A Day in My Life

After my lengthy series of disconnected stories, have you ever wondered what it is I actually do in a day? Every day is quite different, but yesterday, my day looked something like this.

6:00 a.m. –I drag myself out of bed and then out into the cool air for my morning run.

6:40 a.m.-My chore for the morning is to sweep and mop the floor.

7:15 a.m.-After my first bucket bath of the day and some serious ironing, I’m neatly dressed, coiffed and sitting down to a breakfast of stir fried tofu and leafy greens over rice.

8:05 a.m. –I pull into the MCC office compound, only slightly late, after weaving my way through an army of motorcycles, bicycle drawn carts and a few luxury SUVs. Today’s projects include working on a newsletter for MCC’s ethnic minority teacher education program and reorganizing the office library.

12:00 p.m.-I eat lunch with my Lao colleagues at “MCC Restaurant” (so called because one of MCC’s long term employees has eaten there every day for the last seventeen years). In this open air, road side shop, our rice noodle and beef soup (feuh) is cooked over an open fire and then topped with green onions, bean sprouts, lime and mint.

2:00 p.m.-After a long Lao style lunch break, My English classes begin at Ponsinuane Primary School. My co-teacher, Happy, recently spent a year in British Columbia volunteering with MCC and so we teach Canadian English.

3:00p.m.-While the other children run and shout and play, it is the grade 3’s turn to visit the school’s little library. A group of girls crowds around, and we take turns reading aloud from Lao story books. When it’s my turn they shriek with laughter and call out the corrections to my frequent mistakes, fully enjoying the opportunity to correct a teacher.

5:00p.m.-After the adventure of my drive home, it’s time for bucket shower number two. I’m on babysitting duty today, and so I scoop up baby Joshua, and Isaac runs ahead excitedly, and we head outside for a walk. We’ve soon collected a small crowd of curious children and even the adults can’t help but stare at the foreigner and her Lao children as they pass.

7:00p.m.-Supper tonight is spicy, green papaya salad, bits of grilled pork and sticky rice, all eaten with our hands of course. Dragon fruit makes a nice dessert. I practice my Lao with my sisters as we clean up together and we laugh so hard that the aunt next door comes over to see what’s wrong.

8:30p.m.-I study Lao and help my sister with her English homework while endless Thai soap operas play in the background. The children come and go, as do a steady stream of neighbours and relatives who stop by to chat or drop off a bunch of sweet bananas.

10:00p.m. Following bucket bath number three, my lights are out and I’m soon fast asleep.