My first week at the Louisiana Center for the Blind (LCB)

November 6
Well, I did it. I finished my first week at the training centre. Wow, what an incredible experience.

In one week, I learned to thread a needle, slate the alphabet in Braille, travel independently around the building in sleep shades (blind fold), measure wood with a click ruler in shop, practice on a Braille note taker and more.

My day goes from 8 AM to 5 PM, with two ten-minute breaks and a one-hour lunch. My schedule is as follows: (morning) announcements in the library with all the staff and students; one hour of Braille; one hour of computers; two hours of cooking / sewing/ other life skills; (afternoon) two hours of cane travel followed by two hours of shop.

I am learning so much and thinking in ways I haven't before. I am calling on all my powers of concentration and skill, even my long-dormant math skills, to get through the days.

Today was my first travel lesson outside. My instructor and I walked back and forth in front of the centre and practice finding the street crossings. I worked on finding curbs. Usually I overstepped them or didn't go far enough and found myself standing ten feet away from the crossing. Two times, my instructor called me back from the road, and once I fell almost gracefully against a parked car.

By the end of the lesson, I did walk successfully to each curb.

Today was also the day I learned to thread a needle- something I've never done before. I faced this challenge with absolutely know knowledge of how to do the task. I used a needle threader and after 20 painstaking minutes, hooked the needle onto the threader, caught the thread on the hook and pulled the thread through the eye of the needle. For me this is an incredible accomplishment, as my high school excluded me from sewing class and no-one ever taught me to sew.

Today in shop, I measured 24 three-quarter-inch segments on a block of wood with the click ruler. (note: a click ruler is the only blindness-specific tool students use. It is a metal 12-inch ruler divided into inches, half inches and one-sixteenth inches. Each click represents one-sixteenth of an inch).
All the other tools, including saws, drills an routers have not been adapted in any way.

I am invigorated, exhausted and overwhelmed. I remind myself to forget my ego and start fresh, and to realize I am on a journey and will not know everything all at once. That is why I am here: to learn and to grow.

I moved into the LCB apartments this week. The apartments are like townhouses and are all ground level. Each unit has two bedrooms and one bathroom and a kitchen an living area. The complex also has an activity centre with tables and couches and laundry facilities.
I have a lovely roommate, who is 20 years old. She has been at LCB for three months. She is a great support and mentor. We walk together each morning to the centre.
PS. Our house purchased has been finalized and we move tomorrow. Will be nice to be closer to Jeff and the boys.
Lots of love to everyone.