Things just never seem to slow down here in Paraguay.
My schedule just gets busier and busier as I get more involved with school and church activities.
Here's a general idea of my daily routines, though some things change from week-to-week.
Monday through Thursday I teach at New Horizon Methodist School.
Students come in two different groups, turno mañana - morning session and turno tarde - afternoon session.
Staff devotional time begins at 6:45am and turno mañana starts at 7:00 and lasts between 11:25 and 1:00pm depending on what grade the students are in. Early elementary gets out first and high school is last.
Turno tarde starts at 1:00 and ends by 6:15.
Every day I go home for lunch between 11:30 and 12:15 and return between 1:00 and 2:00 depending on my class schedule that day.
We eat dinner around 10:00pm most nights and then get ready for bed.
MONDAYS
On Monday mornings from 7:00-9:00 I observe the 11th and 12th grade chemistry classes and help students with their in class work. Many students have trouble passing chemistry here so I help in class and will be starting a tutoring session on Tuesday afternoons.
After that I leave the high school building and go across the street to the main school building to teach third grade ESL. After that class I either stay in the teacher's lounge to plan lessons for the week or I go home early for lunch.
I return sometime in the afternoon to plan lessons and then teach the third grade afternoon class from 3:35-4:15. I usually go home after that.
Monday afternoons Natalie and I usually walk with Alex to the nearest supermarket so he can buy his weekly groceries. He doesn't live with a host family, so he makes breakfast and dinner for himself at his house. We usually get back before it gets dark at 6:30.
Monday nights are usually spent at home relaxing, while mamá and papá are at a home bible study.
TUESDAYS
Tuesdays I teach high school lab courses from 9:00-11:45.
After lunch I return to plan lessons and wait to see if anyone shows up for chemistry tutoring... so far no one has. Profe Amalia said they will probably start coming once they start having tests and seeing their grades. When that happens, I'll be doing tutoring from 3-5.
Tuesday nights I go to the weekly prayer meeting at church.
WEDNESDAYS
During each turno on Wednesdays I teach second, fourth, and fifth grade ESL. I have classes first and last hour each turno so I'm at school the entire day, 6:45pm-5:30pm, except for my hour and a half lunch break.
At 7:00pm we have bible study at home with some members of the church.
THURSDAYS
Thursdays are my long days. I teach second, third, fourth, and fifth grade ESL both turnos. By the end of turno mañana I always have to remind myself that it's only 11:30, not 5:30, and that I still have to come back and do it all again! I often ask myself, "Did I eat lunch yet?" because I can't remember what turno I'm in. It's a little disappointing when I realize it's not even noon yet.
Thursday afternoons I often nap out of sheer exhaustion from my week. We usually end up doing something interesting on Thursday nights and I stay up late because I'm off on Fridays.
In addition to all of that, I teach 7th, 8th, and 9th grade lab classes once a month, which squeeze right in between my classes on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
FRIDAYS
Día libre! My off day! I usually sleep in and skype with people while Natalie is at school. We usually hang out with church friends or with Alex on Friday nights.
The first Friday of every month we have a prayer vigil at church from 8:00pm to midnight. After it's over we all eat together at church and get home around 1:00am.
SATURDAYS
Saturdays can be unpredictable. It's either a day to sleep in, or it's getting up early to go on some adventure. If there's not a big event going on or I'm not out of town, at around 4:30 I leave to go to church for the youth service. Afterwards we usually stay up late hanging out with friends.
SUNDAYS
Church in the morning. We leave at 7:15 and get back home around 11:00. Then we usually eat a big lunch, often with many of our church friends or family. After lunch we all usually rest for a couple hours and then I have English class with my host sisters and some of our friends and we usually end up making food or watching a movie afterwards. Then we end up staying up late hanging out and playing UNO.
That's a basic rundown of my weekly routine. All the moments unaccounted for are spent taking naps, going out to an event or someone's birthday party, drinking tereré, hanging out with friends, playing UNO, or eating, haha.
Hopefully that gives you a better idea of what my life is like here. :)
Want to know more? Ask me questions and I'll post all the answers in my next post!
