Here is what a day in my life looks like in Kampong Thom Cambodia!
7:00 Wake Up
Sometimes, some team members and I will wake up around 6:30 to go on a run or workout before the day begins and the heat comes. If not, I’ll try to be up by this time to get myself situated and ready for the day.
7:30-8:00 Quiet Time
During Quiet Time, I listen to music and read the Word and just take time to physically, emotionally, and spiritually prepare for the day. I’ll journal about the day before or whatever is on my mind.
8:00 Breakfast
Breakfast always consists of coffee and tea with a side of condensed milk and a simple dish. This has ranged from fried rice, noodles, cookies, and French fries. Everyday is a new surprise for breakfast.
8:30-10:30 School/Manual Labor
Each day, we have a new topic. We’ve covered numbers, colors, places, emotions, body parts, etc. Usually around 9:30 we’ll take a brain break and play heads up seven up, four corners, or cards. We try to integrate both learning and application whether this be in a interactive game, spelling, or conversational skills.
Now with the new schedule, we’ll be doing manual labor at 8:30-11:30 and that’ll start on Monday. Updates to come!
10:30-11:00 Free Time
During this time, I’ll either sit outside and hangout with the kids or go into our room and re-center myself.
11:00-11:45 Prayer Walk
Prayer walks consists of walking throughout the village and praying for the country, people, etc. Prayer walks are cool because we get to explore more of the community, meet new people, and see the need. Each member of the team gets the opportunity to lead.
12:00 Lunch
Lunch consists of rice, vegetables (bok choy, cauliflower, spinach, cabbage, or leeks), meats (chicken, pork, or beef), and MANGOS! It is a feast and a delicious one! Kate and I are on duty to wash dishes for lunch so we get our three buckets (rinse, wash, rinse) and clean away.
12:30-2:00 Free Time
Honestly, this time of day varies for me. I try to spend an hour decompressing with the Lord and sleeping and then the other hour with the kids either in their rooms or under the mango tree playing cards.
2:00-3:00 Community Nap Time
All the kids are required to go inside and be quiet during this time. Because its the hottest time of the day, everyone likes to rest. The kids will usually take naps and sometimes we will too.
3:00-5:00 School
We will usually take shifts teaching the same thing as the morning lesson.
5:00-5:45 Futball
This is my favorite time of day! We all walk over to the rice fields, get divided up into teams, set up the 2 piles of hay, and play ball! The younger children play in the tunnels near the rice field or will run around with us. And it’s during golden hour so it is not too hot and the sun is just about to set.
5:45-6:15 Dinner
Dinner is another wonderful time. Again we get rice, meats, vegetables, and fruit. Sometimes mango and sometimes longan or a surprise fruit. Trying fruits is my favorite thing because each is so unique and different!
6:15-7:00 Game/Hangout Time
The kids will either teach us a game or we’ll teach them a game. We’ve played the American and Cambodian version of duck duck goose, tug-of-war, and some ball hitting game that got very intense. If we don’t play games, we’ll either have a spontaneous dance party to their crazy Cambodian party music or just run around and play tag.
7:00-8:30 Team Time
Every member leads team time. It always starts with feedback, SEA time, then the leaders choice. Feedback is a time to give encouraging or constructive feedback about what you saw in an individual or the team that day. SEA time (Southeast Asia time) is a time for our team to have an open forum. During this time we can talk anything from about plans for the next day, concerns, funny moments, or updates. We’ll end the time with whatever the leader wants to do. Recently we’ve played games (fishbowl, mafia, capitalism), written letters of affirmation to each other, watched episodes of Friends, and asked random questions.
9:00 Showers and Bed Time
We end our night taking turns showering. Usually I like to blog, journal, or chat with a team member while I’m waiting for my turn to shower. Showering is nice because the water is cold and refreshing. Then we go to bed and do it agai
