At least once a week I find myself on the verge of tears because I just can't get what I want: sleep.
I live in an extremely quite neighborhood, by Pakistani standards, but any little thing can wake me up. Some nights I move from room to room trying to escape on noise or the other, only to be awakened by something else in the next location. I'll move from the bedroom to the guestroom because my husband is just moving a little bit and waking me up. Once I get to the guestroom, the power will go out and the neighbor's generator will turn on. I'll try the couch, but it's not comfortable enough to fall asleep, so finally I'll move back to the bedroom and sleep on the floor. Then I'll be prematurely awakened at 5:00am because of call to prayer blaring over ancient loudspeakers from the nearby mosque. No matter what time I end up falling asleep, my body clock wakes me up around 7:00am.
If I don't get enough sleep at night, I try to take a nap during the day. My whole day evades me too, because I feel too tired to focus on anything and not tired enough to crash. When I try to take a nap, more often than not I'm unsuccessful. I can't get my body and my mind to rest at the time. A beggar will come and pound on the door. The maid will uncharacteristically come an hour early without any warning. My husband will merely walk from one side of the house to the other. The landlord's family will come to bring snacks or discuss something. The neighbor's door will continually slam shut as servants go in and out while arguing with each other. The internet man will come to collect the money for the monthly bill. A gutter cleaner will drive by on his bicycle loudly proclaiming his services, or the 'security man' will bike past blowing on his high pitched whistle. The sound of the whistle is supposed to let me know that everything is safe. I would much rather have silence when things are safe and whistles when I actually need to get woken up.
Today's culprit was the call to prayer at 5:00am. I'm hoping I can find an hour of peace to catch up on sleep during the afternoon...
I live in an extremely quite neighborhood, by Pakistani standards, but any little thing can wake me up. Some nights I move from room to room trying to escape on noise or the other, only to be awakened by something else in the next location. I'll move from the bedroom to the guestroom because my husband is just moving a little bit and waking me up. Once I get to the guestroom, the power will go out and the neighbor's generator will turn on. I'll try the couch, but it's not comfortable enough to fall asleep, so finally I'll move back to the bedroom and sleep on the floor. Then I'll be prematurely awakened at 5:00am because of call to prayer blaring over ancient loudspeakers from the nearby mosque. No matter what time I end up falling asleep, my body clock wakes me up around 7:00am.
If I don't get enough sleep at night, I try to take a nap during the day. My whole day evades me too, because I feel too tired to focus on anything and not tired enough to crash. When I try to take a nap, more often than not I'm unsuccessful. I can't get my body and my mind to rest at the time. A beggar will come and pound on the door. The maid will uncharacteristically come an hour early without any warning. My husband will merely walk from one side of the house to the other. The landlord's family will come to bring snacks or discuss something. The neighbor's door will continually slam shut as servants go in and out while arguing with each other. The internet man will come to collect the money for the monthly bill. A gutter cleaner will drive by on his bicycle loudly proclaiming his services, or the 'security man' will bike past blowing on his high pitched whistle. The sound of the whistle is supposed to let me know that everything is safe. I would much rather have silence when things are safe and whistles when I actually need to get woken up.
Today's culprit was the call to prayer at 5:00am. I'm hoping I can find an hour of peace to catch up on sleep during the afternoon...
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1 comment:
did you always have a problem sleeping? are you particularly worried about something? do you have a way to exercise? sometimes that helps me when i can't sleep. maybe you should get some ear-plugs. i hope you get some rest heather. when are you coming back to the states again?
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