A Busy Week

It's been a tough week with only Kathryn and myself working in the Enrichment Centre, the work accumulated over the last few days meaning that we had to spend four hours yesterday sorting through office work. A difficult week, but a good one. The Junior class was very enjoyable - I almost managed to make it to the weekend without any scratches, but then in the last hour on Friday I wasn't paying attention and got bitten... damn! We always compare war wounds after a week in the Junior class.

On Monday it was photo day which gave us quite a shock, we thought we escaped that dreaded day after leaving school but apparently not. The camera man then came to the Enrichment Centre to take individual photos of the children - definitely the highlight of my week. It seemed that all the autistic kids couldn't smile naturally when told to, it came out as a kind of forced grimace. This meant that one of us had to hide out of view behind them and tickle them so that they started laughing, while another person danced about like a lunatic behind the cameraman. One of the girls in the Junior class refused to smile until we brought in the boy she fancies, as soon as he entered the room she was beaming.

As summer comes to an end here it's gradually getting cooler which means fewer mosquitoes! A few times I've been on the verge of sleep when I'm suddenly woken up by the familiar 'eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep' sound. After hearing that I can't get back to sleep until I've found it and squashed it - I can't deal with the thought of it sucking my blood when I'm asleep. A couple of nights ago I think I spent a good half hour looking for a mosquito in my room, I finally found it hiding on the bookshelf and squashed it with a triumphant "HA-HA!". Along with the diminishing number of mosquitoes, the storms are becoming more frequent which I love (watch: Today's Storm). The heat here gets very tiring so it's great to have the occasional thunderstorm - everything feels fresh afterwards. The increased rain also means that it's almost amarula season (a very tasty fruit that grows on the trees around school). They're about the size of an apricot and turn yellow when ripe, you have to remove the skin and avoid swallowing the nut inside, maybe leave it for the squirrels to enjoy instead. The Lifeskills class are thinking of making amarula jam later this month which I'm sure will taste delicious!

Kathryn and I also purchased some Prickly Pears, it was very exciting to learn that they don't only exist in the Jungle Book. They have an interesting texture and taste that will hopefully grow on me... Baloo the bear made them look so appealing.

Prickly Pears

Evening run with Plato