Here I sit in Guayaquil, Ecuador

Here I sit on a fine, bright, hot Friday afternoon, here in Guayaquil, Ecuador. I feel almost guilty… well just a little. One of the great things of this position is that I work hard when it is time to work, but the rest of the time, most of the time, is mine.

Take yesterday (Thursday). Since we are running split classes so all of the Air Traffic Controllers can make it, I have one intensive class from 10-12, and another from 4-6. At the moment, I have the lowest level class of all the three groups going through our English program. It is the smallest group, only 11 students, which is good, because these are the guys that need the most help. But right now, three of their number are away on special assignments, so now I only have eight students.

So Thursday is test day, everybody knows this because I let them know well in advance when a test is coming. Then I found out one of my students will be gone. Unfortunately, he had a death in his family and he’s taking a week off. That’s cool. Family is much more important than English classes.

Then seven students show up for the morning class. I do my review, go over problems and questions, give the test and away they go.

So, that means there would be no students for my afternoon class. But I still get paid for it. You gotta love it.