Adjusting

ad·just ; 1. To change so as to match or fit; cause to correspond. 2. To adapt or conform, as to new conditions.


Well...that definition says it all!  We have now been in Cebu for 2 months and it has been an interesting few months! There have been SO many things to get used to here. 


Driving was the first challenge when we first got here.  There are no rules here.  There are traffic lights, but most of the time, they do not work.  Sometimes there is a "Blue Shirt" (Police) in the middle of the street directing traffic.  Most of the time, it's a free-for-all.  Pretty much the person with the biggest, you know what, WINS.  When we first got to Cebu we rented something called a multi-cab.  It's a tiny minivan made for small people! Typically, Filipinos are short.  Every time we drove it our knees were killing us.  We were desperately looking for our own car.  It took 3 weeks.  Driving here has been easier than I thought.  I guess I have big, you know what's!  =)

The next challenge now that we finally had a reliable car was getting Eric settled with all of his therapies.  It actually is still a little bit of a battle but we are getting there.  First, we have him in Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy, each 2 days a week.  Speech has been difficult.  Speech therapists are scarce here so what they do is, usually a facility will hire one speech therapist to do evaluations and then that Speech Therapist will train an Occupational Therapist to implement the speech.  We have been trying to find a Speech Therapist to work one on one with Eric but it seems that it's just not how they do it here.  So, we are in the process of having his evaluation done until we can get a Speech Therapist working with him...an Occupational Therapist is who who will work with Eric.


School has been another adjustment!  In the States, whichever school is in your district MUST take your Special Needs child.  Here, very different!  The schools which are equipped for handling Eric are paid for out of pocket by the parents.  There are only 2 schools in our area who are set up to handle him and they are both FULL!  One school only takes  1 Special Needs child per class and is about $400 a month.  The other takes 3 Special Needs per class and is about the same price.  So right now, we have him on the waiting list for them and hopefully next year he will be in.  In the meantime, we worry because he NEEDS to be with other kids.  I have been trying to find a parents playgroup but haven't succeeded. One of the schools that he is on the list for has a playgroup that starts in August.  Its only 3 days a week 1.5 hrs each day.  Still, better than nothing!  So he will start that in August.  Because this whole school thing is such an issue we hired a Special Ed Teacher to come to the house 3 days a week, but unfortunately, she just didn't work out.  So now, we are trying to get the Special Ed teacher at his Therapy place to take him on, one on one.  It seems like EVERYTHING takes longer here to get going.  So, we won't give up....and in the meantime....Mark and I have seriously thought about opening up our own Therapy Unit because it is in such demand!  

Well, that just gives you a taste of how we are adjusting here to life as an American in a Third World Country.  I miss so many things about the U.S. and hopefully in a few years, we can come back to our great country!  In the meantime, we are trying to make the best of what has been thrown at us.  We are thankful that our business has given us this opportunity to see new places and meet new people. 


Until next time....