A daily "work" schedule

I've been at site for about 1.5 months now!I guess the time really does fly by here, as older volunteers have told us. This is a job that generally doesn't come with a lot of structure, so you have to make your own routine.  I've kind of settled into a basic schedule for each day now:

7 am: Wake up, heat up water for a bucket bath (though it'll soon be hot season so heating up water won't be necessary!), take my bucket bath and have some breakfast.

8:30 am: Leave the house and make my usual rounds in the village. This includes greeting various people in one of 4 languages (French, Moore, Gulmancema, Hausa). The salutations generally go something like this:

“Duan guam!” - Good morning, or literally, 'How did your bed sleep?' in Gulmancema

“Laafia” - It's going well, literally 'Health'

“A tuona te?” - And your work?

“Laafia”

“A dempo te?” - And your family?

“Laafia”

“A bila te?” - And your children?

“Laafia”

“Tu wari te?” - And the cold? Here, 60 degree weather means time to bust out the winter jacket.

“Laafia”

“Ka lam pugani!” - See you later!

“Too!” - Ok! Pronounced “toe”

And generally I'll causer, or chat, with various people during my morning walk. I even had a routine set up for some days! Mondays, I go help peel and cut veggies at a restaurant near my house, then go to the CSPS, a health clinic, and help out with the baby weighings. The CSPS tracks the weight of babies and their mothers, and gives special formula to the babies who are malnourished. Wednesdays, I go watch trials at the Ministry of Justice. Granted, I usually can't understand what's going on, but it's interesting nonetheless.

12 pm: Lunchtime! Depending on the day, I'll go home and eat leftovers from the last night's dinner, or go to a restaurant in town.

1 pm: Siesta time. Most offices are closed from 12:30 – 3 pm for the repos, or rest period. It's too bad this idea hasn't caught on in the US yet. If I'm really tired, I'll nap, but otherwise I'll read, clean a bit, or just enjoy some quiet time in my house.

3 pm: Round 2 of walking throughout the community. The area where I live conveniently lends itself to literally walking in circles. In the morning, I generally make one loop through all the shops to greet people and chat, and then make another loop (sometimes mixing it up and going in the opposite direction) in the afternoon.

5/5:30 pm: I end my tour of the village each night as a yogurt/juice stand. One of my friends owns the stand, and another makes ciceena, small fried cakes made with bean flour, and fried patates, sweet potatoes that aren't too sweet. I'll usually have a few snacks there before heading home.

6:30 pm: Arrive home. I generally chill for a bit, or chat with my neighbor, before starting dinner. In a combination of laziness and foresight, I try to go to the market 2 times a week to get the veggies I'll need for the week's meals.

9 pm: I've agreed to teach my neighbor to read and write French, which is an interesting feat, considering my own lack of French skills. But in the evenings, I'll often go over the alphabet with her, and teach her how to write some basic words. It's definitely been a lesson in patience and communication.

10/11 pm: Bedtime! I'm usually really tired by 10 or so. I can't imagine staying up until 2 am or so like I used to do in college. Maybe I'm just getting old.

And then the next day, it starts all over again. That's basically what I do with my time here! There's no real office for my association in my town, so I don't quite have a 9-5 job, as some other volunteers do. These first 3 months especially are for getting integrated into the community and figuring out potential projects. So far, I have some ideas, and we'll see how they play out in the next few months!