Pole sana

This week I laced up my running shoes for the first time since arriving in Arusha. It had been weeks since my last run, which I did in Maine just after Christmas, in the near dark and 20 degree temps at (roughly) sea level.  I had no idea what I was in for.

By contrast, Arusha stands at roughly 4,593 feet above sea level. In late January the temperature reaches a high of 84 degrees, usually by early morning. From our house the run, for the most part, is up hill. And people here (around our house specifically, and I think on the whole generally) don't run- at least not for the fun of it.

I didn't even mind the stares and mumbled (in amazement?) responses that I received for my "habari za asubuhi?" morning greetings. A small group of school children, books in hand, each slapped me high-fives as I passed shouting "Mzungu" and "How are you?" in their staccato English pronunciation. Just as I was rounding the last corner, climbing the hill to our house, however, a woman (nearly as round as she was tall) stepped from her gated home. Our eyes met and she looked at me with pity. "Pole sana", she said as I jogged by. All I could do was laugh (pole sana is used to express regret or sorrow at another's burden).

My run lasted only a half an hour, but it felt great to feel so totally out of shape.
- kjd