A Day in the Life of a Sarah
One of the things I often ask people, whose life and experiences I am interested in, is “What does a normal day in your life look like in ?” (If any people who feel like they have an interesting life and are well acquainted with me and have not yet heard this question yet, I'm sorry). Now I'm taking that you are all interested in my life here, so I will proceed to describe in painful detail a day in the life of a Sarah, from the time my eyes open in the morning till when they close at night. I might as well say that this is a hypothetical day, in which I am very self controlled and studious, it don't always look like this...;). The pictures are also from an number of different days.
I am choosing Friday as it is one of the days that I do the most different things.
Wake up time: 5:40am
My alarm clock (which is also my cellphone) rings, it's still dark outside but all the kids are up and I can here all “my” boys in their dormitory right outside of my room talking and laughing. I however do not feel like laughing, I feel like magically transporting to another reality in which I do not have to get up this early. I push the snooze button. A few pushes later it is 6:15am, and I really have to get up if I want to make it downstairs before all the kids leave for school. I fight with my mosquito net, win, climb out of my bed and wash my face.
After throwing on a sweatshirt (it's a frigid 24°C outside) and grabbing my bible, I open my door say good morning to all the boys who are in various stages of undress , go out to the hall, and on to the kitchen downstairs. It is now time for what I have to admit is one of the culinary highlights of my day: My instant coffee. While waiting for water to boil I say good morning and goodbye to all the kids who walk by the kitchen on their way out and on to school. This is a morning ritual that I like to be able observe, and it's it and my coffee that gets me out of bed each morning.
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| Yeah I've been sleeping in my clothes, makes everything easier, and all the kids do it |
At around 6:30 I sit down in the main room with my coffee and my bible (what else do you need, right, Dad?), and have a little quiet time.
At around 6:50 (yeah its a little quiet time) Alicia comes down, and I get my breakfast, which either consists of toast with home made peanut butter (I actually made it with Alicia), or if I'm feeling really lazy and a bit adventurous rice with fish or veggies. We eat together quickly, and at 7am I get my notebooks and start studying Khmer. Some days I actually study for a complete hour until one of the workers come at 8:00 (the study time for all the little kids who only have school in the afternoon) and does a new lesson with me. We're finished at 9:00 and I got upstairs and go on the computer for a bit. I answer emails, work on newsletters and blogs, and of course waste a good deal of time on facebook. I also take this time to look over my material for English class that afternoon and maybe also English class at the orphanage in the evening.
At 10:15 or 10:20 one of my students knock on my door and it's time for violin class.
I teach till around 10:45, go on my computer for another 15min or so, and then it's 11 o'clock, one of my favorite times of the day.
At around 6:50 (yeah its a little quiet time) Alicia comes down, and I get my breakfast, which either consists of toast with home made peanut butter (I actually made it with Alicia), or if I'm feeling really lazy and a bit adventurous rice with fish or veggies. We eat together quickly, and at 7am I get my notebooks and start studying Khmer. Some days I actually study for a complete hour until one of the workers come at 8:00 (the study time for all the little kids who only have school in the afternoon) and does a new lesson with me. We're finished at 9:00 and I got upstairs and go on the computer for a bit. I answer emails, work on newsletters and blogs, and of course waste a good deal of time on facebook. I also take this time to look over my material for English class that afternoon and maybe also English class at the orphanage in the evening.
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| Don't I look studious? |
I teach till around 10:45, go on my computer for another 15min or so, and then it's 11 o'clock, one of my favorite times of the day.
All the students get out at 11 each day (besides the few who go to school half days in the afternoon, and some highschoolers who get out an hour earlier), and come home for lunch. Just as I like to see 'em off to school, I also like to greet them when they get home. My mom has almost always been home when I've come back and has always greeted me with a “How was school?” This has always meant a lot to me. I kinda like the thought of me carrying on the “tradition”. So I sit on the front steps
and wait till around 11:05 when suddenly a horde of very smart looking children in uniform invade the orphanage.
