A Typical Day at the village

I guess there is not a typical day in the village, but my day usually goes somewhat like this. (Keep in mind that we are getting to know the people and their customs in the first 3 months in village)

5:30-6:00am - Most people wake to the sound of the call to prayer, but my village is small so it has no loudspeakers and no one sings the prayer. Instead about three times a week, I usually wake to the sound of honking as the gele (the bush taxi) comes rolling through my village to pick up customers traveling to Barra (the ferry crossing to the capital). When I travel to the capital, I take this gele.

7 am - Wake up and immediately go to the pump to fetch water to bathe. The water in the morning is slightly warmer than water left out over night. I also try to be the first or second one at the pump because I do not like cutting in front of the women to pump (In village, men do not wait in line at the pump).

7:15-8:30 am - I take a shower, water my garden, sweep, and make my bed. I also make something for breakfast because I am always hungry when I get up.

8:30 am - Greet my family, and read on my front step.

9:30 am - Eat breakfast with my host father and a couple of his kids. My father gets a separate food bowl from the women and the men. Most of the kids eat with the women or the men, but a couple of the younger ones eat with my father.

10 am - 2 pm - I do not have a daily routine, but I usually do one of the following; a village walkaround where I walk around to each family compound greeting and chatting with the families (it is a great way to learn about people), help in the fields or construction (so far I have helped people make fences and build a house), go to the school, or visit a nearby village.

2 : 30 pm - I eat lunch with my host father.

3:30 pm - I usually sit around with my family, play soccer, or read.

5:30 pm - The sun has started to set. I take a bucket bath, work in my garden, and snack on something.

7:00 pm - I usually go outside and sit on the bench in my compound. It gets dark around 7:30. Usually some of my family members are outside and I listen to them talk or I sit by myself if no one is out yet and watch people moving back and forth across the compound.

8:30pm - Dinner time.

9:15 pm - After the women eat, I tell my family I am going to bed. I close my front door, brush my teeth and lay in bed. I usually read, write in my journal, or listen to the radio before I sleep.