A Day in the Life of Mme. Mariama Fofana

Who is Mariama Fofana? Well, she's married and of an unknown age, probably 25-28, but otherwise, she's me. I have told my community that I'm married because it just makes social interactions easier and makes me more "normal" in their eyes.

On days when I teach at 8:00 am, I wake up at 6:20, and try to convince myself to go for a run. At that point there's enough sun and enough people about that it's safe. Usually, I go back to sleep for twenty minutes before I get up, bucket shower, cook oatmeal and coffee, take my malaria prophylaxis, strap on my chacos, and head to class.

My school days have varied between one class of English or Physics to three classes of english to 2 physics one english to...who knows. Anyway, we raise the Guinean flag and sing the anthem, which I know about half of, and then head to class for two hours. At 10, there's a 15 minute break that lasts 30 minutes during which everyone eats breakfast-akeke or bean sandwiches and bissap and bananas, etc. Then we go from 10:30 to 12, then 12 to 2.

Once I get home, I fix lunch and chill out. I finally motivate myself to do lesson plans for the next day, sweep or wash my floor, get water from the well, and wait for 5 oclock, when I give English lessons in my courtyard. It's fun, a small class of older guys who REALLY want to learn English. When it's too dark to see the board, they head home and I start cooking dinner to the light of my headlamp. Once I wash the dishes in my bucket, I crawl under my mosquito net, turn on the BBC or my ipod, and chill out. I usually call Liz or another volunteer just to see how things are going. By 8 or 9, I'm usually asleep.

Courtyard English!

Tada, the day of a volunteer.