The pair of shoes

I keep writing about this every month or so and sadly, I keep adding to my examples .I went for a walk in Liberia last night and I actually saw people, if you can believe it. I asked one girl with a little baby where the barber was and we started talking. She asked if I would do her a favour ( we had just met one minute earlier). When I asked her what, she asked that I buy her baby some shoes. I told her that her baby could not even walk yet so she but her baby down sans shoes to show me her 6 month old baby could stand and wobble a bit.
I went on to ask her about her husband or boyfriend and she told me when the baby was born her boyfriend disappeared. She is living with her mother who thankfully has a job. I asked her how old she was and she said nineteen. When will this cycle end? The waitress in our restaurant as well as the chef are pregnant at the moment and they do not have a husband or boyfriend. When I asked if they would consider putting the baby up for adoption they looked at me as if I was crazy. I have witnessed this for three years now and for some crazy reason it still shocks me. I did buy the shoes but sure wish I could have done more.I did not find the barber!
When I went to the Unesco headquarters In New York they would not even speak to me and told me to write a letter. I know education, in the broadest sense is the answer.
The good news, to change the subject, is that I played golf today in Sardinal, close to where I live. I got on the course for $25 because of my Toronto connection and the fact that the pro’s father teaches with me. Josh, I have a sore right wrist by the way. What should I do? I know, I know, don’t play golf.
So, I won’t. Today I spent the day on the beach, or at least an hour and spoke with a San Jose couple with four dogs, three kids and an orthopedic doctor husband. He told me, by the way Josh, that chiropractors were not doctors. When I told him you spent eight years in university he conceded you could be called a doctor. Anyway, here is the good news. I bet I spent one hour talking with them and for sure butchering the language, but you know what, we spoke about kids, jobs, long distance running, where I could buy beach chairs etc. My girlfriend, Rosetta Stone, has really helped me improve. I believe my vocabulary to be quite good and if I could only speak properly I might even have a real conversation with someone. As it is, I can converse for an hour. In Thailand, it was more like 30 minutes so maybe there is hope!!
One more week of school and then off to South America to learn but another accent.