Early Mornings

Are you a morning person?! Or does that early morning chirpy thing drive you mad ... and find you reaching for the snooze button or the coffee mug?!

The significance of mornings changes over time, situation and it would seem over cultures!

A friend of mine, parent of a 2 year old, recently shared this status on Facebook ...

'As a teenager a good sleep would involve me getting up around mid day. Now I'm grateful if I can get to 8-9am'

Something I can totally relate to. While Abigail slept like a dream as a baby, her little sister hasn't quite followed in her footsteps. A lie-in would be a dream and just chilling with a book without falling asleep after a page or two would be great! I know it's just a 'season' and I'll be dragging the girls out of bed in a few years time. In the meantime I'll try to enjoy them at whatever time of day they greet me!

The girls aside ... here in Dodoma, the early morning call to prayer from the local mosque often wakes me up sometime after 5am. If it doesn't, then as soon as the sun comes up the wildlife definitely makes themselves known (it's as if someone just flicks a switch) ... as does the population of the Dodoma. 

A lot of people here have no electricity, so waking hours are determined by the hours of sunlight. As we're so close to the equator it is between 5.30 and 6.30 morning and evening for sun-up and sun-down all year round. So that is when the day begins!

Once you get into the swing of it, it's not all that bad. Bed-time just shifts earlier to compensate, which is why the 'Missionary Midnight' is universally known as 9pm. Honestly there are nights when 9pm can feel like the early hours of the morning and you feel like such a light-weight when you check your watch to find that back in the 'real world' you would still be going for another couple of hours!

Now we're in the hotter part of the year (although to be fair all year round is hot by UK standards!) I see the benefits of being an early riser. With no air-conditioning or ceiling fans and having to get on with the day-to-day ordinary stuff, the most productive time of day for me is the morning-time ... so extending mornings, even if it is by starting them earlier has got to be a bonus! The afternoon's can often be a total write-off!

There are still mornings when I don't want to get up ... but I don't often get a choice from my cheeky girlies anyway and if I don't get going, there is so much that wouldn't get done. It makes perfect sense to just fit into the local culture and get on with it! This is definitely our season of early mornings!