Change in the Calendar

Did you know 2015 is an El Niño year? All the reports say that it is going to be strong this year. What that means exactly, I don't know. One or two El Niño cycles ago, the lake in the valley next to ours overflowed and people had to live in tents for a while. But no one I've talked to seems too concerned about it. The Ministry of Education, on the other hand, is very concerned. They're so concerned, that for much of Peru the school year is ending two weeks early. So instead of ending December 18, we end December 4.

What does that mean?

1. Saturday School. Those lost classroom hours have to be made up somehow, and having school on Saturday is one way to it. That means 6 day workweeks for students and teachers. It means families here in Andahuaylillas won't be able to rely on the support of their children in fieldwork on Saturdays.
2. As a result of Saturday school, First Communion and Confirmation classes will have to be rescheduled. That means there will be no day of the week where many students, not to mention I, will have the day off the entire day.
3. New JVS have to arrive sooner. New JVs arrive in Andahuaylillas before the school year ends so that they can observe a bit of the rhythm of life at their worksites. Both the school and the parish shut down for summer vacation, so if JVs don't get to observe in December, they start work in March without having seen what that job looks like. The original dat ewe proposed for their arrival, December 10, is no good, so they will probably be arriving at the start of the month.
4. Outgoing JVs have to leave sooner. It's a necessary part of the cycle that JVC has to fund 3 years worth of volunteers for a few weeks in December. But since the work-year is ending sooner, the necessary time for overlap will be finished sooner. So our 3 outgoing JVs may be leaving a few weeks sooner than they had been thinking. And if they stay, they will be off JVC's budget.

As you can see, lot's of changes. We'll see how the next two months go as we race to finish the school year before the rains get bad. I also expect I'll have less time and energy for blogging. I promise to do the best I can to keep things up to date and interesting, but I ask your patience. And if you're thinking about visiting this winter, you'll want to pack a raincoat.