The Sage Femme (like an OBGYN) and one of the Matrones (nurses) are doing checkups on the women who had their babies last night. A woman almost ready to give birth arrives with her mother and mother-in-law. She’ll be taking one of the beds that is about to be vacated by a woman who gave birth yesterday. Just as it's starting to get dark, I head home.
7:00 PM
I work out with resistance bands while my husband waters the garden outside our house. He’s planted corn, beans, radishes, lettuce, tomatoes, flowers and fruit trees. Our neighbors pop into our yard nearly every day to ask how the garden is going and to see the progress. They also love to give advice. After doing the dishes I neglected earlier in the day, I take a bucket shower in our bathroom. This consists of exactly what it sounds like. I use a small bucket to scoop water from a big bucket and pour it over my head: Shampoo, condition, scrub, scoop. Afterward, I put on lots of bug spray and a long dress to help prevent bug bites. The ants love to come out at night and surprise me when it's dark.
8:00 PM
We head to our host family’s house for dinner. People in the compound are sitting in their typical groups. The girls are near the kitchen, chatting and making dinner while the little boys play. The young men and a few more girls are seated under a solar lamp doing homework in another part of the compound. Sometimes the TV is on and people gather around to watch soccer, however, the solar panel did not charge today because something is broken, so it's off tonight. Some men and the other volunteers arrive with huge sacks of peanuts from my family's fields to be loaded into the magazine (storage area).
