Today was the first day since I was sick that I felt well enough to go for a run which was good since I was starting to develop a little bit of cabin fever-induced depression. All is well now though. I strapped on the sneakers, traded glasses for sunglasses, plugged in the iPod and took off past a busload of Libyan agriculturalists. Self-conscious much? Fighting off side-splitting pain, I must have had an awful grimace, but it didn't seem to deter the group of school kids leaving the local museum, and they greeted me with waves and "hellos". Little did I know they would lie in ambush as I made my circuit through town. I raced a man with a propane tank on a bicycle down a stretch of road, then made the turn down a tree-lined street beginning to sprout its green. Past a public toilet (aka "brick sh*t house") that reeked so foul from 100 yards away I would have to be splitting in half from the most earth shattering bodily functions to enter, and past a man pissing on the side of the road who had decided to take the better option. Around another corner past the coal-fired power plant (I think that's what it is) where there is a conveyor elevator running from a pile of blackened earth to the upper reaches of a building that stands next to a smokestack belching foul fumes. Past the water jets that spew what must be the heated water that serves to cool the power plant. Everything around it is lush green from the extra warm moisture but dusted in black and stinking of the garbage dump nearby.
I was just thinking "This sucks. I must find a new running route cause this is the pits" when the trap was sprung. My predators were waiting on the corner of town they knew I must pass to go back in the direction from whence I'd come. The field station sits at the end of a road shared by the school, and I usually cut across the park on the corner. But without seeing the throng of kids, I decided to round the full length of the sidewalk, and when they saw me approaching they came running shouting "hello" and waving hands. So I shook a dozen hands, said "hello" answered "where are you from", heard them say "you're beautiful" and posed for photos. But they wanted more. So we ran into the park and I was at their whim to play a game. I'm not sure of the name of the game, but it was tons of fun. I was their protector, and they all lined up behind me, about 12 of them. I was supposed to keep them protected from another of their teachers. The long chain of students spiraled and whipped behind me as the man tried to get past to tag one of them and pick them off one by one. Fortunately for my screaming lungs, their English teacher arrived with curiosity to see the new treasure her students had found. So again with the questions, "How long have you been here? Where are you from? What do you do? What University are you from?" Oh that last one was a doozie. I demurely said "Harvard" knowing it would get a reaction but unprepared for the ear-piercing shriek and applause emitted from the bunch.
At around that moment the 10th graders arrive to flank my rear, and I was surrounded. 50 eager teenagers all talking at once. Only one had ever seen a foreigner. And again with the questions. And again when I said "Harvard" the latter half shrieked. And one of the new arrivals said what I really and truly thought sounded like "you have big ass". I must have looked shocked, she looked embarrassed, I smiled, paused, thought for a moment, and realized she was saying I have big *eyes*. Oh yes, much better.
They all wanted my MSN, email address, phone number, wanted to know how long I'm going to be in town, and if they can come visit me at the field station in my free time. I think I just gained a whole new group of friends which may make this place a little more bearable. And they're adorable. One of the girls ran across to the market to get me a bottle of water, and a dozen of them walked me to the gates of the field station. They were protecting me from the crazy lady. There was an old hunched woman in the park who picked up money that fell from the teacher's pocket during the game and agrily refused to return it. And I made an oops, kind of like cursing in front of your friend's kid. I taught a whole group of youngsters the word "crazy". I told them it wasn't a good word to use but then heard one of them refer to the old woman as crazy about five minutes later. Kids are sponges.
I'm glad the timing was good because we're now in the grip of another dust storm, and the sky has turned from blue to gray to brown.
No comments:
Post a Comment