So, what have I been up to?

So it´s all over. The DELTA is done and dusted. The last post-lesson evaluation written, proofread, corrected and submitted. Of course, after being hounded (ok maybe that´s a bit of an exaggeration) by Milan, I discover at the last moment that they haven´t sent the document for me to sign stating that the work is all my own and done independently. So now the tutor at this end is sorting it out - at least she is reliable.

Friday was a busy day, went into school early as I´d had a phone call from the cleaner (remember, the one I´d fired) telling me she couldn´t come on Thursdays any more but she would come on Tuesdays. I was so gobsmacked (and tired and in the middle of my dinner) that I said yes. Turns out the person who was supposed to call her hadn´t because she couldn´t get hold of the number! That person now knows it needs to be dealt with asap. Later Friday morning I went to the other school to do any final paperwork and officially finish the course with the others. They went on to a long lazy lunch but I had to go back to my school because it was Parents´ Day.

Oh what joy Parents' Day is. What unmitigated delight. Why is it that the parents you don´t need to see always turn up and those you wouldn´t mind having a word with don´t? The education system here is very driven by grades so I had to explain to some parents that even though their darling got 8s and 9s last year, the 6s and 7s I gave were representative of their performance so far this year. It puts unreasonable pressure on the kids who are already working hard and has no effect on those who can´t be bothered. And, if that wasn´t enough, I still have to be available for parents who couldn´t come on the actual day but will phone up and make appointments at random times over the next three weeks. Officially, there are two more time slots but the unofficial pressure to be available at additional times is strong. And I want to do what´s best for the students. Balancing the two isn´t easy.

Partied on Friday night, took part in a drinking game - very simple rules which get more complicated the more you drink - and went home with a good beer buzz. I was woken up on Saturday morning by the phone. I bounced along the corridor (unable to walk in a straight line) to find it was the internet company at the other end. They´ve been phoning me on a regular basis, obviously unable to believe I´m not at home all the time, sometimes leaving messages and sometimes not. The last couple of times I´ve answered, I listen to their cheerful spiel in Spanish (Hello my name is [insert name here] and I´m calling from Flash Internet) at which point I say, "Do you speak English?" and the response has always been "No" to which I say "I don´t speak Spanish. Goodbye", end of conversation. They were told when the initial appointment was made that I don´t speak Spanish. The man who came out to connect me up told the office I don´t speak Spanish (you´d be surprised just how much I understand, though) and several telephone conversations with me have confirmed this but this internet company somehow couldn´t add this information to it´s records.

Anyway, the same happened Saturday morning and I put the phone down and went to the loo (still had a lot of beer to get rid of). Five minutes later the phone rings again and it´s the internet company again but, miracle of miracles, the guy on the other end speaks English. Only it turns out that he´s trying to arrange a date for them to come and connect me. I tell him this has already happened and that their man said it doesn´t work in my building. Man on phone pauses to check his records, sounds puzzled and says that he has to speak to someone and that they will call me back in a day or two. I say fine, just make sure whoever calls can speak English, he says he will. End of call. I do not expect to hear from them again. How they could not know that the connection wasn´t working, I don´t know, but this is Argentina where they have made it a deliberate business decision to not let the right hand know what the left is doing.

Spent the rest of Saturday sipping flat diet coke (my hangover remedy) and watching tv. Went to bed early-ish and slept like a baby. Life feels a bit empty at the moment and I´m finding it hard to be enthusiastic about anything but that´s just post-DELTA exhaustion.

Next on my list of things to do is plan my winter holiday. I´m hoping to go to Missiones which is in the North East and is where the Jesuit Missionaires built communities (hence the name). It´s supposed to be difficult to get around without a car so I may go on a package trip.

Watch this space...

Rant begins...

Well, that was a waste of time, Friday I mean. I waited in all morning (their appointment time was 0800v - 1400) and the men turned up at 1130. They spent half an hour fixing cables (trying to convince me to drill a hole through a wall to save on some cabling), connected up a modem, fiddled with my laptop, called their base, fiddled some more with the cables then packed everything away.

After packing everything, one of the men wrote 5/06/2007 in big numbers on a piece of paper (obviously, as I don't speak Spanish I must be stupid and/or illiterate) and let me know that the internet connection doesn't work and it would be fixed on the date given. I told him that that wasn't good as I'd be at work all day (I can do this in Spanish) at which point he shrugged his shoulders and left. To say I was unhappy was an understatement. The man kept saying OK and giving me the thumbs up and I kept saying No OK (and swearing in English). In their eagerness to leave, one of the men left his jacket behind, returning to collect it just as I was getting in the shower. Another slammed door later and I was in tears.

Unfortunately, this is typical of BsAs businesses. There is complete unconcern as regards customer service and you will be told bare-faced lies rather than them admit they've done something wrong (remember I waited over a month for the last company to send out a modem which was supposed to arrive within 72 hours).

I won't be following up on this and I've now given up on getting the internet connected at home. It's a pain in the proverbial but symptomatic of all that is wrong here.

Part of the problem is the shitty flat I'm living in. On the surface, everything looks wonderful (if not to my taste) however there is only one, slow, lift which takes a maximum of three people, the water pressure on the nineth floor is iffy so taking a shower is an exercise in tap control, the furniture is crappy and the light switches spark on a regular basis. On top of all this, the flat gets very little natural light (it's in its own shadow), making the balcony useless and there are lots of silly rules such as no external cabling (because it doesn't look pretty, I guess) and no drying your washing on the balcony (god only knows why, I'm on the nineth floor so nobody from below can see it and the people opposite who can see it, do dry their washing on the balcony).

As if petty rules weren't enough, my monthly expenses have just gone up (to approximately half the rent) and the cleaner has claimed she can't get the flat clean in two hours a fortnight. She wants three hours plus travel costs. I've fired her. I am a tidy person. I don't leave washing up, washing, ironing or bed making for her to do. I rarely have the windows open as being on the nineth floor over a busy road makes it both windy and noisy, so there isn't much dust and, finally, both the kitchen and bathroom are too small to swing a cat. I'd rather do it myself once a month especially as I believe that there is an element of 'rich foreigner can afford it' and my subsidising the, almost certainly low, wages paid by her regular employers (the family who own the flat). I feel like a cash machine and I'm sick of it.

I haven't particularly liked here for a long time and now I'm counting the days. The only reasons I'm here are because a) I signed a 22 month contract and I believe in honouring my contracts b) if I leave in July I won't be able to travel back the long way round because of getting my stuff home and c) I've just had braces put on my teeth and I can't afford to get this treatment done anywhere else.

One good thing about this place is that time passes quickly and we've got the winter holiday coming up soon. I intend to make the most of it. I don't know how regular I will be in updating this blog but I will be making an effort so stick around - there could be some good stuff!

Rant over