I am still here in Ruston, Louisiana. I am at the peak of my training; it
is not called intensive training for nothing.
I have now finished the home economics part of the program except for my
meal for 40, which is this Wednesday. I had my meal for 8 when my mom was
here a few weeks ago. I cooked chicken and mushroom soup casserole, fresh
biscuits, salad and lemon mousse for dessert. I also made hot tea for some
Canadian flair. Americans don't often drink hot tea. Down south they
drink sweet tea, which is ice tea. Do you know how hard it was to find a tea
pot around here?
The meal for 8 is more challenging than the meal for 40 because it
is more formal; you have to set the table and serve everyone. I did it,
but became frazzled near the end. It is stressful doing all the last
minute things while your guests are sitting and waiting in the next room.
I placed the plates on the cart and pulled it into the dining room. Rhys
got up to help momma. It was
cute because you are supposed to do the whole thing without help. But I
got away with getting some help from my wonderful son, such a
gentleman.
The meal turned out and tasted good. I finished the other requirements in
kitchen, such as: using a food
processor; cutting up a whole chicken and deep frying it; grilling a burger
on the charcoal grill (that took me forever because I had to clean it
first); shining shoes with the old fashioned shoe polish. I also used an
"ID Mate," bar code reader, and made Braille labels on my slate to put on
the cans with an elastic band; this was a great exercise
because I want to label items at home, such as canngoods, medicines,
cd's..., so I don't get frustrated not knowing what things are. I would
like a barcode reader, but they cost $1500.
I completed the sewing portion of the class. I learned how to do different
stitches, such as the buttonhole stitch, the gathering stitch and the hem
stitch. I struggled with sewing, but once I finally learned the steps
involved, I enjoyed it.
I finished shop class yesterday. I made two memory boxes for the boys. One
is stained walnut and one cherry. Ronyn gets the cherry box because he has
red hair. Rhys gets the walnut for his brown hair. Maralyn, one of the
instructors here is going to wood burn their names into the boxes.
I am happy to be finished with this class. I struggled in shop. Math has
always been hard for me, both because my mind
isn't mathematical, and because I didn't receive a solid foundation in
math, as I
used large print, which was near impossible with my limited vision.
The shop teacher here is intelligent, mechanical and analytical
and he expects his students to think . I shut down in these kinds of
situations and freeze and my ability to think stops. Anyway, with much
help from the instructor, I made it through the process.
I designed the project, cut the sides, fronts, backs, bottoms and lids,
cut the "rabids and dadoes,"
indentations in the wood to enable the pieces to fit together, glued the
pieces, sanded, stained and waxed the boxes. Now I have something special
for the boys to keep forever.
For the rest of my training, I will focus on my Braille, computers and
travel.
In computers, I am learning the Duxbury Braille translation program. This
is a program that translates print documents into contracted Braille to be
printed, or embossed, on a Braillle printer.
Now I will be able to create documents to be embossed for Federation
materials.
I am making progress in Braille. But it is slow. I am still reading
30 to 40 words per minute. Sometimes I will be reading
along smoothly and quickly, and then I get hung up on a word or a
punctuation mark and lose time; this is frustrating. The more I read, the
less I get stuck and the more easily I can decipher words.
The only way to improve my speed is to read as much as possible. Now
that I
have double Braille class every day, this will be easier. I am reading a
book called "Black Mountain Breakdown."
I am trying to slate everyday to pick up my speed and accuracy. I slate
notes during seminar, which forces me to improve on this skill.
I am continuing to progress in travel. My teacher laughs because I have good
problem-solving abilities, meaning I can get myself out of situations that I
find myself in. The challenge is how not to get into these
situations in the first place. It is great to figure things out
because that is what we learn here- how to problem-solve-, but obviously
avoiding difficult situations in the first place is ultimately the best
strategy. For example, I was walking along a busy road a few weeks ago, and
veered away from the road and started traveling down a side
street. I didn't realize my mistake until I had gone down this road for two
blocks. I should have known because the traffic sounds on the busy road had
disappeared and the direction of the sun had changed. I corrected myself,
figured out what was wrong, but I could have saved myself a lot of extra
steps if I had kept my focus.
