A day in the life

I realized it's probably hard to put what I'm saying into context, so I thought I would write out a brief play by play about what an average day here is like for me.

05:15 - wake up to the mosque loudspeaker announcing it's time to pray

06:30 - wake up for the second time to a screaming goat, and a very loud rooster

07:00 - boil water for Nescafe, buy bread for 40 cents from the lady across the road

07:30 - eat and drink Nescafe while the people in my compound (who have been awake since call to prayer) do their washing and clean and iron

08:30 - get on my bike, pedal uphill to school in some outfit not made for exercising

09:00 - buy two water sachets, go to class, take notes

12:30 - finish class and go the yam lady across from school, buy lunch for 40 cents

13:00 - go to the market, buy tomatoes and bread and yams and rice and sauce

14:30 - go home, lay in my bed beneath the fan to avoid heat stroke, the compound is empty and everyone is hiding from the heat

16:30 - try to avoid the children screaming SALMINGA HEEELLLLOOOOOOO and jump across rancid, toxic gutters to go to the internet cafe by our house - surrounded by thatch huts

17:30 - start peeling yam, cutting tomatoes. Light burner and cook supper

19:00 - fill two buckets with water, start washing clothes by hand

20:00 - fill another bucket with water, scrub down and bucket bath

21:00 - hang out with people in our compound, drink more sachets

22:00 - bundle up and go to sleep beneath my sleeping bag

That's a pretty calm day. Sometimes there are wrenches thrown in, like when I had to deal with a drunk bicycle mechanic, or when I got hit by a cyclist, or when I took cheap drugs without prescription to stop my diarrhea and ended up having vertigo and insomnia from the side effects. After every ridiculous and potentially dangerous experience, it usually ends in a good laugh. Salminga means foreigner in Dagbani, so the kids who live around my compound are always screaming it at me and are not satisfied until I wave furiously at them.

This weekend was Sallah, which is a national Islam holiday. There was an abundance of animal slaughter and the cooking of cow bones and hide and insides has forever stained my nostrils. I didn't even feel bad for the goats next door though, because they wake me up so early every single day with their incessant crying.

So soon it will be Christmas, this month has gone by unbelievably fast.