School opens next Monday and some personal notes

Can't wait! This last week and this week have been dedicated to teacher training and getting materials in order. Several new children have come in to sign up for classes.

We think we will have three classrooms at Sabana Perdida "Mi Esperanza" school this year. We cannot make the final decision until we see who actually comes!

Some of the kids from last year have expressed their great desire for school to start again. Like most kids, by the summer's end, they've had enough of vacation, and want to study and to see their friends again.

Please pray for us as we begin. We especially pray for our new teachers to become very competent in their new work.

We've had lots and lots of rain from Tropical Storm Gustav, and there seem to be a few more tropical storms in the making coming on Gustav's heels. School starts right in the height of the season.

This year I will be in the classroom as a teacher trainer, working alongside the new teachers, but not having my own classroom. This is important, because some of the teachers are new signers and have not worked with deaf children before.

Cell phone number four was stolen this past week. The phone company gave me a five page list of phone numbers the thief had called since stealing the phone. But when I took it to a government office as instructed, I was sent to another place quite far away, then from there to another. Everyone said it was someone else's job. After talking with people at three different places, I ran out of time. No one seemed even the slightest bit interested in catching the guy, even though they could easily track him down with all the phone numbers. That is life here.

I'm in my new apt., still trying to get settled in. As one visitor said "Everything takes so much longer here." So true! For example, getting my electricity turned on took three visits to the electric company, plus hiring a man to hook it up, once the company installed the meter! Now I'm working on the phone. Tomorrow will be visit number two, trying to get that installed.