waking up

4:45 AM. That's the time, every morning, of the first Muslim call to prayer. I'm stirred awake alongside the rest of the village: you can't hide from a voice carried by a microphone, which I guess is the idea. While no one in my muslim family actually heeds the call, they do use it as an alarm clock. Kibibi and Binti are up before dawn, heating water for the family's baths and brewing chai over the charcoal stove, simmering milk, water, tea leaves and a pinch of ginger. At 6:30 I finally drag myself to the toilet for my daily bucket bath. Cleanliness is an important Muslim value here, and especially important to Kibibi. The daily shower is considered vital, as are clean clothes. Thank God, I say. Hours into the day, dust from the dirt paths cling to sweaty skin. Yet the germ-obsessed West has not fully infiltrated the arena of bacteria: soap is only halfway in vogue. Hands are rinsed with water before and after eating, and Muslim ablutions are performed with water only. And of course there's the socially enforced, "eat with your right hand since you rinse yourself in the toilet with your left". The system works, so it endures. Considering everything, the daily shower - with soap, and lots of it - is much appreciated.

After showering comes breakfast. Good old fashioned white bread, the most unhealthy food since cake was invented. We spread our "supa loaf" with margarine, follow it with a banana, and rinse it all down with a cup of hot chai sweetened with coarse sugar. A spoonful of sugar for me, thank-you-very-much, and a quarter cup of sugar for everyone else.

Then we walk to work. My swahili mama wears a long dress, with a colorful Konga, or Lesso, wrapped around her hips. A matching Lesso is thrown over her shoulders, and she covers her head with a scarf. I'm now the proud owner of 2 lessos myself, and in the market for more. Mama Kibibi brings the leftover chai and bread to share with the ladies at work a few hours later - many people here eat a late breakfast, skip lunch and eat dinner just before bed.

So begins the day.