How's Your Monday? (A Day in the Life)

Not too much has been going on around these parts. Midterms are currently happening, so I haven’t taught this past week and will not next week either. I’m going to take this time to give you all a look into an average day here in Indonesia, although my schedule does change here and there throughout the week. On Mondays, Tuesday and Fridays for example, I get into school earlier than I do on Wednesdays and Thursdays because of the times I have class scheduled. As mentioned, it’s required that I spend a total of thirty hours per week at school. That gives me another 138 hours to relax, take up some hobbies, chat with friends (both American and Indonesian) and sleep. I knew going into Peace Corps that there would be a lot of downtime, and my expectations were undoubtedly exceeded within the first week at site. We have a lot of downtime. Here’s what an a typical Monday looks like for me. Also, Daylight Savings started, which means I am now eleven hours ahead of New York (EST).

4:30 AM: Wake up to the call to prayer, stay in bed until time to get up

The call to prayer occurs five times a day. My home is directly adjacent to the neighborhood mushola, or prayer room. This means that the speakers are about 20 feet from my window, and while I’ve gotten used to it, it still wakes me up in the morning. Much better than the alarm set on my iPhone, though.

5 AM: Get up, brush teeth, get changed

5:15 AM: Go for a run

I’m not trying to kid anyone, I just started doing this last week. I registered for a 10k at Mt. Bromo, East Java for later in the year. I have about six months to train, but it’s better I started now.

6 AM: Shower, get ready, make some coffee, maybe eat breakfast if I’m hungry

I’ve never been into eating breakfast first thing in the morning, so usually I’ll make some coffee and that’ll hold me off until later in the morning. If I am hungry though, or if I’m going into school later, I’ll make toast or oatmeal.

View from site during runs (my house is about a mile down the road, and breakfast (oatmeal with PB and bananas, and black coffee).

7 AM: Get to school, go to upacara bendera

As I mentioned in previous posts, upacara occurs every Monday at every Indonesian school, and usually lasts for about 45 minutes. School is only about 500 meters from my house, so it only takes a minute or two by bike.

7:45 AM: Last minute preparations for class, chat with teachers, read, walk around, call family, eat some fruit or other snacks offered to me that day

I have my desk in the teacher’s room, or ruang guru, where the teacher’s hang out when not in class. Teachers gossip, play music, smoke, and when they’re in the mood, do some school-related activities.

10:05 AM: Go to class or, try to get to class

Because I’m at an SMK, English classes are held once a week for a two hour block. On Monday’s, lesson planning with one CP usually ends up being done on the walk to class, or several minutes before class starts. Classes never start on time. Teacher’s stroll to their scheduled classrooms at a glacial pace, and usually I’m the one coaxing counterparts to get up and get to class.

12:05 PM: Finish class, go back to the ruang guru, prepare lessons for next day, chat with more teachers, go to the canteen if I haven’t eaten breakfast

Like American school cafeterias, Indonesian schools have the canteen, which is usually a few food stalls run by several ibu ibu. I am lucky to have the most delicious food served at my canteen, like nasi pecel and mie ayam (without the ayam). I’ll eat at the canteen once or twice a week when I’m not in the mood to cook or if I had skipped breakfast.

1 PM: Get home, change out of khaki pantsuit

Mondays are khaki pantsuit days. I get home and change out of it immediately, and get into a big t-shirt and leggings.

1:20 PM: Bike to town

My house is about a mile from the nearest town with shops, warungs, a gas station, and banks. I usually go into Lengkong two or three times a week to grab some necessities at Indomaret, a chain convenience store (think 7/11) or the ATM to pay my phone bill or get some cash. This has to be done as soon as possible, ideally in the morning during the rainy season, or you will get rained on, which has happened to me.

2 PM: Get home, have my second mandi

I’m usually dripping in sweat after my bike ride.

The khaki pantsuit worn by every teacher on Mondays, the rare empty teacher's room, and a mixture of sweat and rain from my bike ride.

2:20 PM: Read a little bit, usually fall asleep

Afternoon naps are the best, especially when it’s raining.

3:30 PM: Wake up from nap, call or text PCV friends

I usually talk about my day with friends, ask for advice on teaching, and complain about /try to rectify common things we’re going through at school.

4:30 PM: Read some more, go on my computer, read articles online, browse the interest, play games outside with the neighborhood kids

I’m reading Princess Bride right now.

Anytime between 5 and 6 PM: Eat dinner

I arranged with my host family that I take care of my breakfast and lunch, so my Ibu or sister will cook dinner for me.

6 PM: Play with the neighborhood kids some more

One highlight of service so far has been the little kids that I play with almost every afternoon. I’ll be waking up from a nap and hear “Kak Kayla!” from my window. Kak is the short form of kakak, meaning older sibling. Their favorites right now are Uno and freeze tag, which they call “X” for some reason. I never knew a group of kids could be so excited about a card game, though. When I’m too tired to play Uno for the fifth time in one afternoon, I’ll let them borrow the cards, which gets them even more excited.

Some of the kids are nicer than others, also some more views at site.

7 PM: Do some yoga, write a blog post, research travel ideas in Indonesia

Thankfully, I have Wifi at my house. This is a blessing and curse, because I am always, always connected and on my phone and computer more than I want to be, but Yoga with Adrienne has been a thing to do most nights.

7:20 PM: Lie on my yoga mat and proceed to text or scroll through Instagram

Indonesia has one of the highest time spent looking at screens and social media, and it has affected me a lot. People are on their phones a lot, and so am I. I deleted social media off my phone for March though, so we’ll see how long that lasts.

7:45 PM: Mandi for the third time, get ready for bed

It's normal for Indonesians to bathe two or three times a day. It's too hot not to.

8 PM: Journal a little bit, read emails, organize and tidy up room before bed

9 PM: Read in bed or on the floor

Usually I am asleep before 10pm! Then I go to bed and do (generally) the same thing again.

As you can see, there's a lot of downtime to be had here, which is why I've read fourteen books in 2019 so far. But I'm enjoying the extensive free time. It gives me a lot of time to focus on myself, which I think is something I didn't spend enough time doing at home. Going from a set schedule, always being busy, to a more relaxed day with almost too much free time has been a bit of shock, but it's going great so far. Hopefully this post can be a reminder for those in New York to live a little slower. Enjoy time with those around you, and don't focus on the terrible commute, or bad weather, or the rush of the day, because it's taken very little time for me to realize that time is precious, and you don't want to spend it complaining about your job, or your life, day after day. Enjoy your week!