Foosball

Wednesday 22 August 2007

This is the foosball table at work. Despite the fact that we are waaaaaaaaaay behind on this project, it sees a lot of use. Every day the men gather out there to play long championships, cheering each other on so loudly you would think we were at a real fútbol game.

I don't know whether it is just this office, if this an Argentine phenomenon, or if it is common to all offices, but since coming to work here I have been struck by how little work actually gets done. Long cigarette breaks are taken in the kitchen, people sip mate and chat, the guys play foosball, and the girls turn on music and sing along. Not everyone slacks off - some people here are very hard workers. But overall, I look around and don't see many of them.

The main problem with this is that we English translators cannot do our job until the Spanish team does theirs. So, if they get behind, we unwillingly get behind, too. And when the deadlines loom, it is on us that the pressure falls. Ah well, that's life, I suppose.