We’re at the Eastcliffe Resource Center in Douglas IOM (Isle of Man), a day centre for adults with learning disabilities. Upstairs is a tiny little training room, but Kevin is making it work. It’s raining LOTS, so we took a cab. But in nicer weather we’d walk—it’s a very short distance from the hotel, but up a steep hill.
Margaret, one of our contact people, said because of the weather, the mountain roads are closed and people would be late. She also said most island cultures have different views of time. Here it’s the concept of treedilooa (tray-di-lure), meaning “later is enough.” Love it.
One thing I really like is that in most hotels a full breakfast is included.
A couple of other new things I’ve learned so far in this location—first, Kev just said to the group, “He’s as happy as Larry.” I’ve never heard that one before, and hope I remember to ask him about it. The other thing—the menu at this centre includes “chat potatoes.” I asked what that meant and it’s new potatoes. So I ordered it for lunch.
Just now returned from a break and Kev said the Larry line is just a colloquialism and he doesn’t know where it came from.
Interesting tidbit: Kent University did a four-year study and found the British are the second-best queue-ers in the world. Russians are first.
For lunch we went to the onsite dining room. Had quite a filling meal. Some of the service users were still there. Quite a range of abilities and disabilities.
I got a ton of work done today, but still was able to listen to Kevin teach. Carole says the reason I can multi-task is that I’m a woman and we can all do that. For whatever reason, I really did pay attention to Kev and still finally made time to organize the notes from all the training I received in the states prior to coming here. This resulted in giving me much more on my to-do list.
Walked back to the hotel because it wasn’t raining. But I didn’t have my camera handy. Drat. The sea is gorgeous and rather dangerous-looking. I do want to get some photos if at all possible.
After checking my email and relaxing a little, I was ready for dinner. Kev and I walked to an Indian restaurant. It was cold and rainy, but the walk was sure worth it. The food was tasty and the company fun. The walk back was a little more rainy, but a little less cold. Was it the coffee or the spices in the food?
POSTED 2 February 8:30 PM UK Time
posted by Jerilyn Dufresne, author @ 14:30
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