A day in the life of a PCV

6:00am- Hit alarm and go back to sleep.

6:25am- Remember that you have a 7am meeting and spring out of bed.

6:45am- Quickly walk to school.  Halfway through your walk amongest the students, they all take off at a sprint leaving you in a cloud of dust.

6:46am- Check behind you to make sure there’s not a lion or something.

7:00am- 30 minute staff meeting that is 2/3 in Setswana.  Make an announcement about your teacher survey and stalk teachers with it afterwards.

7:30am- Hang out with counterpart in her office, do final preparations of this afternoon’s PACT club.

8:00am- Go home to get a box to put said surveys in.

8:30am- Eat random breakfast.

8:45am- Power randomly goes off.  Shrug.

9:15am- Surprise!  Ministry of Education people come with a stove and a gas tank!

9:16am- Suppress your happy dance until after the nice men have left.

9:30am- Rearrange your kitchen for gas tank.

10:00am- Wave goodbye to the MOE truck, and then happy dance!

10:15am- Tell facebook you have a gas tank.

10:45am – Realize the MOE people left your gate open and your yard is now full of donkeys. 

11:00am- Check e-mail.  Find out that 3 of the things you have been planning just changed dates.  Make mental note to write on calendar in pencil.

11:10am- Power randomly comes back on.

11:15am- Realize that someone chased the donkeys out of your yard for you and closed the gate.  Score!

11:30am- Go back to school with PACT club supplies and box.

11:45am- Chill in teachers lounge.   Are not surprised to see no completed surveys.  Read. Chat with a teacher.

2:00pm- Go attempt to find PACT students.  Find 3.  Send them to round up the rest.  They come back 5.  Send them out again, they come back 8.  Decide that’s enough.

2:25- PACT club!  Have interesting discussion about teenage pregnancy.

3:15- Stick around to hang out with kids and have them color your PACT club sign.

3:45 – Walk home.  Try not to pass out from heat.  Greet every single child you see.  Don’t get angry when a few ask for money.

4:00pm- Change clothes.  Dump bucket of water on head.  Sit in front of fan for foreseeable future.  Drink copious amounts of water and crystal light.

6:00pm- Cook on shiny new stove.

6:15pm- Wash dishes in buckets on porch.  Fill bath bucket.  Doom several cockroaches in bathroom.

6:30pm- Bucket bath.  Settle in room with fan and watch a movie on computer.

8:55pm – Gaze at gorgeous full moon from porch.

9:00pm- Get into makeshift bed, tucking mosquito net 360 around bed so there are no unexpected visitors in the night.