The influence of the weather on daily life and work

How much the weather can influence your daily life I learned here in Argentina, working for an NGO in the province of Buenos Aires. I work as a volunteer in a town one hour outside of Buenos Aires and here the weather dictates quite a lot of our life.

If it rains, for example, the students will not turn up to class. And that is not only related to the fact that when it rains here it is actually pouring down but it is also related to the fact that the people cannot afford to catch a cold, they cannot pay for medication and being ill means at least one day less of earnings. This situation is somewhat different in Buenos Aires, also because there is a better public transport system so you do not have to walk for too long through the rain in most places. It is very similar with the students when it gets cold in winter. Less of them turn up to class. For us however, it is really hard in winter because it is so cold and we do not have radiators so our ability to heat up the rooms is only very limited. This means making one cup of tea after the other or having one mate after the other to try and keep warm.

On the other hand, when it is really hot, it is so hot that even thinking seems a mayor act. So again, students will not turn up to class or if they do then they will be less productive and less able to learn. Of course it does not help that we cannot afford air-conditioning in the NGO (which is kind of standard in many offices in Buenos Aires – as I said, it is a different world). Fortunately, there are no classes during the hottest part of the summer because the summer holidays fall into that period. However, that does not mean that there is no work for us in the NGO. Last summer it meant that during the summer holidays I was mainly doing administrative work (for example preparing and/or translating presentations and documents, etc.). And it was really hard work because during most of the day it was so hot and humid that I just could not get my brain to focus properly. So I ended up getting up early in the mornings to do a couple of hours of productive work before it got too hot for that (which was usually around 9/9.30am) and then took a break or did less demanding tasks for the rest of the day until it cooled down around 7pm and then worked through until 11pm or later. This made my days really long but it was my only option to be more or less productive during that period of the year.

I am glad of having made this experience anyway but I must admit that I am looking forward to having an office with all its amenities again after I finish my volunteering project here.