Where has the time gone?

Third Full day

I truly believe that I entered a time warp zone when I arrived here on Sunday afternoon, local time. The last three days just passed me by – so much happened, good and not so good.

The “Not so good” bits were things that I had expected anyway: intense heat and high humidity, loads of mosquitoes, very poor standard of living, dirt, dust, electricity cuts, rationing of water… but still, it can, at times, be a little overwhelming, especially when one is tired and did not have enough sleep (before you even think it, not because of late night parties, I must add!).

The really good bits are a sense of achievement, the certain knowledge that what I do MAKES a difference to the school, in terms of achieving greater efficiency for mundane tasks… which means that the staff have more time to dedicate to teaching the kids, which is the school’s main raison d’être.  And when I reflect that what I do, has the potential of making a positive impact on the current 1,200 pupils on the school roll, year in, year out, it is simply awesome (in its truest sense, I don’t normally tend to use this overused word).

Today was BORING! Aaarrrrgh… writing up a Users’ Manual is just SO tedious, even for the music library database for the Ecole de Musique Dessaix – Baptist of Jacmel; but still, it will be very useful. Don’t know how I kept going, from 8 am to 5.45 pm with about one hour off for lunch break – sheer bloody mindedness, I suppose.

Tomorrow will be no different from today as I will be writing another manual, from the designer’s perspective. This will allow the school administrator to understand the mechanics of the database and deal with changes / improvements as may be required in the future, on an informed and effective basis. OMG, with at least 4 other databases to design (accounting / reporting, HR, pupils, instruments... ----> at least a further 8 manuals to write... Thank goodness for the reliable supply of "Prestige" nearby.

But until tomorrow, I make hay (the sun still shines, in fact). My little daughter has been commissioned by me to upload photos that I shall email her, to my blog. The internet speed here is just too slow for me to attempt to do it myself from here. So, look out for Jume’s survival kits in Haiti! ;-)

Got home today, pretty tired but had a smile on my lips when, in response to my “Bonswa”, the sweet little old man who seems to be working as a joiner at my house, replied with “Bonswa ma belle”! It cannae be a bad end to my third day!