THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS OF TERM

Well, the title should pretty much tell you all you need to know about this particular blog - it is school-based, and it covers the run up to the end of the term.  An end of term that was same as ends of terms all around the world - that is to say, crammed with assemblies, concerts and Christmas parties.  The picture on the left shows me in my last day of term get up - certainly cooler and more relaxing than my usual collar and tie.

The Friday of the week before the end of term was taken up with 'Parent-Teacher Conferences' - what would be known elsewhere as parents' evening but this time, refreshingly, held during the day.  It was a good way to see parents, especially as Year 5 had held their 'fly-on-the-wall' assembly the day before in which we gave a rarely seen glimpse of what really goes on in our classroom.  It involved a recital of The Highwayman, video clips from lessons, students impersonating Mr Ian taking badger maths, live sandwich making and a music and dance version of the water-cycle.  As the parents loved the assembly they seemed more inclined to be positive and complimentary in the meetings the next day.  A risky strategy I admit, but one I got away with!  As I was heavily involved in technical support I didn't get much of a chance to take photos, but here are a few taken in the run up to the performance.

Some of the girls relax before the big production

The boys are more intense

Rohit and Sammy warm up - and Pauline just poses

Smartly dressed parents, herds of reindeer, smouldering children
and slightly squeaky recorders - could be a primary school carol concern
anywhere in the world!

Other events of note have been the GEMS Christmas Carol Concert and the whole school disco.  I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that, since we are a UK-focused international school, everything to do with Christmas should mirror what happens in UK - but I am!  In fact, it is not just at school, but also at church and in the community in general.  As we swelter away in 30 degrees of sticky heat, everywhere you look are gaudily decorated fir trees, heavily robed Father Christmases and snow flakes galore.  The only thing that seems to differ is that almost without exception every child at school, when presented with a specially obtained Christmas cracker on their plate, picked it up by one end and stared quizzically at it.  None of them had seen a cracker before and they hadn't a clue what to do with it - one Christmas tradition that clearly hasn't made it out to Uganda!

Year 5 are ready to go for the GEMS school disco.  The children enjoy the dancing
whilst the staff get stuck into the pizza - before heading off down to our
local bar for a few cold beers and karaoke afterwards!

I have two unrelated and random non-school based stories to relate before I close.  The first is to tell you of snail day.  Last week, after a very heavy thunderstorm the night before, I came out to find the most enormous snail residing on the wing of the Landcruiser.  After a quick chat, during which I suggested that if he (??) wanted to stay safe now would be a good time to get off, I set off for the short, but very bumpy trip to school.  When I got there he was still firmly attached.  I then stepped out into the car park to be greeted by his older, and even bigger, brother.  I rushed inside to tell the support staff the exciting news that I had just found a monster snail and several came out to look - only to snort in disgust and to tell me that my snail was a tiddler compared to a proper Ugandan snail!  

The big Yin!

I have not seen another snail before or since that day, but just so you can judge for yourself I have enclosed a picture of the big chap next to my mobile phone! 

The second story is a little more bizarre and cannot be related here in its entirety, however, it is worth telling as it helps to give some colour to my picture of life in Kampala. As regular readers will know I live in a fairly large, fairly luxurious apartment within a larger condominium in Luzira, a small outer suburb of Kampala.  The area is 'up and coming' but, as with most of Kampala, smart housing is mixed in with some areas of extreme poverty.  This means that security is an issue and we have armed guards on the compound at night.  Now, when I say guards, that depends if you consider poorly paid, badly trained personnel whose main duty seems to be to sleep all night to be guards!  We had a break-in to the flat above mine within a week of my arrival, and then earlier this week we had another, more worrying incident.  I was woken at 4am to the sound of shouting and got up to discover that several flats, including the one above mine again, had been burgled but that the intruders had been disturbed by one tenant who had got a 9mm pistol and loosed off a shot at him.  A mob soon formed and started searching the area.  When they discovered a young lad about 18, (whom I had taken to church with me the Sunday before) was flat-sitting the apartment opposite mine they decided he must be to blame.  He was dragged out onto the grass and at one point had the loaded pistol put to his head. I genuinely thought they were going to shoot him!  It took a lot of shouting and gesticulation to persuade them to hand him over to the police without a beating or worse.  Fortunately he was released the following day, but it just goes to show how mob rule is still very prevalent here.  I guess I should finish this off by saying that I visited him twice in the local lock up whilst he was being interrogated and he was treated very well by the police, who seemed to be conducting their enquiries very professionally throughout.

So, as this goes to press, Ronnie is here in Kampala and we are preparing to hit the road for our 10 day, 1500 Km safari extravaganza, returning on Christmas Eve.  Lucy has been fully serviced and is raring to go - so please pray that she makes it all the way without any mishaps.  When we get back we should have plenty of exciting photos and stories of tree climbing lions, amazing gorillas, cute chimps etc etc.  That should be a blog worth reading.  In the meantime I hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas and get a chance to unwind.