We've now been in Ejura for a month and a half, and the time has flown by. There is now a definite weekly routine. Monday is market day so school tends to fizzle out early, we then wander round the stalls after lunch picking up any essentials for the week ahead and sampling some of the delicacies on offer. Some of the favourites are sweet balls (donut like things made from Cassava flour), fried cheese, soya kebabs (actually better than most of the meat alternatives), and Klum Klwi (ground peanuts shaped into sticks and fried). Hmm Hmmmn.
Tuesday is the beginning of the week proper. There is a full day of classes, and attendances are high. I've been running after school lessons for the older children, and Holly does library, so we tend to finish about four. Everything is quite relaxed from then on, we tend to read, plan for the next days lessons, shower, walk around the town or into the farm land, and sit around talking. At six-thirty the sun rapidly goes down, and at seven-ish we get dinner out and start trying to gather everyone round. With five volunteers, six boys, and Richard (the assistant headteacher) it can take a while to get all assembled. After dinner we sometimes go to a spot (bar) for a beer or a coke, or just stay around the house listening to music and chatting. Recently we've bought some DVD's so we occasionally watch a film in the computer room.
Wednesday and Thursday proceed in much the same way, unless of course there's heavy rain. Rain means attendances go down at school and lessons are generally delayed, it also often causes the power to go down which puts a stop to my computer classes.
Friday is the beginning of the weekend and also a big Mosque day, so traditionally this means attendances are low and school closes early. Annoyingly this is when many of my computer classes have been scheduled for, I think the idea being it will be an incentive for the children to come to school. This is fine most weeks and most of the children do turn up, but Friday is also when many impromptu holidays come up so the school is closed completely.
On that note, I now understand how people find out about local goings on and celebration days, there is a huge loudspeaker in the centre of town that broadcasts up and coming events. This is why no one knows what is going on until the day before, when the announcement is made. They also announce if children go missing, or if there's a fire, or any things of importance like this.
The weekends, when we stay in Ejura, are spent doing laundry, cleaning rooms, and lazing around. Though this weekend we were more constructive and painted the boys new bedroom which has just been added onto the house. On Sundays I have also been helping Simon out with the cooking. So far I've done a coconut curry which worked really well - surprisingly they don't ever use coconut in cooking despite the local abundance. And also I did a spicy "chickpea", tomato and carrot sauce. That was nice as well, but the "chickpeas" (they're like chickpeas but bigger and have a slightly different taste) took 4 hours of boiling before they went soft – not a process I'm in a hurry to go through again. I have a huge respect for Simon, its hard enough regularly cooking for fifteen people but to do so on charcoal fires without the use of onion, garlic, mushroom, or meat is very limiting indeed. Good job.