A Typical Day in Village

A look into our daily routine...

5:15AM - Wake up; the sun is shining and Asher is wide awake running around and whining

5:30AM - Take Asher for a short walk and disassemble the bed (we set up a mattress with a mosquito net every night outside in the middle of the courtyard - way too hot to sleep inside!)

6:00AM - Boil water for hot tea and drink (I have mine black and Nathan has his with sugar and powdered milk)

6:15AM - Nathan goes to pump water and bring it back to the house.  When full, the containers are too heavy for me to carry!

6:30AM - Feed Asher milk and a hard boiled egg (we don't have much dry dog food and it is expensive!).  Beepo, his brother, comes over for milk as well!  I usually add a Luna bar to my breakfast, and Nathan makes a shake with Ovaltine, powdered milk, sugar, and water. 

7:00AM - I read a book for fun or prepare my lesson for school.  Nathan is usually playing with Asher or sweeping the compound (he likes to clean!).

8:00 - 11:00AM - I am typically at school.  It takes me 15 to bike there.  I usually buy a bowl of corn porridge from a local woman as a mid-morning snack (I buy .05 cents worth)!
Nathan visits different gardens, takes Asher to visit neighbors, and/or talks and works with his counterparts, Pierre and Koulu.

Noon - Lunch!  It is often very light due to the heat...Neither of us have much appetite and it is too hot to stand over the gas stove in the hut.  Sometimes I buy rice and beans with tomato sauce from a neighbor (we order .25 cents worth!) or we make popcorn.  Asher eats some dry dog food and a can of sardines.  We also have a Propel or Gatorade.

1:00 - 3:00PM - Nap time.  I read, do Sudoku, and sleep.  Nathan reads and listens to his iPod.  Asher is zonked for the whole time - he is an African dog and knows that midday is time to sleep!

3:30PM - Take a cool bucket bath

4:00PM - I go to French tutoring at the English teacher's house.  It takes me 10 min to bike there.  Nathan goes to Kabye tutoring at an elderly gentleman's house in village.  Takes him 10 to bike too.  Asher sometimes goes with us when we feel like walking!

5:30PM - Both back at the house.  Nathan takes Asher for a 30 min walk.  I start dinner...All of this in the impending darkness.

6:00PM - Dark.  We eat dinner and listen to the BBC on the radio.  Asher has a little more dog food and a couple of bites of human food. 

7:00PM - I bathe with warm water - I leave a bucket in the sun all day ;-)  Nathan washes the dishes and we set up the bed.

7:30PM - I get in bed to read. 

8:00PM - Nathan bathes and then gets in bed to read.  Asher is fast asleep!  Night, night.