I greet each kid and ask those who are proficient in English “How was school?”. I'm always very shocked by how many genuine “Very good” answers I get. Most of the kids really like school!
and wait till around 11:05 when suddenly a horde of very smart looking children in uniform invade the orphanage.
I greet each kid and ask those who are proficient in English “How was school?”. I'm always very shocked by how many genuine “Very good” answers I get. Most of the kids really like school!
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| Own |
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| Kyo |
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| Chow, who can be a bit shy |
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| Savouen, Tong, and Tate, who is trying to flee the scene |
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| Chanda, our youngest child at school, every day when she comes home she gives me a big hug |
After they have all arrived it's time for lunch. We all stand lined up in the hallway in front of the kitchen and wait till everybody's there. One child prays and then the workers start to serve out the food to the kids.
The order in which the kids get their food is also kinda interesting. There's a point system at the orphanage: The kids get points for achievements in school, extra English classes, bible tests, but also for the general behavior. All these are added up each week and the kids with the most points get the first place, those with the secound most the secound place...etc. This is also shown by the order in which the kids pictures are hung in the main hallway, so you can always see who's been especially naughty the last week...;). Being distinguished guests we always get are food first, choose a table and wait to see who's feeling brave enough to sit with us.
The order in which the kids get their food is also kinda interesting. There's a point system at the orphanage: The kids get points for achievements in school, extra English classes, bible tests, but also for the general behavior. All these are added up each week and the kids with the most points get the first place, those with the secound most the secound place...etc. This is also shown by the order in which the kids pictures are hung in the main hallway, so you can always see who's been especially naughty the last week...;). Being distinguished guests we always get are food first, choose a table and wait to see who's feeling brave enough to sit with us.
After our meal (which usually consists of rice and some kinda soup) the kids go out to do their chores and I either work on the computer for a bit (as I am actually doing write now as I write this) or take a nap. I usually set my alarm for 01:05 snooze until 01:15 and then get up and get ready for school. When I'm at home I usually run around looking rather unkempt, and undergo a transformation every day into a nice looking teacher. Here's the story in photos.
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| Icky and greasy, with glasses |
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| Icky and greasy with contact lenses |
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| In my "uniform" |
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| And all ready to teach |
And here's how I look after two hours of teaching in a room with at least 30°C
And back to normal again
Most of our highschoolers (grade 7 and up) go to school again at this time too, so I often ride with all of them. Almost all schools are built next to Buddhist temples and monasteries, and ours is no exception. I always ride through the temple on my way to school, and of course all of the monks know who I am so they often wave to me when I ride by. Now I am not a supporter of Buddhism, and am here in Cambodia to show Jesus' love. However I am just as much effected by the western romanticizing of Buddhism and Buddhist monks as most people and you have to admit, they just look plain cool in their saffron robes, so I always think it's kinda neat when they wave to me. Then I drive through the school gates into a crowd of kids, who all still (it's been like 3 months now) turn the heads to look at me, and yell “Hello 'cher!”. I yell hello back smile and ride my bike up to the teacher's “garage.”
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| The gates of Mordor...just joking, it's actually quite nice in there |
Now I am the only teacher riding a bike. Even though a teacher's salary is almost nonexistent here they all seem to have money for a motorcycle and the director has a car. They all think it's very amusing that I ride a bike like a poor student. :) I usually sit in the teacher's room for about 5-10min and talk to some of the teacher's who are able to speak a little bit of English (and they aren't necessarily the English teachers), and then the bell is rung, or better said the rusty remains of like a pot or something get the crap beaten out of it by one of the teachers. Now I'm gonna skip over teaching as I have already written about it, and start again at the second the “bell” is rung again to end class 2 hours later. I say goodbye to my class, write in the teacher's book, pack my stuff up and ride happily home looking forward to a hopefully relaxedn weekend. The last few days I've been getting a drink made out of sugar cane juice, orange peel and ice after school, very yummy.
