Routine.

Over and over again, my friends back home tell me that my life be so exciting. Really though, at the end of the day I am still me and my life isn’t all that different…I’m just in a different country. My day starts bright and early at 6:00 where I press snooze until 6:30. I take my bread and tea and I am out the door by 7:30.

I walk the same route 4 times a day, every day. First right, then left, cross the street at the stone wall, cross the main road at the road-a-bout, walk 7 blocks then take a left at the traffic light, 4 blocks up, and cross the street at the plaza. It’s now about 7:50 and I’ve made it to work.

I then work for 4 hours until 12:00 when I leave for lunch where I will return by the same route by 2:00 and I will work for the afternoon until 6:00 when the office closes for the night. Depending on the day and the weather I will be sitting at my desk working in AutoCAD to update the system plans or I will be walking the streets to verify and note information about the system. That’s my day. That’s my routine.

The best part about my routine is the routines that it crosses paths with. Within my walk to work when I take that first left I walk past a small shop where I say hello to the shop keeper and occasionally stop by in the evening to talk for a little bit.

When I cross the street at the stone wall at lunch and in the evenings I run into my neighbor as she is headed to the gym. On weekends I will go over to her house for tea and to help her practice her English. She is now my friend just because are routines cross.

After I cross the main road, I say good morning and good afternoon to an old woman selling produce. We only ever share a few words but she has begun to smile as she sees me coming and I smile as well as we exchange our greetings.

5 blocks latter and I pass the old man with a bum leg who is often outside in the afternoon, quickly after I walk past a tire shop where I see the shop owner at least twice a day. I greet them both and we exchange smiles.

My life is simple. My life is routine. It always has been and it always will be no matter where I am. I am okay with it though, it is the people that I met within the simplicity that makes it something to be cherished. Every day within my routine Im just working towards having peace and doing good.