February 14 - A Day in my Life

I’ve been wanting to do a “day in my life” post for a while, where I record pretty much everything I do during a random day.  So here’s what my February 14 was like.  Perhaps a bit more busy that some days, but otherwise it’s pretty typical.

Around 6:15, I was woken up by the sounds of the women in my concession sweeping the courtyard and starting their day.  I slept in until around 7, and then made my morning trip to the latrine – greeting the members of my concession family that I saw along the way.  “How are you this morning?  How’s your body?  How’s your fatigue?”  Then I moved my little wooden stool into my house’s open doorway, looking out into the concession, and read my weekly Bible Lesson.  Nafisa, my 10-year-old “sister,” was eating rice with sauce and offered me some.  I told her I was going to go buy bouillie- millet gruel- at the market for breakfast, and she told me they’d made bouillie next door.  My neighbors often make bouillie to sell.  I went next door with my bowl, to buy some.  They’d prepared a lot of bouillie for a baptism – it’s traditional to give away bouillie at baptisms – so I got my bouillie for free.  I got frustrated when they laughed at my Fulani as I tried to understand the situation.  I went into the room where the newborn was sleeping, to see it- it was a boy. 

Back home, I finished my Bible Lesson and got dressed.  Then Bana, my concession “mother,” dropped by and said “let’s go to the baptism.”  We headed next door, walking around the courtyard greeting everyone and then sitting with the other women.  There are certain things that happen at baptisms, such as shaving the baby’s head, but it’s mainly just socializing and a little dancing to drums.  It’s traditional to give money to the family – I gave them 200 francs- but it’s also traditional for them to hand out money as “favors.”  So I was given 100 francs.  Other traditional “favors” to give guests are sugar cubes and kola nuts.  I got a kola nut; an old man was throwing them at people, the first time I’d seen that at a baptism.  I shared mine with another woman, only eating a small bite- they’re very bitter. 

I left the baptism around 9:15 to meet my counterpart, Guene.  The door to his house wasn’t open, so I went to a place where they sell pounded yams in the mornings, next to our health center.  Both he and the “major”, the director of the health center, were there. “I didn’t even stop by your house, I knew I’d find both of you where they sell pounded yams!”  I joked.  We headed back to the health center, and met with two nurses to choose someone from the health center to attend a Peace Corps-organized seminar on nutrition with me.  A woman, one of the nurses, was chosen.  It will be fun to get to know her better, she’s new in Peonga.

Next, I walked to our CEG (secondary school) for English club.  I waited about half an hour for the teacher leading the club with me to show up.  Although not 200 kids any more, it’s still a huge group.  A big hit with the students was learning “The Hokey Pokey” – even more popular than our last song, “Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes.” 

After English club, I went to study Fulani with Kadija, my tutor.  The class consisted largely of me asking questions about random Fulani words I’ve heard around.  My language is getting pretty good!  Around 12:30, we finished our lesson and I walked home.  I stopped at a “shade hut” – a covered area – where men were sitting and eating a powdery dish made of corn flour.  “Come eat!”  they said, so I bought some with beans for 50 francs.  The man who invited me to eat was Ali, who drives a zemidjan (motorcycle taxi).  I’ve often traveled with him when I’ve needed to go to nearby villages.  “You didn’t go to Derassi today?”  He asked.  Today was a major livestock market in Derassi, a village about an hour away.  “No, did you?” I asked.  “Yes, I just got back.”  “Did you buy a cow?”  I joked.  “No.”  “Why?”  “No money.”  All of this in fulani! 

After eating I kept walking home.  Two people, a man and a woman, each asked me to give them the Gaani Fete polo shirt I was wearing  (the one I won at the 6 k race I ran last month).  Near the market, I was intercepted by three small kids, including a cheerful little girl who’s a favorite of mine – she always wants to dance with me when she holds my hand.  All three of the kids held my hands.  There was bit of tussling about who would get to hold which fingers.  We got home, and I remembered I’d forgotten to give my cellphone to the cell phone charging business in town.  My battery was dead.  Back to the market, with 4 kids holding hands with me this time, two on each hand, and others tagging along behind. 

Then I finally got back home and had time to relax.  I did my dishes, and Millie my cat dropped by.  I fed her a meal of leftover sorghum porridge, cold rice, and dried fish.  Then she hopped on my lap and wrestled with my pen while I wrote in my journal.  Then read for a bit and worked on “decorating” my house.  I put Christmas cards – which I’d recently received – on the wall and set up my “kitchen” – meaning putting a square of linoleum I’d bought on my living room floor, under my stove.  It looks great.

At 5:00 the day had cooled off and I headed to the garden.  Everyone was transplanting lettuce and tomatoes into their garden beds, but since there weren’t enough watering cans for everyone I didn’t do much transplanting myself.  I spent most of the time talking with Guene, my counterpart, and Ruth, the teacher at one of the schools in Peonga.  She was there with some of her students, who have a bed in the garden.  I also spent some time weeding my bed, and prepared a natural insecticide out of neem leaves and hot peppers soaked in water, to apply the following day.  My cucumbers had some bugs starting to eat their leaves.  I walked home from the garden as the sun was setting, stopping at two different boutiques in the market to buy rice, dried beans, and powdered milk.

Once I got back home I read some more – the book I was working on today was “Blue Latitudes,” about Captain Cook’s voyages.  Then Nafisa, Alia (my two friends who are 10 and 11), and a group of about 15 other kids dropped by.  They were heading to the market to buy food to “faire fete” (make party) because of the baptism.  “Fairing fete” means pooling their money to cook food together.  I put in my 50 francs, and when they came back from market they proudly showed me what they bought: spaghetti, a little macaroni, gari, rice, tomato paste, and a maggi boullion cube.  “Fairing fete” is part playing house, part camping, and part brawl.  They all cooked the food over the cookfires in the yard, and then everyone brought their bowls and there was a lot of yelling and arguing involved in dividing up the food.  I removed myself from the fray of kids to sit on my stoop and enjoy the stars.  The food sharing fray started outside, then everyone moved into the nearby kitchen hut and shut the door.  I could hear lots of arguing going on inside, and then kids began to emerge victorious one by one with bowls of food.  My bowl was brought to me, and I ate some outside before going in and sharing the rest with Millie.  Then it was time to listen to my ipod and go to bed.

So there’s probably more detail than you ever wanted about a day in my life!