I get home and we're gonna say that I was actually really studious that morning and managed to already prepare English class for that evening and don't have to do it now. So I get home get changed, chill for a little
and then head out to help to chores with the kids. I often help cutting the morning glory gathered earlier that day to use as pig food. In the very beginning they didn't even want me to do it because the probably thought I'd cut my hand off, and later I always had two or three other kids helping me and picking up the slack. But just last week, after starting with two other kids, they got up to do other chores and left me with 5 huge (like the size of a big 3 year old) bundles of the stuff, to do all by myself. When I started to cry for help I was very encouragingly told by Chow “You can do it Sarah, you are strong”. I'm like geez thanks, but was somewhat flattered by the fact that they actually think I can do it by myself now. I did finish it all (Lauren helped with the last bundle) and got a number of blisters on my hands and a major back ache in the process; but as my dad always loves to say: What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
After chores, at 5 o'clock, is English class. I usually always give them their weekly test on Friday, but am probably going to be doing it on Saturday now. Altogether English class has been....challenging lately, due to a few issues with some kids. They're all basically great kids, but it is difficult for me to find exactly where my place is with them. Most of the time I feel like just another kid, running around and playing with them as I am just a few years older then the oldest of them. However I am also an adult and there are times, such as English class, when they need to respect me and listen to me. We've adressed the issue, and it seems like things are going to be getting better.
After class we all line up again for supper. After supper the kids goof off a little bit outside and then go up for showers. They all have bible tests on Friday and the older kids work on school work downstairs. I usually hang with the kids for a bit and maybe try to help them with their homework where I can. On days when I have school the next day, I take this time to prepare class and some of our kids will help me out with the Khmer. I actually really like this part of the day because it's just usually the older kids downstairs, who I have to admit I feel the closest to. Some of them really come out of their shells later in the evening when not all the other kids and staff are around and will only really talk to me then. I've had some of the deepest conversations with our kids at this time.
At around 9 o'clock they all go to bed and then I go upstairs and indulge in my guilty pleasure: "How i met your mother". Alicia and I started watching it a few weeks ago, and we usually watch one or more episodes a night. Then at around 9:30-10:30 (depending on how many episodes we watched), I get ready for bed, climb into my bed, fight with my mosquito net, win, and fall asleep.....
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| just chillen |
After chores, at 5 o'clock, is English class. I usually always give them their weekly test on Friday, but am probably going to be doing it on Saturday now. Altogether English class has been....challenging lately, due to a few issues with some kids. They're all basically great kids, but it is difficult for me to find exactly where my place is with them. Most of the time I feel like just another kid, running around and playing with them as I am just a few years older then the oldest of them. However I am also an adult and there are times, such as English class, when they need to respect me and listen to me. We've adressed the issue, and it seems like things are going to be getting better.
After class we all line up again for supper. After supper the kids goof off a little bit outside and then go up for showers. They all have bible tests on Friday and the older kids work on school work downstairs. I usually hang with the kids for a bit and maybe try to help them with their homework where I can. On days when I have school the next day, I take this time to prepare class and some of our kids will help me out with the Khmer. I actually really like this part of the day because it's just usually the older kids downstairs, who I have to admit I feel the closest to. Some of them really come out of their shells later in the evening when not all the other kids and staff are around and will only really talk to me then. I've had some of the deepest conversations with our kids at this time.
At around 9 o'clock they all go to bed and then I go upstairs and indulge in my guilty pleasure: "How i met your mother". Alicia and I started watching it a few weeks ago, and we usually watch one or more episodes a night. Then at around 9:30-10:30 (depending on how many episodes we watched), I get ready for bed, climb into my bed, fight with my mosquito net, win, and fall asleep.....
Love and Peace
Sarah