Focus is vital during training. It is important to concentrate and avoid
distractions as much as possible. This is a struggle for me. Being a mom,
running a household
and being CFB president has taught me to multi-task. Multitasking is not a
virtue here. Or it isn't, unless you can stay 100 per cent focused on all
tasks at once.
I went on one long route a few weeks ago down a busy street called
California, This street has few sidewalks, so you must shoreline the
street along side busy traffic. The sun was hot that day and the cars seemed
extra loud. I walked and walked for about eight blocks. When I reached the
spot I was supposed to be at, I realized I had once again turned down the
wrong street. I walked back, but didn't find the address I was looking for.
The students did a 10 K walk last month. This is called the walk to
"Grambling," and all the students look forward to it with anticipation and
anxiousness. We were divided into groups of five students with an
instructor. We brought water as the day was hot and we shorelined much of
the way, even along the highway. It sounds difficult, but actually it went
well; it was a great traveling experience.
I did my first supported drop route a few weeks ago. On a drop route, a
driver takes the student to an undisclosed location in Ruston. The student
does not know where they are being dropped off. The student must find their
way back to the centre without asking any questions. They must navigate
using the skills they have been learning at the centre, such as audible and
tactile cues, traffic, the sun and recognizable landmarks. A supported
drop route is one in which a travel instructor accompanies the student. The
instructor does not know the location.
I was excited. First step, I determined the cardinal directions: north,
south East and West. Then I
listened for clues. All was quiet except for a busy street in the
distance to the south. I walked toward the traffic sounds. When we
reached the
street, I heard the distinctive clink, clink sound of the cars running on
concrete. This clue told me I was most likely on Alabama. Alabama is one
of the only streets in Ruston with this distinctive sound.
Then I listened and heard cars to my left to the west on the parallel
road. There weren't many cars and the cars I did hear were coming from
both
directions, north to south and south to north.
. I determined, since I was most likely on Alabama, the street to the west
could only be Bonner, Trenton, Vienna, Munro, Minden, Homer, or
Everett. I ruled out several of these streets right away. Trenton is a
busy one way street, where the cars only go South. Munro is a fairly busy
road. Bonner is also busy. I decided it must be either Homer or Everett. I
went on this assumption and walked east. If wrong I could
always go back to my starting place and come up with another theory.
As I walked, I realized that I was right about my location.
When I heard the one-way traffic of Trenton, I breathed a sigh and
relaxed. When I crossed Trenton , and turned south towards the center, I
knew
I had done it.
In seminar we have watched some movies about blindness, such as "Butterflies
are Free," and "At First Sight, and the "Extreme home makeover episode that
featured a blind man and his family. We watched these movies and then
discussed them. We often talk about issues such as how we interact with
our families
and how they respond to our blindness, how to positively educate the public
about the abilities of blind people; and our own feelings and concerns about
our blindness and people's perceptions of it.
Every Monday after school, I take horseback riding lessons. So far we have
been learning to groom the horses and lead them in the ring. Next session, I
will get to ride the horse. I have taken horseback riding lessons before,
but it is nice to once again have this experience, particularly on a hot
and
humid, green Louisiana ranch.
I sprained my ankle last week. I was walking back to the apartments after
dropping off the boys. It wasn't a hard fall, but my ankle turned the wrong
way and boy did it hurt. Luckily a man and woman saw me and stopped their
car. They drove me home. I kept ice on it and limped for a few days. It is
better now. Interestingly, when I sprained my ankle, I wasn't wearing my
sleepshades. If I had been, I
probably would have payed better attention to where I was walking and used
my cane properly. I was just pushing it along in an inefficient manner
and didn't detect the uneven spot on the sidewalk until it was too late.
We say here that our sleepshades are precious to us because they
represent our hard work and determination to get through this training and
to improve on our skills. Many times my shades have hidden sweat that drips
down my face, or tears that fall from my eyes.
Many students who have become close friends are graduating, and new
students are starting the journey of training.
I miss those who have left. I will be graduating in August. It is hard
to believe how fast my time here has gone. In other ways though, it seems
as if I have been here for a lifetime.
Lots of love to all.
Elizabeth
