One woman, Teni, comes to the school at 4:00 a.m. She cooks for the younger children and cleans the kindergarten area. Most days, she doesn’t leave till after 4:00 p.m. Except for Sunday, when she left early to go to a wedding, she worked 12-hour days, 7 days a week. I don’t recall, but I believe she has worked there for the last 25 years.
The first day, I happened to be up and sitting outside when she arrived. Shortly after, she came to tell me she had filled a bucket for me and left it in the bathroom for me to take a “shower.” I comply and take a bucket shower. The next morning at 4 a.m., I’m still in the tent, and she calls up. “Good morning Mark,” to which I reply in kind. After which she says, “It’s time to take a shower in a little bit.” She is calling up to me at 4 a.m. to let me know that in ~30 minutes, it will be time to take a shower. What?
The next day we don’t even camp in the kindergarten area, but again she comes over and calls up to let me know that at 4;30 it’s time to take my shower. And, just so I don’t feel too special, after I’ve completed my ablutions, she calls up to Benjamin to do the same.
On our last night, we camp behind a hedge grove, well away from the kindergarten area. I was hoping we wouldn’t be visible while it was still dark when Yeni arrived. But alas, at 4:15 a.m., she is there to let me know it is time.
While we laugh about the shower emphasis, Teni was a wonderful host. She was welcoming, knew everyone and everything about the school, and was ready to help with anything we needed.