That's Entertainment

I often wonder what exactly I would be doing in the United States at this very moment. Not so much about where I would be working or going to school or living or anything like that. I don’t really like to think about serious things. My thoughts tend to gravitate toward what I would be doing on a sunny, Sunday afternoon in April with no commitments or what I would do between when I get home from work and when I go to bed. We take for granted a lot of the things we have access to in our comfortable US lives.
Downtime is a problem for a lot of volunteers because we have so much of it. Previously, I would not consider it free time when I went to basketball games or movies. That time was spoken for, though it certainly was leisure. Here, since events like such are not nearly as accessible, I have more free and unaccounted for time in which to occupy myself. I would say in a common weekday, I have four to five hours of time to use up. The weekends are generally even freer than that, with up to ten hours of nothing planned, though every other weekend is usually travelling (which is planned and accounted for).
So what does a body do? My main distractions are media in their normal forms. I watch movies on my computer; usually at least one full-length feature film’s worth a day. I read vociferously. I read now more than I did in college, which might explained why I didn’t graduate with honors. I write in a journal and for the blog, both of which are not written in as often as they should be. Sometimes I just stare at the wall, thinking. It is scary to admit that, but it is true, which might be scarier still.
On the weekends, I usually go for a walk around the neighborhood or even into the omnipresent mountains. A good hike of five to six hours can really put a dent into a day. Shopping is often such an adventure that I will go merely for something to do rather than necessity. I occasionally play computer games like Free Cell (54% win rate) or my electronic Sudoku if needed, but I try to avoid anything too unproductive.
Beyond any doubt though, daydreaming has become an absolutely awesome distraction for me. It is so much fun and time can slip away so quickly when lost in your thoughts. I think about life after Peace Corps and where I will visit next month and what to do with my monthly living allowance when it comes. Ever since I have hung my world map on the wall, I have had an excellent opportunity to just drift away in thought as I try to memorize all the countries of West Africa or figure out what they speak in Singapore (it is English, right?). The better question might be how I will handle being back in America when I don’t have so much “free” time.