Working in Colombia is slowly redefining how I think of flexibility. It's pretty incredible how inconsistent things are around here. Indeed, the only things that seem particularly consistent are the kitchen on campus and the inconsistency of everything else. In particular, there hasn't been a week since I arrived here when at least one of my classes hasn't had to be rescheduled. Every week there's some sort of special seminar, or extra-curricular classes, or a field trip, or a building dedication (ok, that only happened once), or something else that makes it so I have to juggle classes. I feel silly writing how frustrating this can be, but honestly, this can be really frustrating. Between the students' busy schedule and mine, the only time to reschedule those classes ends up being at night or on Sunday. I end up teaching 7 days a week, or finding out half an hour before class that I suddenly have that day off. It's very different from my college experience, for sure, when if a class was cancelled for any reason, that was pretty much it, because getting everybody in the same place outside the regular time was like trying to catch all the mice in a hay field. Here, the students all live on campus, they all have the same class schedule (within a given group - there are 6 groups), and they all eat at the same place at the same time. Rescheduling a class can sometimes be as easy as standing in the dining hall and shouting the new class time. The students grumble (as do I, in my head) but they all show up, and that's that.
I'm glad I'm a volunteer, because if I was getting paid, I'm not sure it would be enough.
