Life Can be so Unfair...

(sigh)

This is an important holiday weekend in most of Latin America. In the US, Easter is a fairly important religious holiday, but it doesn't involve days off, normally at least. In Catholic Latin America this is Semana Santa, Holy Week, a lengthy celebration. For many it is a 4-day weekend, including for the faculty and staff at my school.

Monday adds to it, it is 'Teacher Day' and after this 4-day weekend we will start our day with an assembly (or momento civico). After this we have classes until noon and then the students head home. At 1:30 we have a formal lunch at the auditorium for teachers. So, in the end we teachers will be at school for all day, but we will only teach half a day.

At my wife's school, though, they have Monday off, a 5-day weekend.

(sigh)

I need a different schedule!

School is on!

My blogging has cut back, because classes are going and I am stumbling, rumbling and bumbling about staying ahead of my new crop of students. It is always fun to start a new year. Last year wasn´t so fun because I came in as an emergency hire in the middle of school, which is WAY stressful for the teacher and the students. Now we are all getting off on a more relaxed foot and everything is great.

Of course, I still don´t understand the Ecuadorian penchant for starting things when you have to stop them. Last week, the first week, started on Wednesday so it was a short week. This week ends today, on Wednesday, because tomorrow starts the big fiesta of Semana Santa, so another really short week.

Next week is normal, sort of, since Monday is Dia del Maestro (Day of the Teacher) so the students have a half day and faculty has a special lunch after the students go? We won´t have our first full week of classes until our 4th week of school. It is a hard life, but I have to do it!