A Typical Day

I’ve had a few sound requests that I post a blog entry about a typical day of my life here in Africa. Here goes…

I typically wake up around 6:00am. (Actually, first I wake up repeatedly during the night thanks to dogs, roosters, etc.) I then eat breakfast with the Sibales and the two other Americans staying with us. We don’t really all sit down together or anything, but people come and go from the table. Breakfast consists of white toast with margarine (4 pieces for me), tea, and of course Malaria prophylaxis. We then pile into the car, Nick, Paul, Myself, Sibale, three Sibale girls, two students who live nearby, and a few others who pile into the back of the pickup truck, to make the ½ hour trip to MCV. The route is over both dirt roads with huge puddles (you really need a truck or SUV) and a long paved road with lots of potholes.

I take attendance for the 1B class at 7:25, and classes start at 7:30. The students stay in the same room all day, and have 9 40-minute classes. They get a break from 9:30 to 10:00, and a break for lunch from 12:00 to 1:30. I eat nsima (maize meal) with various meats and vegetables on the side. For the students, lunch is provided for a small fee at MCV, generally consisting of either nsima and beans or porridge. The sponsored orphans get lunch for free (MCV pays their school fees as well). I will post the exact number of orphans/regular students later when our numbers begin to stabilize, but about half of the students are orphans. School ends at 3:30. I run sports from 3:30 till 5:00 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which has changed from frisbee to football (soccer) and netball, but more on that later.

We then pile back into the truck around 5:00 and head back to Nyumba wa Sibale. We eat dinner (which still consists of mpunga (rice) nyama (meat) and masamba (vegetables) pretty much every night. And of course, there's always nsima). I can't say we do a whole lot else at night, I typically do a little planning reading and then go to bed early. The girls normally are told to go study.

Hope that wasn't boring, my life here definitely isn't.