If I were to define the rooms of my house by their current use, I would say there are four bedrooms, a salon (living/sleeping room), and a storage room, all branching off a large foyer/hallway. The roof is flat, like most roofs in Mauritania, and accessible by stairs. In hot weather we use it as a sleeping area.
My room has a desk, where I study and research, write letters, and organize my time. I don't have a chair as of yet (they cost 2000 UM and I am not made of money!), so I sit on a bucket that isn't quite tall enough and reminisce about being a kid at the adults' table. A plastic woven mat mostly covers the cement floor and the walls are scattered with pictures and cards that I have received. There is also a map of the world and of Mauritania, and occasionally I occupy myself by staring at them and making travel plans.
I have two sleeping mats, one almost tall enough to qualify for a backless couch (I do use it for couch-esque lounging). And I have a trunk containing my clothes and various and sundry items. I'd like to have a bookshelf made because a great many of my possessions are, by necessity, simply piled on the floor (providing a habitat and hiding place for local wildlife). That will have to wait as well, as a bookshelf = 8000 UM.
During the day in the "cold" season, the temperature varies around 70-85 degrees Fahrenheit and the natives run around comically in winter jackets. Tragically this extremely pleasant season is coming to a close and my body is remembering what it is to be constantly sweaty.
On an average day, I get up with the heat, so the time varies from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., depending on the season. I have what I call my "Inter-Continental breakfast"—a protein bar or oatmeal or a handful of nuts and a packet of Emergen-C vitamin supplement. My host family also brings me a glass of coffee (they serve it with so much milk and sugar I can basically feel my teeth rotting in my head) and a chunk of local bread, which is what they have for breakfast.
I typically use the morning for studying languages (Pulaar and French) or attempting to come up with elegant solutions to inelegant problems related to local development. Occasionally I also write letters, have meetings with persons of note, or survey average villagers to gather data. Lunch is served around 2 p.m. and I eat 1-2 fish over a bed of rice and some veggies with 5-7 other women. The lunching process includes tea, which takes a minimum of 30 minutes for all three rounds and can be closer to two hours.
Around 4 p.m. when it is no longer appallingly sunny I go to the fields or to the women's cooperative garden, and am there until the sun starts to set, at which point I run back to clean off some of the grime and sweat before the light dies completely and I can no longer see to do anything. On the weekends I teach classes to kids at this time (during the weekdays they have school).
8 p.m., or thereabouts, is when we have dinner, which is almost invariably a dish called hako. Hako is literally is the cut and dried bean leaves that are cooked into the dish, along with crushed melon seeds and beans, sometimes with a bit of fish or goat. I love hako. It's the most protein I get all day and it reminds me a little of ground beef in taste and texture. They serve it over couscous. We also have lacciri kosam (couscous in milk) after everyone has eaten their fill of hako. I love this dish as well. Dinner is definitely my favorite meal.
Some people drink tea after, but I find it hard to sleep if I put caffeine in my system. I usually am in bed by 9 or at the latest 10. There isn't much going on after sunset, as most peeople do not have electricity. So that's a typical day-in-the-life. More to come on my host family and my actual work. Write me, call me, love me!
No comments:
Post a Comment