"This internet is lightning fast." "Really, you think so?" "No."

I've now gone running a few times up Karama Hill, a very short (but intense) run in our neighborhood. It's an interesting experience for a couple of reasons: one, it's a pretty tough hill, and after about six minutes on it, my (admittedly wimpy) heart is pounding like a jackhammer. The other thing, though, is that (as during any trip on foot in this town) you end up exchanging Swahili greetings with virtually everyone you pass, no matter how out of breath you are. Yesterday I went running around five, which was a peak time for foot traffic, and I was a running mzungu, so quite conspicuous. The chain of greetings just kept going: "Habari? Salaama!" (how's it going? peacefully!) "Mambo! Poa!" (what's up? cool!) "Pole! Asante!" (sorry! thanks!) I've gotten pretty used to these little rhythms, but doing it while you sweat and turn red-faced (or practically purple-faced, in my case) is pretty funny.

Everything IS going pretty peacefully here. A few times, I've found myself actually thinking of the streets (lined with women carrying buckets of produce on their heads, men riding rickety bikes like suicide pilots, and the occasional pair of donkeys) as commonplace and familiar. Sometimes, communication and getting around (the power goes out, the cell phone network goes down) and simple alienation from my environment (enormous barriers of socioeconomic status, race, language, and culture) make me wonder if it's really worth it to live in a place like this. I think one factor that makes it worth it is the people: they're SO warm, so kind, so much fun to converse with, even if you can only speak thirty words. Of course, the natural beauty is another pro. Basically, in my mind, I'm weighing all the reasons people come here, the reasons they leave, and the reasons they stay. I'm experiencing all of these things at the same time.

Still, right now I feel like Tanzania won't be the place where I can do my best work as a person, musician, writer, whatever. It's a little crappy to admit this, since I'd like to think I'm the kind of person who can stomach all this stuff. But I'm learning that I'm really quite sensitive to a lot of environmental factors, and that while the thrill of adventure is sometimes inspiring, I might be more of a homebody/boring person/old lady than I originally thought. (My friends probably won't be that shocked to hear this.) We'll see how my homebody factor changes over time.