The days go like this: I get up around 7:30, after E. leaves for work. First thing, I set up my laptop in the “office”: plug the power cord into the surge protector into the AC adapter into the plug adapter into the outlet, which delivers 240 volts. The nice thing about a laptop is its battery serves as an (almost) uninterruptible power supply. When the power goes off, as it has every afternoon this week, my Dell slips gracefully into battery mode. When the power comes back on, which it always does after twenty minutes or so, it begins recharging.
Once the computer is on, I start some tea. While the water boils, I get online, download my email, get offline. Then I drink tea, read email, and write replies. When my messages are ready I get back online and send replies. Afribone charges us a (high) monthly fee for Internet access, so that bill is the same no matter how long I’m connected, but SOTELMA charges us by the minute for our telephone usage. The fewer minutes online, then, the better.
While I’m checking email and drinking tea, Fanta arrives. We’ve hired her to clean our house, wash our clothes, and occasionally shop and cook for us. Many friends in the U.S. were surprised to hear that we’d have someone to do that, but it’s quite common here, nearly universal with the expatriates. I think we might be looked down on if we didn’t hire someone; family leaders spread money among an extended group, so hiring someone for steady work at a reasonable wage helps a large number of people, if only a little.
Since we’re four hours ahead of Washington, over here on Greenwich Mean Time, there’s no real need to check email again until later in the afternoon. I write or read for a while over a small breakfast (bread and jam, or a banana, or crêpes if there are any).
If it gets too hot in the middle of the day, I’ll shut the windows and turn on the air conditioning. It’s not too uncomfortable these days—high temperatures are around 90 degrees Fahrenheit—but I worry about my laptop getting overheated. I’ll get off the computer at lunchtime, eat some leftovers, and practice French until my tutor arrives at 2:00. I have looked forward to learning French, but I am too impatient and get quickly frustrated with how little I know. Fanta encourages me, speaks very slowly and clearly, and repeats herself patiently when I don't understand. Today she told me that my French was getting better, little by little. At least, I think that's what she said.
After my lesson I have a few more hours until E. comes home from work. This is my favorite part of the day, as the sun sets, the yard dims, and the air cools. I’ll go outside with my camera and take some pictures, or take my book up to the roof and read until it’s too dark. Hussein chooses this time to tend to the plants, rake the fallen leaves, and sweep the driveway. As our guardien his main job, in theory, is to protect our house; in practice, he sleeps in his room (a separate building in our yard) during the day, and sits outside the gate drinking tea with the other guardiens. When he hears E. coming, he’ll hop out of his chair and open the gate to the driveway.
E. and I heat up what Fanta left, if she cooked, then spend the rest of the evening reading, or playing a game, or watching a DVD on my laptop before going to bed. After the rain on Wednesday, the temperature dropped significantly and it was just cool enough to sleep with the windows open, but we won’t try that again for a while. We slept terribly. The next day I was tired and irritable, and it showed, especially during my French lesson.
