Thoughts on sleep and the sleeper in two cultures - America and Niger.
Sleeping in America is like sleeping in a tomb. Sleep in America is respected, a thing not to be disturbed, that, given that it mostly occurs at nighttime, people generally do together as a population, forming a consensus - "this is the time that we sleep and this is how we treat both the act of sleeping and those who sleep."
From the beginning of our lives sleep is respected, especially the sleep we do as babies. "Be quiet, the baby is sleeping" - what a cliched thing to say, but important in that it shows decisively American attitudes about sleep and the one doing the sleeping. When a baby sleeps the child is respected; to wake the baby is a faux-pas, something punishable by nature (or by parents). Babies are watched over as they sleep, either in person or via monitor. A baby's sleep is considered so peaceful and complete that to say that one slept "like a baby" is considered symbolic of getting a good night's rest.
The act of being quiet while others are sleeping continues on throughout life. It is considered rude to make a lot of noise at night "because people are sleeping" - loud music or wild parties can portend having the cops called to shut down the merrymaking. Even a nap justifies silence in the house - if someone, especially the pat/matriarch says that they are going to take an afternoon nap, the house quiets down: children move downstairs to play, the volume on the television gets turned down, and people lower their voices or whisper so as not to disturb the sleeper.
Nighttime is a peaceful time in most of America, especially in purely residential areas. Nightclubs and bars are an exception which people allow for, knowing that there are specific places allotted for nighttime activity which thus excuses the preponderance of music, noise, etc. For the most part, a suburban street at night is a quiet place, one where too much disturbance or noise warrants a phonecall to the police or a head poked out the window to see what all the trouble is about. Even animals are forced to abide by the code of quiet - barking dogs at night are considered a nuisance and owners are castigated for allowing their animals to act up during the generally agreed upon quiet time, rather than having greater control over their pets (which are, in the American sense, their personal responsibility).
In Niger none of these attitudes hold sway. Sleep does not necessitate peace or quiet, control or structure, for either humans or animals. And again, this behavior generally gains its momentum and force in childhood, which, I believe, forms the basis of belief for the entirety of a lifetime's worth of attitudes about both sleep and the sleeper.
Nigerien families are large, and women are often caring for more than one very small child at a time. Children too young to walk are tied to the mother's back with a strip of cloth (called "goyo" in Hausa), with both arms and legs bound within the cloth and thus inaccessible to the child. If a baby's face is covered with mucus and flies, the baby can't do anything about it and learns to tolerate flies walking all over its skin, in its eyes and ears, and up its nose. I've noticed this behavior in adults as well - flies are simply tolerated and rarely swiped away, and I believe that this, like attitudes toward sleep, has much to do with the constant exposure to insects as a child. The mother rarely wipes the flies from the baby's face.
This position, behind the mother and tightly bound, also influences the child's sleeping patterns. Being a new mother to a young child does not excuse the woman from any amount of work, and the daily strenuous activities of life must be completed even with a small child strapped to her back. Thus the child, besides becoming inured to flies and insects, also becomes accustomed to sitting (and sleeping) through its mother's varied movements - the pumping motion of using the well, walking long distances in the hot sun to gather firewood and supplies, the pounding motion of mashing millet into flour. And given that young babies sleep most of the day anyway, the child quickly learns to sleep in a strange position (basically sitting upright) while experiencing strange movements, often in very loud and noisy environments (the well is especially noisy, or while the woman is working and socializing with her friends).
Thus the most obvious sleep-related difference between Americans and Nigeriens is this: American childhoods necessitate peace and quiet during sleep, and this practice is reinforced by the child's parents, while Nigerien children experience great amounts of both movement and noise while sleeping. I believe that these practices influence how both Americans and Nigeriens view sleep and the sleeper for the rest of their lives.
Another large difference between American and Nigerien sleeping habits can be best summarized in one word: religion. Only about 1.5% of Americans are Muslim, while roughly 95% of Nigeriens are Islamic practicitioners. Islam dictates five daily prayers, the first of which occurs well before daybreak and is proceeded by a broadcast call (usually via loudspeaker) to rouse practitioners from their sleep and urge them to either come to the mosque or perform at home the first of their daily prayers.
Because nearly everyone is Muslim in Niger, it is not considered rude or inappropriate to blast a prayer call at 5 or 5:30 in the morning to the entirety of a town or village's populace; indeed, it is a tenant of their religion. Either because Americans are not wholly Muslim or due to their respect for both multiple religious practices and the early morning sleep of its residents, this practice of early AM prayer calls is simply not popular or overly acceptable in American culture.
Several theories may lead to why most Nigeriens use night as the time to make noise and socialize, the first of which is the extreme heat that engulfs Niger most of the year and for most of the day. At night, when temperatures become more comfortable, men are more interested in staying up and socializing with friends (women are generally not allowed out of the house at night and remain within the concession after sunset). Men may also feel that they rest enough during the day (naps are not an uncommon way to pass the day's hottest hours) to avoid sleeping the bulk of the night, or that prayer call comes so early in the morning that, after staying up late talking with friends, sleep may only cause them to miss the first prayer of the day.
The final reason I have found why most men do not sleep during the sleep, or sleep considerably less than what I am accustomed to, is that most people in Niger do not own beds or mattresses and usually sleep on the ground, on benches, or on thin woven mats. This is not particularly comfortable and most men avoid sleep except when absolutely necessary. Most find sitting on a mat while talking with friends to be more comfortable than laying on the same mats and trying to sleep, though some will nap throughout the night while friends are still sitting up conversing.
The idea of noise at night is also not considered overly strange or rude. Dogs bark unabated at night because most dogs are feral and have no owners that take specific responsibility for them. Chickens, roosters, and donkeys wander through villages and make noise as they may. Conversers are never castigated for being too loud. It is simply not a cultural norm to "be quiet, someone is sleeping", especially since sleep patterns are so varied. Thus, nighttime in Niger can seem incredibly noisy for Americans, especially if one sleep outdoors, which the majority of Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) do year-round.
As far as opinions about different sleep patterns are concerned, I have heard several Nigeriens state that they believe Americans sleep too much, that we "need" 10-12 hours of sleep a night, and that Nigeriens are "stronger people" because they need considerably fewer hours of rest. What they do not realize, however, is that most PCVs retire early in the evening because it allows them a chance to relax and recuperate after a long day spent navigating the waters of a foreign culture. Additionally, the time is often spent entertaining oneself, an activity markedly absent in Nigerien culture, doing such things as reading and writing letters (only 2% of Nigeriens are literate), listening to the radio, or making work plans. Finally, all PCVs have both a bed and a mattress, making sleep a far more comfortable option as a way to spend the evening.
