My Typical Day

I start waking up around 6am with the sun, the birds and the chickens. Although I wake around 6, I try not to get up until 8. The mornings are cool (in the 50’s-60's) so I stay under my covers and watch the sun come up behind Mt. Kenya.  Then I pray, read and meditate until 8. 

By 8 Mama Mwungi has already walked to the neighbors to get fresh milk and has made our chai. In Kenya chai is a key diet staple. They drink chai (tea, water, milk and a lot of sugar) for breakfast, 10 am break, after lunch, in the afternoon and then again after dinner. Any house you visit insist that visitors have some chai. The amount of milk and sugar depends on resources available.

So I make eggs (fresh eggs from our neighbors until we have our own chickens), toast and have that with my chai. Then I meet with the carpenter and to discuss progress on the house, task for the day and see what additional materials he might need. After that I check in with the guys that are helping in our garden. They have been clearing /digging away bushes, digging trenches and planting cabbages, carrots, spinach/greens and napier grass. 

By this time it’s about 10am and the temperature has warmed up, probably in the low 70's and is warm enough to bathe. So I heat water on the gas burner and then pour it in my small wash basin and take a “bucket bath”. We do have showers at the house but until we have electricity (we’ve already been waiting for it for a year and a half….) they only produce cold water. Unless it’s over 90 degrees I just can’t seem to make myself take a cold shower….

After bathing I either make the day long trip to Nyeri town to get supplies for the house construction, visit the kids at St. Gerald, attend parent teacher conferences at the high schools, attend celebrations or stay at the house and help with getting things completed. Regardless where I go for the day it’s a must to be home before dark (7pm) for multiple reasons. First, just like anywhere it’s just not a good idea to be walking alone at dark. Second, it gets so dark that you can’t see anything. Third, there are stories of leopards around here that come out after dark. The last thing I need is an encounter with a leopard, I’m scared of house cats!

Once I get home I check on all of the progress for the day on the house and the garden. Then I sit out on the porch and enjoy the sunset. If I have power and network on my smart phone, I catch up with news and messages. Then either Mama Mwungi or I will light the jiko (small tin container that we put charcoal in for heating water and keeping the kitchen warm). Once the jiko is burning we head inside to start dinner. Right now we are still cooking in our temporary kitchen, Mama Mwungi’s bedroom. Mama Mwungi does all of the cooking for now. Once we move to the kitchen where there is more room then I’ll get to join the fun.

Our favorite dinner is ugali, which is white corn that is milled into flour and boiled in water. It turns into something between rice and mashed potatoes. We eat that with cooked cabbages, carrots and tomatoes.

After dinner we use the warm water to wash our feet. After walking in sandals on the dusty roads and in the garden, you can imagine how dirty our feet get….so we wash and soak them in warm water.  We listen to some music on the radio (a lot of US 80’s  love songs) and catch up on stories of the day. By now it’s between 9 and 10 and time for bed. Nights are cold so I beeline straight under the covers. I thank God for another day then read for about 15 minutes before I fall asleep. Ready for another day!