Sadly No Photos

Hello Friends, Unfortunately I am having major internet issues and I am currently unable to upload my photos.  So this is strictly a text post.  Sorry if it seems boring.  This week I had my first really sad, missing home moment when I heard about my friend Larry passing away.  I was at work when I saw the message and I was so upset, additionally in the same day I heard about 3 other deaths affecting my co-workers at school.  In Lesotho, death is very common and it is a regular routine for people to attend funerals on weekends.  I am sad not to be able to attend Larry's services, but I am reminded of what a rich life he had.  When I started to talk about him here I told people about all of the wonderful adventures and travels we where able to do together and that he was 67 years old and had cerebral palsy, this made me realize that he had an extremely full life. Thanks for all of the great memories Larry and thanks for teaching all of us about defying the limits.

Today I will do my first solo adventure to the capital city, Maseru.  I had my language tutor work with me this week on all of the requests, directions, and questions I will need to be able to say in Sesotho.  Fortunately many people also understand English, but I want to be on my game if in a jam.  It is not so straight forward as taking a bus from one city to the next.  The process is much more complicated.  First I will go to the taxi rink in my town and catch a Venture to Maputsoe.  Not a bus, car, taxi, etc.  Then I will ask the driver to help me look for a Sprinter in Maputsoe, not a quantum, venture, bus, or taxi.  Then I will take the Sprinter to Maseru where I will catch a 4+1 into town.  This means 4 passengers plus 1 driver in a taxi.  From town I will then take another taxi to my destination.  If I can get through all of this I will feel very confident!  My co-workers are going to call me this evening to see how it went, they are so good to me.  In Maseru I will get to see a friend from home, get real coffee and have a change of scene.  So excited.

School this week has been eye-opening.  I was able to continue our yoga program and participate in an really good physical therapy program that I will co-teach each morning with different teachers.  Additionally I was able to present information to teachers at my first teacher meeting.  The topic was lesson planning, which is universally stressful for teachers.  Probably not the best topic to start with, but important non the less.  It went ok, but the meeting turned into a venting session about how hard it is to plan for so many subjects and so many kids.  These seem to be problems everywhere in the world!  We moved on to learning about breaking skills down and trying to teach without using so much verbal language.  I got a few blank stares and realized that I am going to have to back up a little.  Teaching here is still very traditional, standing in front of the class, at a chalkboard and lecturing.  Unfortunately for children with severe disabilities this has very little effect.  The good thing is the teachers are pretty open minded and they are more than willing to let me demonstrate.  Next week I will try some model teaching.  Wish me luck.