#9 - Routine

 (#9 is my… routine.  Usually I am not a big fan of routine, but I enjoyed my daily life in Chittagong.  Here’s a peek at how I spent the usual day at the Asian University for Women.)

6:35 AM: Alarm goes off.  Hit snooze.

6:45 AM: Get up out of bed, take a shower, and get ready for school that day.  It usually meant just getting dressed and packing my bag, but sometimes some last minute adjustments to my lesson plan, checking e-mail, or grading some papers got thrown into the mix.

 

My bathroom when I moved in... and a long time later.  Yes, all that stuff was necessary!

 

7:13 AM: Run downstairs to catch the 7:15 van to school.

7:30-8:00ish AM: Throw all my stuff in my office, then hop downstairs to grab a bite to eat and talk to my students.  I really liked this time; it was no pressure, and I always enjoyed talking to everyone outside of the classroom setting.

8:00-11:15 AM: On Mondays and Wednesdays, I would go to my TA class, an undergraduate level biology class taught by Dr. Qamar, from 8:30-10:00.  I just generally assisted her, and taught a few classes on my own.  Otherwise, I would spend this time doing work for classes and drinking absurd amounts of tea.

Views of the AUW buildings (photos courtesy of Jessi Hinz).

11:20 AM – 12:10 PM: Teach my Silver group!  I taught this group all year long, and it was awesome to see them progress and bond with them.  On Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays I would teach them ancient civilizations using Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond as a supplemental text.  On Mondays and Wednesdays we had computers class, where we focused on internet research and skills in Word and PowerPoint.

12:10 PM – 1:00 PM: Clamber down into the cafeteria and eat lunch.

1:00 – 1:50 PM: Teach my Orange group!  It was interesting to teach another group after having Silver for a semester.  Each of the groups in the Access Academy had different feels and personalities, both individuals and overall.

Celebrating my birthday in a classroom, and the view from one of the campus buildings.

1:50 – 4:00 PM: Time to do more work, and run errands: pay my phone bill cause I called out of the country too much, go to the beauty parlor, buy some sweets, pick up clothes from the tailor, buy tickets, go to Aarong… the list goes on.  Or… just rest and recuperate from a long morning, if need be.

4:00 – 6:00 PM: Office hours, meetings, and/or more work/errands.

My office space, and working hard... or hardly working.

6:00 – 7:00 PM: If I had extra-curriculars that day, they were in this time slot.  I was the adviser for the Freedom Dance Club and (tried) to teach salsa.  I never taught dance before, so that was interesting, but fun!  I was also a co-adviser for the Wise Women club, a group dedicated to discussing women’s health issues and helping with a local Bangladeshi NGO.

7:00 – 7:30 PM: Dinner time!

7:30 PM: Catch the van back to our apartment (unless there were activities I had to stay for, or once in awhile, catch the evening movie).

7:30 - ??? PM/AM: Watch movies, do work, talk to people, and/or putz around.

1:00 – 3:00 AM: At some point… turn up my fan full blast, wash my face, crawl under my mosquito net, and go to sleep.

The living and dining areas in our apartment.

My room... granted, this was when I was packing to move out!  I think.