Month of Interruptions

One of my colleagues at school this week described October as the "Month of Interruptions." Such a description could not be more apt. The month began with several days off for the election, will be followed next week with Teacher's Day, and later in the month more time will be taken off for Independence Day. The problem is not just with the official days off but that students regularly don't show up after these days off either. For example, after having most of Wednesday and all of Thursday, Friday, Monday, and possibly Tuesday off, only about a third of students bothered showing up this Wednesday - I had 11 Grade 8s and 4 Grade 10s. On Friday, the situation was worse as 3 Grade 8s and no Grade 10s bothered to come to class. Students were not the only ones suffering from lax attendance standards. Several teachers did not bother to come to class either. Such a situation is frustrating for someone used to Canadian expectations about attendance but I had better get used to it as we are only one week into the "Month of Interruptions."