A Day In The Life...

Hello everyone. We hope you are all well. I posted two blogs, the last one is our calendar of events that we will hopefully continue to update throughout our service. But here is a brief outline of what one of our days look like, just a glimpse. Enjoy the rest of the advent season.

Peace and love,
Lee George and Christine Zwicky
B.P. 222
Nouakchott Mauritania

5:30 A.M. Awake to prayer call from a mosque 50 yards away. Hopefully fall back to sleep, and often times sleep right through it.

6:30 A.M. Awake to recitation of Koranic verses by our host dad's Koranic students. Roll out of bed (matalas on the floor). Take down our mosquito net and put our matalas and daggo (plastic mat) in our host sisters salon. We sleep outside on our roof every night. Lately we have been using our sleeping bags brrrrr.

6:40 A.M. Walk downstairs give the morning greeting, An wuyi jam (was your night peace), to anyone who happens to be in our groggy path.

7:00 A.M. I go to the garden, womens co-op, and spend anywhere from an hour to two hours watering, helping people transplant vegetables, talking about soils, etc.
Christine prepares for her day. She seems to always be working on some health related work. Studying from her "Where there is no doctor" book, looking over french presentations and figuring out how to trnaslate it into Soninke.

8:30 A.M. Breakfast. Bread and Kinkillaba. Kinkillaba is a coffee drink made from the leaves of a tree that grows in a nearby village. Sometimes Christine cooks herself oatmeal to try and regain some of the 30 lbs she has lost.

9:00 A.M. Some days Christine goes to the infirmary where she works with the nurse on basic issues of cleanliness and order to the clinic. This also gives her a chance to work with the clinic attendnt who she hopes to set up with further birthing training (as of now there is no midwife in the village) and with the women who frequent the infirmary.
During this time of the day I usually go to my host dad's fields and help or watch what is going on. Currently we are harvesting the millet. Or I walk around town to talk to people and see their gardens.
Of course for both of us there is not always this much activity. Somedays we use for research, reading, or recouping from illnesses. And there are the daily chores that need to be done like washing clothes in a bucket, things never get entirely clean.

11:30 A.M.- 12:30 P.M. People usually return from the fields at this time. Say the mid day greeting Kira(goodday, response: Kira jam) We spend time with our family in the compound. The women are pounding corn, cooking rice and meat, and getting lunch together. On days when we cook for ourselves we go to the one stand in town that sells vegetables and pick up onions, garlic, potatoes, and squash (pretty much the only vegies we can get on a regular basis).

1:30 P.M. Eat lunch of rice and meat.

1:30 P.M.- 4:oo P.M. This time is spent taking naps, readign, hanging out with the family, doing research, working on presentations, and drinking tea, and visiting people. Going and sitting with people under their hangars is a huge part of people's social lives.

4:oo P.M. I usually go back to the womens co-op to water my plots and talk with the women about gardening, and the history of their garden. Greet the women Xa Lella (good afternoon to all of you). Working side by side has been a great way to integrate and learn about what problems they have had, and still have growing vegetables.
The afternoon is when Christine and I both usually do presentations. This is the time of day when most people have finished their chores or are going to the gardens anyway.
Side note: If you are wondering greetings are a big deal here. I would say Mauritanians are even worse than midwesterners when it comes to saying hi or goodbye. People here will call up a relative in France and spend the whole conversation doing greetings, even if they haven't seen them in a year! Here is a sample of just some of the greetings:
A: A moho (how are you)
B: Ma Jam (I have peace)
A: An Xiebarre (how is the news)
B: Jam (peace)
A: An Ka Moho (how is your house)
B: I Jam (they have peace)
A: An Gole Moho (and your work)
B: O do o me (we will do it together)
A: An tewe moho (and how is the heat)
B: Jam (peace)
A: Torrah su n e (no problems)
B: Jam (peace)
A: An do fa ma (don't remember what this one means, but we say it anyway)
B: Ma famata (same with the response)
A: Leminu moho (how are your children)
B: Jam (peace)
A: An na koyi ma (see you soon, if they are travelling)
B: Animine (Amen)

6:00 P.M. The work day comes to a close. People start to relax. People in our compound are less stressed. We have visitors that stop by or we go visit other people's houses. Right now is when we occassionally bathe (three times a week). We use about five to six liters of well water, a bucket, and a cup and the water is freezing. It is really unbearable but luckily since it is so dry right now you don't sweat that much.

7:30 P.M. We cook ourselves dinner, pasta or soup.

8:00 P.M. Visit with family and occassionally eat with them.

9:00 P.M. Get our mosquito net and matalas, say the evening greeting (jam na wuyi, may your night be peace) and go to bed.