A Day In The Life

Some of you might be wondering what a typical day is like for me. So here is what happened yesterday.

0600 – The morning prayers blast from the mosque's megaphones, resonating throughout the entire village. My alarm is not set to go off for another half hour, but I just turn it off. The sound is so loud that it sounds like someone placed a boom box on my front porch. Might as well just get up and around. 

0715 – I just finished a small load of laundry. They should be well dried by the time I come back. Since I have to wash my clothes by hand I tend to wash small loads very frequently. This way I do not have to wash an entire pile. After I am finished I use the water in the tubs to water my banana trees (yes, I have two banana trees in my back yard. How cool is that?!). Then my host father knocks on my door to deliver a loaf of bread so I can make my breakfast. I make myself a peanut butter and banana sandwich.

0815 – I get myself signed in at my school. The students make their way to their respective classrooms. I am sweating from the bike ride here. The school is about one kilometer away from my house. I passed my usual morning traffic of children playing, donkey carts, and women balancing heavy objects on their heads while carrying babies on their backs.

1030 – I have an interesting conversation with another teacher about polygamous marriages.

1145 – I sit with some of the other teachers around the food bowl to have lunch. We have fish with white rice and onion sauce.  I try to not eat too much for I know I will be eating with my family later.

1400 – I make it back to my compound. The children all run over to greet me. I give each one of them a high five and a fist bump. I go inside my house to top off my water filter and bring my clothes in off the line. I sweep the floor also. This is I do constantly, for small things on the floor bring in ants.

1430 – My younger host brother comes to my door to tell me that lunch is ready. I go into my host father's house and join him and my host brothers around the food bowl. Today we are having domoda, which is white rice with groundnut paste. It is one of my favorite Gambian dishes.

1530 – I usually commit time after lunch to do some reading. I never really had much time to read back home, but here I read a lot. I have been at my village for a little over two months and have read eight novels. Right now I am reading Life of Pi.

1600 – I try to exercise regularly. I have found a couple of good running routes around my village. But today I decided to do yoga and stretching.

1730 – I carry the bucket that I filled up at the community pump to my latrine area to get ready for my bucket bath.  This includes bathing by gathering water in a cup and pouring it over my head. I actually kind of like bathing this way.

1900 – Night falls on the village. I turn on my lantern and look around the inside of my house. I am paranoid about having another bat find its way into my house. I have already had to kill one earlier in the week when I could not get it out. 

1930 – I join my host father and brother outside for dinner. Tonight we are having rice and sweet potatoes. My host father takes his leave early to do evening prayers. So I finish eating with my host brother. After dinner I help him with his numbers. He can now successfully write to ten. He also helps me with my Sarahule.

2015 – I take my toothbrush and a water bottle out into my backyard to brush my teeth. I have become very used to doing all my daily hygienics without having running water.

2100 – After reading a little more of Life of Pi, I get myself settled in to bed. I say my prayers and then try to make myself as comfortable as I can on the cheap foam mattress that is my bed. I think about my family and friends back home. I hope all is well with them.