Sofia's Report on Care-giving

I know that I have weather in my brain--sunny sometimes, clear, cloudy, overcast--so I guess it shouldn't surprise me that my classes have weather too--weather than doesn't always match mine.  But I felt the overcast in ESL 142 today.  They didn't perk up until after our chapter test.  Then on my way to the bungalows, a lot of former students greeted me with smiles that looked like they were really happy to see me (Me?), and one former student even said, "Good to see you."  Of course students greet me from time to time, but this was different--as if they were particularly happy to see me, as if they particularly liked me, and that surprised me.

But...what I really came here to report on is the caregiver report one student gave.  I invited her to do this when she told me she'd been absent for training.  I thinking sharing what students do out of class could be really useful and itneresting.  So...she gets $16 an hour taking care of a woman who's 97-years-old.  She provides companionship, light housekeeping (the kitchen, dishes), helps her change clothes, take a bath, gives her medicine.  The biggest problem is that the woman uses a walker in the house but needs to use a cane when hse goes out, and she hates the cane.  My students, who come from cultures where no one is brought in because the family is all involved, asked "Is she single?"  She has a so in Oklahoma, and her husband died a few years ago.  On Wed & thursday, she takes care of her from 1:00 PM to 1:00 AM, and on Saturday from 8:00 to 8:00. But there's one day when she's there 24 hours!