a run in arusha

woke up to the smell of campfire and for a moment I was in the woods, somewhere in oregon, rising with the sun to the smell of someone starting breakfast over an open fire. I went with that association, breathed in the smoky scent wafting up from the fire burning outside, cooking the mush they serve to the four guard dogs. I realize that the birds, not the smell, had awakened me. there are these crazy birds here with long necks and even longer beaks and they’re big… but it’s their squawk, not their appearance, that is what makes them worth remembering, or at least difficult to forget. you have me make this noise for you when I get home and you won’t believe how obnoxious it is (or how ridiculous I am :) sounds more like a dying bird than anything else. bagoochhh!!! so loud and terribly annoying. they wake us up a lot, but will visit the hostel at pretty much any time of the day. usually we will hear their calls a few times, then eventually hear the crack of a rock or two on the roof where they like to perch, and then angry squawking as they fly away, startled by the rocks one of the workers here has chucked at them.


our afternoon run today was pretty typical. thu and i (amy needed a nap) start uphill because for some reason we’ve decided we like running clockwise better than counter clockwise. we turn every head we pass. we see the occasional mzungu and exchange friendly smiles, being in a foreign place gives us a bond. we pass some locals who mockingly cheer for us, in a friendly, teasing way, and offer their fists to pound our effort. we laugh and reciprocate, and they are entertained. second lap and we’re gaining on three young boys, they’ve spotted us and are anxiously awaiting our approach. as we come up to them i extend my hand to high five the nearest boy and he’s thrilled. as thu and i run by they begin to a jog next to us. “yes” i think “new opponents”. i smile deviously, they sense what i’m about to do and we all break into a sprint together. we’re flying down the street and they’re falling behind and i’m looking over my shoulder as i sprint, egging them on, but they can’t catch me :) i run until i’m panting then turn around and backtrack, both hands raised to high five each of them. i tell them “very good” in swahili and we’ve all got the biggest smiles on our faces. there you have it, my first victory in africa. guess i need to race opponents that only come up to my shoulder more often :) it’s good for them though, every boy needs his butt kicked by a girl now and again. we finished our run as the sun was setting orange over the hostel. one of the best sunsets I’ve seen so far.


it’s time to shower and I’ve finally got it figured out so that I get a mostly warm shower. the catch is that the drainage in the warm shower leads into the cold shower and it gets backed up. so you must choose, either you get a shower that drains and has decent water pressure, but your shower is cold, or you get a warm trickle of a shower while you stand ankle deep in dirty water. I think it’s a toss up. and today was a particularly fun shower because these tiny ants were running amuck around the shower head, and every once in a while one would get too close to the stream of water and get washed down onto me. awesome, right? put your hands out to cup some water to splash on your face and ants appear in the water accumulating in your hands. so fresh and so clean clean.


spain v netherlands was an epic game. we were faithfully rooting for spain as we watched the game via projector on a huge screen set up in a thatched hut not far from the hostel. t.i.a. lots of wzungus at the game and I was wishing an africa team was still in it, would have been wild to watch here with a ton of locals. either way though, africa loves its futbol and was out in full force cheering their favored team. we were quite happy with the win :)