentrate on their creative writing. We are also getting more class participation, in our 80 person classroom which rocks!!!