As a kid, rule #1 was to never say ‘I’m bored” around adults. Inevitably, that would lead to the assigning of some chore that I REALLY did not want to do. As a fairly inventive kid, I was rarely bored. I read., built things and explored. I wrote stories and drew pictures. Sometimes, I talked to my friends on an actual telephone. In the house.. Anything to not tell the adults “I’m bored'”
- Go on a walk
- Listen to music and stare at the wall
- Play with #notmycat and her babies
- Play solitaire
- Play banana grams by myself
- Look up words in my Kinyarwanda/French/English dictionary and try to learn 2 languages at the same time
- Look up “cost of living in Washington, DC” Or Washington state. Or London. Or Canada. Fall down the rabbit hole of ‘where can RNs work internationally’
- Look up qualifications to work for MSF
- Begin to lear Arabic despite not knowing anything about Arabic nor having anyone to speak Arabic with.
- Speak with my neighbor in German because my German is much better than my Kinyarwanda or French
- Make up entirely non-plausible stories in my head about living in Rwanda and speaking more German than any of the 4 official languages of the country.
- Daydream about going on safari.
- Read, read, read, and read some more
- Study for the GRE
- Make some tea
- Do some yoga
- Write a blog post
- Plot revenge
- Take a bucket bath inside my house and use the excess water to ‘mop’ the floor
- Watch pirated movies
- Take a three hour nap
- Stay up until 3 am because that’s the only time I can hear myself think
- Sort out my photos
- Write letters to friends
- Teach myself how to photoshop on pirated software
- Journal, journal, journal
- Put on a face mask
- Plan a trip to Uganda, Kenya, and/or Tanzania
- Plan a trip to Zimbabwe/Zambia
- Make plans to live abroad permanently including how and where
- Check on my bucket garden
- Chop vegetables
- Make grocery aka market lists
- look up new recipes that can be made with village supplies
- practice suturing my fake arm
- read more books
- listen to music
- try to remember how to solve math problems
- investigate taking the foreign service exam
- WhatsAPP other PCVs
Remember why I’m here and how joyful this whole experience is despite the ample free time!