A new week begins

Things I learned today:
I am a volunteer not an employee who has to work the same hours as everyone else. So I went in at 10 am and left at 4pm because we had a meeting. Going to try to work in the office from 10 til 3:30, maybe sometimes just go to a cafe with wireless. That said, there is a lot of work, I'm working on a plan with tasks & timeline and it appears it will go into another year or 2.  Let's see, some schools have been teaching MSW and/or BSW but don't have field manuals, don't know what students are doing in field, don't meet with a seminar. They have strong looking curricula they've been working on but no syllabi, no instructions for field instructors or students at at least several schools. I'll be developing at least a draft or suggestions for the field manual and stuff for faculty and agencies; they want a workshop developed to train these folks; a survey to learn what faculty degrees are in, what they know, maybe values, and skills-a bit of needs assessment for what a "not so quicky" MSW program would look like for faculty since many are not social workers to begin with. There are several really good folks I've met so far who are concerned about doing this stuff right. Basically, a lot of groundwork and trying to get people to do what they are supposed to do to get started or to change what they've been doing.

More things I learned:
 it is very difficult to take photos out of windows of a moving car. So far I have not walked in any areas, I'm walled in at the house or in the office or in a car that likely has really dark film over the window to keep the sun out. So I did take a few photos from a moving car.  They drive on the "English" side here, driver's seat on the right, drive on the left necessitating turns across 2-3 lanes of traffic if one wants to turn right. People walking, bikes, motor scooters/taxies, walking between cars with their wares to sell passengers & drivers. And if anyone is in front of you, in the way just honk your horn, don't stop even if it's a person crossing the street.  There are no white lines on roads here so a lot of sliding pretty darn close to the "lane" of facing traffic.

After feeling privileged and weird with having others clean my clothes, dishes, house,etc. Margaret who cleans for me reminded me it is her job. I also learned there are laws protecting household help with minimum wage, hours worked, vacation (28 days), etc.  And Margaret did a fine job slicing up my pineapple for me.

my kitchen/living room

my bed with mosquito net. As a kid I thought having a bed with curtains around it would be like a princess. It's not, it's more like sleeping in a big laundry bag.

see, they have real bathrooms here

My first pineapple. that thing sticking out from the bottom, you know, like a stem. Truly fresh, best I've ever tasted, not woody, juicy and full of flavor. must buy more. How about a diet of breads and fruit? Does that work?

the pool on the property. It is lovely, particularly that hot water heater on the bench. I'm not sure if they expect people to use it, I have sat and read there. But I let the water heater stay on its own bench.

my tiny house

the front gate to the 'compound'. strange feeling, surrounds everything, wire on top, locked all the time. must be what rock stars feel like, isolated and constant staff, well, ok not quite rock star.

the Big house, the owners of the property

the back of tiny house viewed from bedroom back window. Workers clothes, I don't know why there is so much red but it is lovely with the yellow wall.

Yogurt is not to my liking, sugar is added and it's a bit loose. I grabbed a box of "whole grain" Cheerios just like at home, it has a lot more sugar and a lot less fiber (1gram!).  Unfortunately, the best things so far are bread products baked at the stores and cheese, also juices are quite good and fruit-pineapple and papaya and mango are in season--all excellent. The less I move and the more starch I eat, I will weigh 300 lbs if I'm not careful by the time I get home. My first plan is to put the music channels on and dance as wildly as I can for 30 minutes. Not a pretty picture but the outside of my house windows are also blacked out. I hope. 

Today, pics of my tiny house.