Pedestrians don't have right away so it appears

Welcome!

I haven't been blogging much (1) because I don't make the time to do it (2) haven't had much exciting things to write about (3) wish I was a much more interesting writer

but I thought i'd start tonight and post some pictures as well!

So, I arrived after a 24 hour excursion in the air and in various airports across the United States and South Africa! The flight from Atlanta to Johannisburg was about 15 hours, and in all honestly didn't seem all that bad. I've been er almost a week already and the time has flown by. I have to say the jetlag hasn't affected me too awful bad, but I also made myself get up at 6am the following morning to try to get into sync as much as possible!!

it is funny to be here and seen as an expert in the autism field ... I still have a lot to learn and a long way to go! It scares me in one sense that maybe I won't have all the answers and in another sense there is this quiet confident piece of me that just has ideas as issues arise.

I spent the first day here just recovering from the flight, getting organized and oriented! My second day was spent all day at school- can I tell you how much i LOVE the concept of an outdoor campus- it just brings and added naturalness and happiness!!! the school is great- what appears to be someplace I would want my kids to go, if I had kids that is of course! A few tweaks to the system need to be put into place, however, a lot of it is there!

I spent this evening going through downtown, driving along the beach, and heading out grab a mocha and cheesecake! it was fabulous. The people with whom I am staying are wonderful! I feel like i'm a home away from home! The culture is amazing! Oh wait- lets backtrack- here is a joke that rings oh so true- What are you called if you know 2 languages? "bilingual" what are you called if you know 3 languages? trilingual and so forth....what are you called if you know one language? AMERICAN.. yes this does put me back on my soapbox- we are so ignorant in many ways as a culture. Yes, I love America and all of its freedoms; don't get me wrong but... once again I feel so ignorant and naive that I can speak one language, and one language only fluently... Kids here in as young as 1st grade are learning 3 languages - Affricans, Zulu, and English- Hebrew is also taught at an early age and French is taught in high school- we as a culture are pathetic in this arena! thats all I have to say on that piece!

okay where was I.... oh yes, the culture... this place is so rich in culture and so new to freedom. The city is a typical city- good parts/not so good parts.. but rich!

I am losing focus- either jetlag, tiredness, or my self-diagnosed ADHD kicking in.

This weeking we are heading to Drakensberg- the mountains! I'm excited for this trip and heard it is supposed to be absolutely beautiful. I'm hoping to get some authentic gifts and suveniors for the nephews and family back home..

so far here are pictures of my stay- sorry folks, I can't focus or hang on any longer!