Today was much better. We spent the day doing appointments for the adoption (which all went well) and visiting places in Bogota. We went to the top of Mt. Monserrat via a cable car. Wow! You can see the entire huge city of Bogota and the mountains. We visited the Emerald museum which was very interesting. 56% of all emeralds are mined here. Our driver, Mauricio is AWSOME! He handles all of the logistics of the adoption paperwork and just tells me to sign here or pay this. Everywhere we go he just handles ordering, paying etc. my brain got a rest from trying to figure everything out in Spanish in a new place today. Lanie loves him so he also helps with her some. We had a good day together He has white hair so Lanie thinks he’s PaPa. Ha! We’ll be hanging with him all week. He’s our new best friend for the week!
Learning Delayed
I’ve learned a lot from all of this. One of the things I have gained is a better understanding of what it is like to be learning disabled or delayed or learning different… whatever PC word you want to use. I’m typically a fairly competent person who is able to figure things out even if I fail a few times trying. I’m analytical and love to learn and grow. I’ve worked with learning different students and have done some research on ways to help them learn. However, I’ve not personally understood what it’s like to be learning delayed until now. Living in a world all alone for weeks where you don’t fully understand the language makes one learning different. You can’t communicate. You strain for every word hoping you figured out how to correctly communicate what you wanted to say. You sit in circles of intelligent people unable to fully follow what they are saying or contribute which makes you feel stupid. It is easy for all of those around you to talk, but it takes every bit of concentration and mental energy you have to communicate. You are exhausted afterwards and often times don’t want to try. You’d rather just sit back and let the world go by than put forth that much energy. Yes.. I’m definitely learning different here. The French lady here is a professor of history and geography in France. When we talk, I laugh at how two educated women who have lead and taught many people overnight are reduced to very simple language and straining for every word. There is much locked up in our brains we would like to say, but we are forced to use simple words and hand motions like we are 4 yr. old learning to talk. Its a humbling experience. My patience for and understanding of learning different people has increased. I guess God knew what he was doing sending me here alone since ill be working with Lanie a lot in various areas she is delayed in.