During the week, my day typically starts around 5:30AM, after I have hit my alarm for the second time, noticing the silence after the prayer caller has let go of his microphone. Our week in Hargeisa begins on Sunday and runs through Thursday. The regional office in Nairobi runs on a Monday to Friday schedule.
I
have managed to continue to exercise four to five mornings a week, but usually
just 40 minutes of yoga or 30-40 minutes on the treadmill. The past two weeks I have been mostly doing yoga videos in the morning because without the voice from
my heart rate monitor program on my iPod nagging me about which heart rate zone
I am in, it is hard for me to motivate to spend any more than 30 minutes
running in place on the treadmill. I am trying to motivate to get another 15-20 minutes of
workout time in by waking up with the prayer call around 5am, but no luck yet.
After
exercising, the faucet games begin. I have lately spent about 15-20 minutes of
my shower time attempting to find a bearable water temperature, somewhere
between scalding my skin and freezing my butt off. The game also includes the
ever-present reality that messing around with the faucet will often lead me to
the same place it recently has each morning…a bucket bath. Somehow lately no
matter how I attempt to coax a steady stream of water from the shower head that
might actually wet my hair enough get it clean, my efforts have been in vain.
This week in particular the fight with the shower head has usually ended with me
using the faucet to fill up a plastic pitcher so that I can finally get clean
and get to work.
After
that battle, I look for some culturally appropriate clothing for work, which for me in
Hargeisa usually includes pants, a long tunic to cover my offensive behind, and
a scarf loosely wrapped over my head and around my neck to keep me from looking
like a harlot. Since my wardrobe is rather limited, deciding what to wear is an
extremely short process.
By
the time I am dressed, I have “porridge” with flax seed and raisins hot on the
table, along with some hot water for tea or coffee, juice, ground coffee in the
French press, tea bags, honey and milk, if I want them. Yes, I am that spoiled.
Nura (Nuriya) is Ethiopian and is working for us at the moment, cleaning, cooking,
and generally being amazing. She keeps the house clean (and in order) and does
things like surprise us with kettle corn and Ethiopian coffee on a Saturday
afternoon. Unfortunately, Somalilanders (and their government) view Ethiopians
like many Americans view Mexicans in the U.S. and therefore won’t grant her a
work permit. It seems that they believe that the Ethiopians are stealing their
jobs, increasing crime rates, and generally disturbing the peace. As a result,
we can no longer have her working for us, in order to maintain a good
relationship with the government, and she will have to leave in about two weeks.
After
breakfast, whoever is at the house gets picked up in a DRC car to head to the office.
There are four of us at the house now, two Americans, an Estonian, and an
Australian. However, virtually every week someone is traveling for work or
leave. So, it is usually just two or three of us headed to the compound, which
is about a 10 minute drive, depending on traffic.
Driving
to work is always an adventure, as most of the cars are British, with the wheel
on the right side of the car. However, the rules of the road are at least, in
theory, American. So, you will see all the drivers in the vehicles on the far
side of the road, using their passengers (on the correct side of the car for
right-side driving) to help them navigate.
As one might expect, even though there are “rules,” people don’t
generally follow them. There are a lot of people cutting each other off, people
passing vehicles while honking at the people on the other side of the road to steer
clear, even though they don’t have the right of way. There are many games of
chicken as well, with drivers speeding up towards on-coming vehicles in order
to pass the vehicles in front of them and thus far, darting back to the right
side just before impact. It pretty much looks like mayhem with cars all over
the road attempting to pass each other, get ahead in the traffic line or to avoid speed bumps, potholes, people, goats,
donkeys, a herd of camels, children, or parked cars. Never a dull moment in Hargeisa. ;)
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