Today started out pretty well. I forsook the early morning swim for a little more sack time. Then I breakfasted on croissant and coffee freshly ground and brewed in my Aeropress. Yes, then the lady at the taxi call center finished the sentence I use to order my taxi. They apparently already know my voice after the 100th call. I got to work and started to prep for a smaller workshop later today for pesantren teachers that my colleague offered me up for. I was more than happy to do the job. During this time, the Embassy calls and asks if I could stand in for one of their officers who can’t make it to a book launch at the American Corner at UNHAS. I was already going there tomorrow anyhow.
Then, a classic occurence of chaos happened here.
We arrive at the training and have our tea and biscuits while meeting the civil servants who organized this two-day ‘orientation’ for teachers of English at pesantren. My colleague goes of to the mosque to pray and leaves me alone to listen to the workers questions. I soon find out that the one and a half hour workshop has transformed into a five hour workshop due to someone not being able to come. I protest slightly by showing them the schedule with a signature confirming my short presentation. They respond by showing me another unsigned schedule that has me giving the workshop on the following day for five hours. Hmm. I planned for one and a half hours. Two hours, I could have done. Not five. My colleague comes back and arranges for me to give my workshop in the shorter time. All is fine. Then we’re told a VIP hadn’t finished his talk before the afternoon prayer time and will continue now, cutting into my time. Of course, I have only until 6p before we break for evening prayer. I work fast and whip through my first activity and get the teachers bumping to The Beatles’ “Hello, Goodbye” before I have to run down the rest of the handouts I prepared for them. The handouts were samples of worksheets on how to use songs in the classroom, a workshop I had given the week before. Then we ate and ran–makan, pulang as they say here.