Candles at Both Ends

Because I work in a very small town in a developing country with a very conservative culture, there are severe limits on how any woman can while away her empty hours. No surprise, then, that studying is a welcome diversion. A least it doesn’t upset the local community the way going for a walk, driving to the capital or having a cup of tea in a local “coffee shop” invariably does. I can sit at my desk surrounded by the limited collection of books gained by hook or by crook (the twenty-odd MA students in my program are trying to rotate our college library’s course collection of two dozen books around the country between us) without disturbing anyone. For hours and hours and hours. Boredom will never be a problem again: it seems that in there will always be a great deal more that needs to be read, written, analysed or researched.

And when it rains, it pours. Teaching, of course, continues full steam ahead. One course that I teach had to be created from a list of keywords provided by the Ministry and a few completely unrelated books. Course design is right up my alley, but it does take masses of time, effort and accountability… and I would have liked to have it in my job description. But teaching is what I am there for, and it receives first priority.

As to my studies, well, I set high standards for myself, and I am adamant to beat the shortage of resources and the other obstacles in my way with the very best work I am able to deliver. Consider it an experiment: what, exactly, am I capable of? As a child of the developing world, I have never actually had the chance to put my abilities to the test in anything but the very small fishbowls of my fatherland and the two countries where I have worked. None of these are meritocracies, being ruled by laws of loyalty more than achievement, and yet I survived. Now I am in the ocean. What will happen? If only in the name of Science, I should give it my best shot, not?

Meanwhile, the conference season is upon us. Forgetting all about my poster proposal for Oman’s national ELT conference at Sultan Qaboos University in April, I accepted an invitation to address school teachers at their regional convention late in March. As fate would have, it, it was not long before I received an email to confirm that my poster had also been accepted. That’s two speaking engagements before my first assignment is due in May. Granted, some people do two presentations a day, but since these are firsts, I have my work cut out for me.

These are the responsibilities that I accept. To me, it seems a whole lot to handle, and although I am not too crazy about pressure, I can do this for the next two months. But anything else I will simply not stand for. Question now is how do I get cooperation on that?