fact that no day is quite the same. Ask anyone and they will tell you
that every day brings different joys, frustrations, and
accomplishments. We all have different coping techniques since not
knowing a lot of what your day will bring can be quite stressful at
times (perhaps in the same way I'm sure Firefighters must feel about
their jobs…) For me, it's the stalwart sense of optimism that gets me
through, though I too have those days of despair and anxiety
association with the high stress of living in West Africa. That being
said, everyone's experience in the Peace Corps is immensely different.
Heck, my sitemate who lives 5K from me in the same city is having a
dramatically different Peace Corps experience. It all comes down to
who we are as people and what we want to get out of this experience.
I thought that it might be interesting for friends and family back
home to know what an average day is like for me living here in Togo,
so that is what this blog post is dedicated too.
Average day # 1
6h00: Wake up to the sound of the call to prayer coming from the
mosque in my back yard intermixed with the crows of roosters and
goats.
6h15: Hit the snooze button on my cell phone alarm for the third time
and rollover for 10 more minutes of sleep (some things never change
and I've become miraculously good at staying asleep amidst incredible
amounts of noise)
6h30: Jump out of bed, shower, and get dressed for the day. Take extra
time to apply sun screen to every exposed surface of my body including
the tops of my feet. (My chaco tan line is probably a permanent
fixture of my skin at this point.)
6h45: Whip up a quick breakfast of a boiled egg, oatmeal, bananas, and
coffee while reading a magazine or watching an episode of Friends on
the computer.
7h00: Race out the door on my bike to a meeting at a middle school 7
kilometers from my house. I'm supposed to be collecting nomination
forms for a leadership camp that the Peace Corps is doing in July for
middle school students. This is the 3rd time this week I've made the
trek out to the school, but hopefully the last because collecting
these forms is the last step in nominating kids for camp.
7h15: Arrive on time sweaty and thirsty at the school. End up waiting
for 45 minutes for the kids, teachers, and director to arrive even
though school is supposed to start at 7h30. Luckily I brought a book.
8h30: After collecting nominations and thanking all the students and
director, I ride my bike back into town for a meeting with my
homologue at the Red Cross. We're planning a Men's Health and Gender
Equity conference and need to discuss the selection of trainers and
plan out our schedule. We take a 15 minute prayer break in the middle
of our meeting, I play snake on my phone to pass the time.
9h30: Ride my bike to the workstation to print and e-mail documents
for a NGO workshop that I'm participating in. Will be teaching
participants about basic computer literacy. After I'm done at the
workstation, I break for a bag of cold water and maybe a couple of
slices of pineapple on the side of the road under a tree.
10h30: After finishing up at the workstation, I ride my bike back into
town to check on the post, send a letter, go to the bank, and pick up
some essentials from the market (vegetables, rice, eggs, toilet paper,
sugar, flour, etc.)
11h00: Accomplishing simple tasks at the post always takes longer than
expected – almost 30 minutes to buy a stamp and check the P.O. box. I
also run into a friend and we end up talking for a bit about his
program and what he's been up to lately.
11h45: Meet up with one of my sitemates for lunch at a café and talk
about a variety of topics ranging from our health, food we miss, work,
future travel plans, other volunteers, food we miss, and plans for the
rest of the week.
13h00: Go home to work on a presentation that will happen with a
fellow PCV in her village on family planning. Need to outline and plan
the order of the conversation and what posters we need to make in
advance.
14h30: At the hottest part of the day, it's hard to do anything other
than sit in front of a fan and read or watch TV. I end up taking a nap
after falling asleep reading Harry Potter in French.
15h30: Wake up to a text message from a volunteer passing through my
town who needs a place to stay for the night. I tell them they can
stay at my house since hotels can be expensive on our budgets.
16h00: Someone knocks on my door, it's my landlord and mason he hired
to come tile the bathroom in my house. He hasn't actually bought any
of the materials, but needs to measure the bathroom for a third time.
I'm not sure why but let them in and supervise as they do all of this.
16H30: After shooing my landlord out, I ride my bike up to another
NGOs office to talk to them about an idea I have for a market women's'
health group. The idea seems to go over well so after I flesh out more
of what the idea means to me, I'll go back and discuss it more with
them. Hopefully it's a project that catches on, but as with about 80%
of my ideas, it kinda fizzles out. But that's OKAY!
17h00: Volunteer arrives after a long/uncomfortable taxi ride and we
hang out for a bit before deciding to go to dinner at a local street
food stand.
19h00: After coming home, start working on editing a radio show that
another site mate has wrote and will hopefully perform together in the
next week.
20h30: Shower and get ready for bed.
21h00: Fall asleep either reading or watching an episode of some
random TV show. My favorite shows to watch to fall asleep are the
Planet Earth series, especially the ones about the ocean.
Average day # 2 (Not necessarily the next day, but just an example of
another "average day.")
7h00: Wake up under similar circumstances, shower, eat breakfast.
7h30: Watch a ridiculous amount of the TV show Mad Men, only breaking
to make a sandwich for lunch.
16h00: Decide that I should probably leave the house at least once, so
I walk down the street say hi to some friends.
17h00: After only an hour, I come back home and make dinner. While
dinner is finishing cooking, I do an exercise video (usually yoga or
cardio)
18h00: Eat dinner, shower, and continue watching TV.
20h00: By now I've finished almost an entire season. Slightly
embarrassed yet satisfied, I get ready for bed.
20h30: Phone call from America! Yay! Talk on the phone with a friend
for a bit before getting into bed.
So there you have it. Two very different, but very real days for me
here in Peace Corps Togo. I wouldn't say that I prefer having one type
of day to another, but I will say that without the days like the
second day, the days like the first wouldn't be possible. I guess what
I'm trying to say is that work can be incredibly exhausting,
frustrating, and in general just take a lot more effort than in the
United States. However, that is all part of this experience and it is
teaching me to appreciate the things that I do have that much more. I
wouldn't say that I'm happy ALL the time here, but I am happy most of
the time. Feeling yourself change as a person is a very surreal
feeling, but it's also refreshing to know that this experience is
giving you as much back as you are putting in. I'm learning to rely on
myself, work with others who see the world radically different than
me, and in general learning to accept my shortcomings and talents. I
miss my friends and family every day, but I have never been more
content with a decision as to join the Peace Corps.
