I’ve been in country for a year and a half, and I realize
that a lot of people at home still don’t much about my day to day life, so here
is a break down. I started trying to make a schedule with actual times, but
life does not fit into a schedule here, and clocks are mostly decorations.
A typical day in the life of this Peace Corps volunteer
Before School: I wake up, and spend about 15 minutes lying
in bed reading a book I downloaded to my phone while the sun comes up and the
village begins its morning symphony. It starts with the ocean and maybe some
rain, but soon comes the call of a rooster outside of my window followed by his
buddy on the other side of my house. Like dominoes, this is part of a chain
reaction of a network of chickens. Next comes the sound of the grunting pigs
(some volunteers call the pigs outside my bedroom windows Dinosaur Pigs because
of how loud and primitive their grunts get) and crying babies. Shortly after,
we get mothers yelling at their children, children yelling at each other, and
toddlers yelling for the sake of it!
When I get annoyed with listening, I know it’s time to get
ready. I put on a different puletasi depending on the day (On Wednesdays, we
wear purple). I slick back my hair into a bun without a mirror (it fell and
broke during the cyclone). Buns are the only culturally appropriate hairstyle.
Hair down and sometimes even ponytails are unacceptable, and braids are
typically worn by children. I boil some water for my instant coffee, read a
little more while I drink it. I fill my water bottle and usually add some more
water to my water filter for after school.
I love my walk to school. I take a dirt path tucked about 50
feet back from the road, and I get to socialize with different families.
Everyone who sees me hollers hello. I get invited to sit and drink tea with the
families, even though I’m typically running late, and I even have a little kid
who runs out to meet me for a kiss most mornings. I get to school, say hello to
all the mothers who hang outside my classroom, and I prepare my classroom for
the day.
During School: This is a vague description, and things are
always changing. Sometimes in the morning, kids have assembly where they sing
hymns, read the bible, pray and a teacher gives announcements. Other times,
children comb over the school grounds for rubbish while older students build a
fire to dispose of it. Other times, children go straight to their classrooms
for hymns and prayers and jump instantly into lessons. I pull groups of 5 to 10
children at a time and teach English literacy lessons. We can end anywhere
between noon and 2:30, and most days, we don't eat, but sometimes a teacher will bring crackers or ramen to share with everyone. After
school, I try to do reading clubs or prepare my materials for upcoming classes
if I can. I try not to be the last teacher at school because I’ve definitely
been locked in the school compound (which means hopping the fence) and even my
classroom (which means standing at my windows and hollering until a neighbor or
someone on the road comes to liberate me).
After school: I come home, rip off the now incredibly sweaty
puletasi, and I either wash it on its own with a bar of laundry soap, or I
start a load of bucket laundry. Either way, I’m washing my clothes while I take
a shower. I might make a snack (bread and butter, ramen, a hardboiled egg if
I’m feeling fancy) but I typically take an hour or so to just be alone. I read
or watch old tv shows off my hard drive for a little while. Then I do any paper
work, lesson planning, or whatever else I need to do. Once it cools off
outside, I take care of my house. I have a large three-bedroom house filled
with cockroach corpses, termite dust, mosquito coil ash, and dirt blown in from
outside. It takes about an hour or more to sweep. Not to mention how many spiders
take up residence in the corners, I also have to sweep my walls. I’m not going
to lie, I don’t typically get the whole house swept every day, but I have to do
it around this time because sweeping at night is strictly forbidden! It’s bad
luck. If I worked up a sweat, I might take another shower, or else I go
straight to my family’s house.
Evening: Just before sundown, I lock my front door and walk
maybe 25 steps to my neighbors’ house. My house is behind theirs, so I turn the
corner to come in the front door (opening…most houses don’t actually have doors
here), and even though this happens EVERYDAY, the children are surprised and
excited to see me. “Peta! Hi Peta! Mama, Peta is coming!” This happens
literally every day. Children, I don’t know what you imagined happened to me in
the two hours since you saw me at school, but yes, I am still in your village,
and I am still coming to your house every night. Nothing is new about this.
I come in and sit with Mama and we chat about our day.
Usually, our conversations are brief since yesterday and today are most likely
identical. We watch people come and go from houses and shops, and children roam
about either playing games or completing chores. Eventually, a man with a conch
shell wanders around the village, blowing his horn and warning everyone that
evening prayers (lotu) are about to begin. Everyone drifts back to their
houses, and the bells ring out from the church hall…well, not actually a bell.
Someone bangs a propane tank with a large stick, but the sound is similar.
A child takes a woven mat out of the bedroom and puts it on
the floor for Mama and I to sit on. We all sit on the floor cross legged with a
hymn book and a bible. Whichever family member is leading the service tells us
which song to sing. The family harmonizes, while I and the youngest children
chirp in with whichever parts we know. People in my village do not hold back
when they sing. Everyone belts it out with as much power as they can, and it
sounds pretty amazing most nights. After the song, the children take turns
reading out of the bible. Their parents are teachers, so they gently help them
when they make mistakes, and it’s one of the sweetest parent/child interactions
I ever get to see here. A family member gives a sermon and a prayer for anywhere between
20 minutes to an hour. We are sitting with our legs crossed the entire time.
Usually, by the end at least one child is asleep, and sometimes I am too. No
one seems to care. When we finally get to stretch our legs out, the sun is
completely down, and the “bells” ring again.
After Lotu, we play cards for a little while. I taught my
family how to play uno, skip-bo, and phase 10, so we play every night. After a
little while, someone brings us dinner and I sit and eat at the table with Mama
and Susaga (the older women) while the children eat on the floor of the fale
o’o (small house) in the back. The other adults eat after the children in my
family. In most Samoan families, the children eat last. I eat my meal with my
fingers, and I devour my food. Sometimes, this is the first meal I’ve eaten all
day because I’ve still been full from last night’s dinner. When I’m finished, I
bring my plate to the door for a child to wash my dishes. Another child brings
me a large bowl filled with water so I can rinse my hands off, and I say thank
you in one of the many ways you can say it in Samoan after eating.
When the children finish eating, they bring me their
homework, mostly English, but sometimes we do Science, Math, or even Computers.
Lately, I’ve been tutoring family members on things like typing and Microsoft
Word in the evenings. If the children’s homework load is light, I might go sit
in the fale o’o with the other adults for a while. We talk about things at
school, things in the village, family in other villages, other Peace Corps
volunteers, Sunday School, anything new. I always like this time because I
always seem to learn a little more Samoan, and the weather is usually cool and
comfortable. Most nights, I can see the stars, and it’s beautiful. Whenever I’m
tired (anywhere between 8 and 10 PM), I head home. I take another cold shower
and crawl into bed. I turn on my fan to drown out the noise of my neighbors and
the pigs, and I usually fall asleep watching an old episode of Saturday Night
Live on my laptop.
And then I start the process over again.
So that's my routine. It's pretty different from my old routine in America, but over time, this has become normal and comfortable, and I don't think I would have it any other way.
