Just comments

I just feel chatty today. I've been down with the flu or some kind of crud for about a week. Still going to work, but mostly just working and sleeping, when I wasn't coughing a lung up...eeeewwww.

But I'm on the mend now, and talkative as ever. My sailors are doing okay; there are two groups. The first group speaks very little English. They are to go to Hawaii at the end of May to participate in some kind of exercise. They are using the cds that I bought for O in the class. These cds give the instructions in Spanish and words to learn in English. They seem to understand what's going on, but when I ask in English, there are two that just smile and nod their heads. I know they don't get it. They can repeat things, which is good, but they can't make phrases on their own yet. For now, they're just learning vocabulary and individual phrases.

The second group are deploying to various countries with the UN, so they are taking things a little more seriously. They had to take an English exam in order to get into the class, and we are not only building vocabulary, but working on grammar. Still, most of them haven't studied English, but picked up what they know from watching television and movies. They are lots of fun. They can make sentences and jokes on their own and are working on writing daily reports to improve their grammar. Their speaking skills vary, but they can all make themselves understood in one way or another. Sometimes they need more body language and hand gestures to get their meaning across, but hey - whatever works!

On the Sunday, we went to a soccer match. I didn't get much out of it, but in between the coughing fits, I saw some of the game. What I really saw was the crowd and the police. I had no idea that soccer fans were so volatile. Fights broke out in the stands and the police formed lines in the stands to separate the opposing groups. When we left the stadium, mounted police and police on motorcycles escorted the people out of the area and down the street. Once we were walking and saw the mounted police take off ahead of us. We couldn't see or hear anything going on, but suddenly the whole crowd turned on its heels and ran straight at us. O and I ducked between cars to keep from being run over. We never did figure out what was happening, but at least we survived getting out of the parking lot and down the block. I wondered why I saw people leaving before the match ended. Now I know.

Celeste and I went to the park this morning, but there were no dogs to play with. Everyone was at work or in school, so we made a couple of laps around the park and headed back home. Actually, it's too hot to do much else. Celeste came back and crashed on the floor. I'm off again in a moment to the market to pick up some dog food and something for lunch. What sounds good to you for lunch?