Day 15

           April was surprised when she and I waited over an hour for Mu to arrive. Remembering Mu’s pitiful state yesterday, I attributed his absence to a worsened condition. I didn’t expect, in the least, to see him and his mother ringing the doorbell. Poor, poor Mu! He came at Centro “2 de abril” sniffing with his red nose, sneezing continually, and hot from fever. But, his mother explained, he does not have much alternatives; the mother has to go to work, the house is under reparations, and he has nowhere to go except for the school. On the other hand, although I am concerned about Mu’s recovery, I am also worried he will transmit his illness to the other people at the school. I hope the germs won’t spread anywhere. April and I did not push him too hard on his exercises, did not raise our expectations too high. We did not, however, grant him the satisfaction of behaving capriciously, of being chased after and cajoled back to the classroom. To prevent reinforcing his behavior by giving him the desired reward, April even insisted she and I ignore him completely, only barring the exits by standing in front, without acknowledging him when he tried to escape. Her plan worked, because after a couple attempts Mu stopped running around and away, instead remaining seated. Evidently, it bored and tired him to prance around for no rewards. Mu balanced from one extreme to the other; he was all restless and hyper upon arrival, and ended up dead and limp by the end of his 1:1 session. When he was done with work, Mu resumed lying back on the mini sofa, even burying his head in his arms. Poor, poor Mu! How tired he must have felt! Get better soon, dear Mu.

           Ta was a whole other story. He was whining and shouting and crying nonstop, all because we did not turn on the television. I’m getting used to the fits and sudden outbursts, because I’ve been hearing a lot of the sort lately. But it still uses up my nerves to repress waves of impatience and the surges to snap, “Please be quiet!” at the loud protests. Ta never wants to work, and he always manages to distract himself! It sometimes frustrates me tremendously, because I just cannot tell whether he has heard me and is openly ignoring me, or whether he has not understood what I said. But I have to be forgiving and patient and understanding. And I hope I am successful, in Centro “2 de abril” and elsewhere as well.

           My half day was pretty relaxed. I had an hour to talk with April, and we bid ourselves “goodbye” and “good luck,” for it was the last time I saw her. Since Tuesday, I have been saying goodbye to one person per day. . It relieves the charge emotionally, but it still touches me a bit. Saying goodbye… So many goodbyes to say this month! Tomorrow, I’ll be seeing the last of the students attending group classes at Centro “2 de abril.” Josefina told me the students will feel my absence and miss me. I hope I haven’t and won’t disrupt anything in their lives. I hope there won’t be any emerging attachment issues. I’ll head to sleep now. I wanted to be as ready and fresh as possible for tomorrow’s last meeting.