So I thought, as my first blog post from Mexico, I should write out an average day for you all, give you an idea of what that looks like. So here it is, all the glory of being a missionary wrapped up in a single day...
5:15 Alarm goes off. I think "How can it possibly be morning already???"
5:20 Actually get up, attempting to be as quiet as possible so as not to wake my roommate who sleeps approximately 10 inches away from me.
5:21 Manage to make it out of the the "bedroom" portion of our trailer, close the sliding partition and curl up on the couch with a blanket for some quiet time, during which I mostly attempt NOT to fall back asleep.
5:55 Jessica comes out and trades places with me because, unless we're sleeping, there is not space for us to be in the same half of the trailer. I return to the bedroom and open the cupboards above my bed. I then contemplate how badly I need to do laundry, reach for a shirt, and the whole pile of clothes collapses and falls out on my bunk. I find clothes, stuff everything else back in the cupboard, and sprawl across both beds in the daily "get dressed in a confined space" workout routine.
6:07 Do hair, brush teeth, and apply make up...for those of you that are concerned about my concession to vanity...don't be...do hair simply means put it up in a ponytail (because NO ONE wants head lice)...and make up simply means a little powder so I don't look like a tomato when I start sweating.
6:19 Emerge from back of trailer, put on shoes, refill water bottle, grab protein bar and small bag of dried fruit and head out the door... then re-enter trailer, grab my keys and head out the door again...close the door...close the door again...kick the door so it stays closed...
6:28 Enjoy the lovely cool quiet morning as I walk to work, thinking "Ah, this feel like Oregon weather". (It won't in an hour!)
6:30 Arrive at the day care where I work. Immediately head to kitchen, put on an apron, set up little chairs around the tables. Get out an entire stack of towels for use throughout the day...one for washing dishes, two for tables, three for children's hands and faces, and four for drying...think "This probably isn't enough." Set out 30 bowls, spoons, and cups on the serving table.
6:40 Retrieve the laundry basket and walk to the laundry room in the next building...go back for key to laundry room...start load of towels from day before.
6:45 Load up serving dishes in my little red wagon and haul it over to the cafeteria kitchen to get breakfast.
7:00 Return to daycare, set up food in kitchen so it's ready to serve, pour 30 cups of milk, and do a walk through of the bathrooms, making sure there are toilet paper, towels, and soap readily available.
7:05 Sit down to eat breakfast before kids arrive, notice half of a huge beetle on the floor, say "ewwwwwwww" and get up again to clean it up.
7:07 Enjoy passing moments of quiet until kids arrive
7:27 Final prep before kids get there - put footstool in front of sink and fill sink with hot soapy water. Realize I better go to the bathroom since I won't have a chance again for a long time.
7:31 Remember that I forgot to empty the scrap bucket...oh crap...back to the kitchen with an entourage of flies...yuck...
7:36 Kids arrive, help herd 18 girls into the kitchen and put on their aprons. (On this particular day I get the girls first while the boys are given baths. The next day it would be the opposite.)
7:39 Dish up 18 bowls of oatmeal, and serve it to the girls. Spend the next 30 minutes saying, "Comen tu comida" and "Limpia tus manos y tu boca" over and over and over again.
8:12 Repeat entire process with 12 boys
8:28 Bag up the leftovers while waiting for the slower eaters to finish.
8:36 Wipe tables and stack chairs while waiting for Eduardo to finish his breakfast.
8:40 Shoo Eduardo out of the kitchen, pick up the aprons that didn't make it back onto their hooks, and sweep floor.
8:44 Go to bathroom, pick up laundry basket full of towels from bath time, go to laundry room, retrieve clean towels and rags from washer, start new load of towels, and hang yesterdays towels and rags on the clothesline.
8:53 Back to the kitchen, see sink full of dishes and think "This will take forever!" Wash dishes despite impossibility.
9:12 Look at the clock and think "Oh that didn't take so long." Scrub sink and wipe down counter tops and then remember that I still have to wash all toothbrushes and cups. Wash 30 more cups, rinse all the toothpaste out of 30 toothbrushes and then set them to soak in bleach water.
9:23 Breathe and drink water
9:36 Remove toothbrushes from bleach solution, scrub sinks and wipe down counters again. Scrub out scrap bucket and spray with bleach.Go back to laundry room and hang clean towels on the line.
9:48 Walk across the property to pick up one of the kids from the clinic. Listen to him talk all the way back and desperately try to catch one word that you can understand so you can say something in return.
9:55 Return to daycare, collect 30 pairs of socks and underwear that I had hung the day before and are now dry. Sort and fold clothing and put into bins. Organize underwear bins thinking, "Didn't I organize these yesterday?"
10:15 Sit down for a minute and then realize that I only have 30 minutes until snack time. Make fruit cups from the bits of leftover fruit from earlier in the week...apples and grapes...yum
10:42 Walk through bathrooms, flush ALL toilets (toddlers seem to be incapable of this) and wipe off counters thinking, "No wonder we're having a drought...all the water is in our bathrooms..."
10:50 Serve snack outside...less cleanup...yay!!!
11:01 Wash fruit cups, put away everything on counter in preparation for lunch, wipe down sinks and counters again. Remind myself that my shift is half over and lay head on table for five minutes.
11:09 Realize I'm really thirsty and down half my nalgene
11:11 Go to bathroom
11:13 Wash one more fruit cup that was found outside
11:15 Check clothes on line and fold and put away what is dry.
11:23 Set up chairs for lunch and get out dishes
11:28 Spend few spare minutes organizing my storage pantry
11:45 Get out toothbrushes, put toothpaste on them and set each one in a cup. (These are for the kids to use after lunch)
12:00 Kids take a nap at this point so I actually get a little break...eat a few dried apples...drink water...enjoy the quiet...
12:20 Retrieve rest of towels from clothesline, fold and put away.
12:35 Load up my little red wagon and head over to the big kitchen to pick up lunch.
12:50 Serve 30 lunches and be in awe at how much food ends up NOT in their mouths
1:23 Realize my kitchen is once again a disaster...bag up leftovers, wash dishes, pick up chairs, wipe tables, sweep floor, etc...
2:15 Kids get ready to load up on bus, I take the socks and underwear out to the laundry room and stick them in the washer.
2:19 Forgot toothbrushes...again...back to the kitchen, wash 30 more cups, and set the toothbrushes to soak in bleach water.
2:31 Last child out the door...put on gloves, grab my bucket and proceed to scrub down 5 toilets, 5 sinks and counters, 5 mirrors and one bathtub.
3:03 Back to kitchen, put away toothbrushes and do final scrub down of sinks and counters. Put ALL towels and rags in laundry basket
3:19 Stand in laundry room waiting for really slow washer to finish its cycle
3:22 Hang 30 little tiny pairs of underwear and socks on the line...so adorable...
3:31 Say "Hasta Manana" to the teachers and head out into the sunshine
3:32 Arrive at trailer, dripping sweat from the walk.
3:33 Sit on couch...
still sitting.....
3:41 Go take a shower and scrub the bleach, urine, and sweat smell off of me in my allotted 3 minutes of shower time
3:56 Collect a weeks worth of laundry and walk across the parking lot to the staff laundry room. Start 2 loads of laundry
4:02 Sit on couch, check text messages and emails and drink lots and lots of liquids
4:55 Head over to big kitchen to wash dishes
5:35 Go back to trailer and get clothespins
5:40 Hang clothes on line
6:00 Eat Nachos and watch Psych
8:30 Fall asleep
This is what I do...the grunt work...the background stuff...the job that allows others to do their jobs more efficiently....and I love it!
