My run tonight was not what I thought it would be when I headed out. I was going to do a quick 3 miles. I got a little bit of a late start and wanted to get back before dark so I could talk to my parents for the first time since getting here. Instead of turning right out of our street ,as I have every other day here, I decided to see what was to the left. The road ended a few blocks down and I found myself on a path headed downhill. On either side of me there were fields and in the distance I could see plumes of smoke. The light at this time of day is stunning here. The orange light from the sun hitting the red earth is like nothing I’ve seen before. At the bottom of the hill I hit a small river with wooden bridges over it. They looked a little iffy so I walked across them, each wooden cross piece bending and shifting under my weight. As soon as I got across the shouts started. Small children chased after me yelling “azungu, azungu!!’ Men yelled at me to stop and talk to them. They said they liked talking to white women and I should come back another day and talk with them. Women outside were doing laundry or cooking dinner. From them all I got were confused stares or the occasional laugh. I ran through the neighborhood, with kids laughing and skipping behind me.
As I got to the end of the neighborhood my internal compass, which apparently needs some tuning, told me I’d be hitting the main road again. When I didn’t see that road I thought for a minute about heading back the way I came. But I wasn’t looking forward to the same attention so I pressed on. When I hit the next intersection I again realized that I wasn’t quite sure where I was. Again I thought about heading back but my stubborn streak started to come out. The sun was going down quickly and the last thing I wanted was to be stuck in an area I didn’t know, in the dark. I tried to remember which direction the sun sets when I’m at the house to get my bearings. I should have stopped to ask directions a dozen times at this point. Or turned around, though at that point I wasn’t even sure I could find my way back the way I came.
If this had been just any run I would have stopped to walk long before this point. I would have found my way home and taken it easy. But when necessary the body can do things the brain doesn’t want to do. I knew I needed to get home before dark so walking was not an option. I finally found a main intersection but the trouble is there are no street signs. I had no idea where I was. I had been winding for so long I didn’t know what direction to turn. Again, directions would have been good at this point. Oops. I ended up picking the right way and after another 20 minutes or so started to recognize the landscape. A man stopped me to ask for the time and I finally asked if the main hospital was up this road. He confirmed and I trekked that last uphill climb, my lungs burning from the smoke that filled the air, making it home just in time to see the sun set behind the hills. I’ll be trying that one again, maybe with a little more daylight next time.
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