The Day-to-Day

When I first got to Liberia, I was updating my blog 3 or 4 times a week.  Everything that was happening was part of a new and exciting adventure.  As my postings have slowed over the last few weeks, I've realized it is because so much of what was once completely new is now simply routine, normal even.  With this in mind, I've tried to remind myself of the questions I had before arriving in Liberia so I can try to answer those and give you all more of a glimpse of what life here is like.  Really, I think most of my questions revolved around what my day-to-day life would be like.  So, I thought I'd give you a glimpse into "a day in the life of Holly" here in Liberia.  We'll go with a school day because those are most routine.

I usually get up sometime around 7am, have a quick breakfast (cold Pop Tart and a little juice), throw on some clothes and head to school.  The school day starts at 7:30 AM with the students lined up at the flag pole to say the pledge of allegiance, sing the school ode, and sing the national anthem.  After that they head in to the chapel to sing a couple hymns (or sometimes more contemporary songs from a kids CD) and have morning devotion - about 5 minutes led by one faculty member (I do it about 2 weeks each semester).  After that, things in the chapel can last anywhere from 5 minutes to another hour depending on how many announcements, speeches (seniors all have to give a speech to graduate), and random other things are happening on a given morning.  First period is supposed to start at 8:15 but often chapel cuts in to this time; the school day is not adjusted, I just lose time with whatever class is first, which can be tricky! 

After chapel (assuming we're out by 8:15), I have four 40-minute periods.  Although each period is 40 minutes, there's no time between periods to change classes, so by the time I pack up my things, hurry to my next class, unpack my things and take roll, I'm usually down to about 35 minutes in a given class.  After the first 4 periods we have recess for 45 minutes.  During that time I am always in the library hoping my students will come ask me questions; they don't nearly as often as they need to, but sometimes they do come and it always makes the sitting there worth it!  After recess I have anywhere from 0 - 3 more periods to teach, so I finish as early as 11:40 (Thursdays) and as late as 1:40 (Mondays and Tuesdays). 

Once school is over (on Monday, Wednesday, Friday) I head home and sometimes eat lunch (a Lebanese wrap with PB&J and some Pringles) and change for basketball practice which goes from 2 - 3:15ish.  During afternoon basketball practices I fulfill the role of assistant coach more than anything, just making sure the team stays on task and helping with some drills.  With my limited basketball knowledge and experience, I definitely don't take the lead here!  After practice I sometimes eat in the dining hall (rice with some kind of "soup"), sometimes go home for a little bit, and sometimes just hang out up at the school.  Then in the evening at 5:30 (when the students finish with study hall), I lead conditioning/jogging practice with the basketball team.  We've worked up to about 15 minutes of running, with a break in the middle to do some strengthening exercises.  I love this as it brings back fond memories of running cross country in high school and teaching my fitness classes at Wake.  Over the last month or so I've started to add my own running on at the beginning or end of practice... I'm working my way up, adding a minute to my runs each day - I'm up to 35 minutes now (the hardest 30-something minute runs of my life in this heat!). 

After this I definitely need a shower!  And by shower, I mean I stand in a pretty normal looking bathtub that has a bucket of cold water in it.  Showering is done by pouring a big cup of water over me.  The cold water might sound harsh, but it's almost always quite welcome to help me cool down from a hot day!  Yes, we do have running water - but the pressure is not sufficient for an actual shower.  Same with the toilet - we have an actual toilet, just not enough pressure to flush it, so we just pour cups of water into it to "flush."  We're lucky that we usually don't have to walk to a well and haul water to our house as most of our neighbors do.

At night Ann Elizabeth and I have dinner together (we have 3 mainstays: macaroni and cheese with canned green beans; instant mashed potatoes with canned pork & beans and canned corn; and noodles with tomato sauce).  After dinner I usually spend a little time preparing for school the next day (grading or writing plans) and writing in my journal (something I make myself do every night!).  If I finish early enough, I usually watch a DVD on my laptop (we can buy movies in town - about 20 movies on one disc for around US $2.50 - obviously illegal but not really an issue here!).  With that, Ann Elizabeth and I fall asleep on our twin beds in our shared room with little fans pointed right at us all night so we're cool enough to get under the sheets.

That is pretty much my standard day here at Ricks.  Everyone always seems to think my life here is so exciting and exotic, but the things that happen day to day are really quite normal and routine, exceptional only because they happen to be taking place on a continent different from the one where I usually find myself.  Don't get me wrong - I think my life is exciting... but I think life is always exciting, no matter where it's taking place!

If there are other questions you all have been wondering about, please let me know and I'll do my best to answer.  Also, check out some pictures I just uploaded to Picasa!