How Quickly Life Changes Here…

Monday, I started teaching a new student that is so awesome.  His English is really good and he really wanted to learn.  It was so much fun that we hung out in the bar we had class in (yes, you read right… we had class in a bar) for an extra hour after we were finished. 

Today, Wednesday, was his second class.  As I walked up the stairs to the bar, I saw him talking to a woman.  I thought it weird that he didn’t introduce me, but greeted him and went to a table to sit down.  After about 5 minutes, he came and plopped down at the table and said, “I have a notice for you.  I am laid off.”  We had just practiced the difference in “laid off” versus “fired” the class before.  I told him that laid off sounded more like they didn’t need you than that you did something wrong.  It had just been a random vocabulary word from a story from his past and now, just two days later, it was happening again. 

So, I asked him if he was sad and he said that he was just surprised.  He thinks he is going to move to another part of the country to study at a university really soon… maybe even next week.  I asked him if he still wanted to do class and he did.  We talked about the tourism industry here and how volatile it makes life.  One moment you have a job and the next moment you don’t.  One moment I have an awesome student and the next moment the slot is free.  I really will miss this new friend :[ 

I constantly marvel at the rapid way life can change here and how the people don’t seem to even let it faze them. 

I guess it is just another reminder to appreciate the time I have with people, doing the things we are doing and sharing our love for life along the way.