Nightime

It seems Gambians sleep little. My village has no electricity; candles, flashlights and moon light are their sources of light. I expected people to go to sleep when it gets dark but that is not the case. At night, my family sits in front of their compound on mats or small wooden benches; they use a flashlight to eat, make attaya (a sugary tea) or to find something. Otherwise they sit and talk in the dark. I usually go to bed shortly after dinner, around 9:30pm. My family says I go to bed early but I get tired from the heat and the day. I am not sure when they go to bed but I have woken up to talking around midnight.
In the morning, they are up before me. I usually wake to the sound of pounding (Women pound for almost every meal.) The villagers (mostly Muslims) also wake to pray between 5 and 6am. My village has a small mosque without a speaker system. A trainer in the next village lives next to the mosque and she wakes to the call of prayer every morning. Even though our mosque is quiet, there are plenty of other noises from goats, dogs, donkeys and roosters, which make it difficult to sleep soundly. I am glad I am a deep sleeper who can fall back asleep easily; some have trouble sleeping. Apparently, there is nothing compared to donkey mating season; I will wait to see if I can sleep through that.