cows going home

Today I got annoyed for no reason. I know that the people around me contributed to my annoyed-ness but they shouldn’t have, I should have let it go – I wish I could just not little things effect me. So I left work later than I wanted to (my own fault) and just didn’t feel like socializing. However being one of the few white people in this area, most of the time, people want to talk to me. The novelty may have worn off for me but it will never wear off for those in this area, there are just too many people! I even ducked out the view of this little kid who was staring at me in the taxi. Usually I love all kids but when they interact with me it’s a little bit more welcoming than just getting bug eyes.

As I made my way home, I slowly started to feel better. I was convincing myself to go for a run and as I made my way down my main street, I ran into some of the little kids I adore from the village. And each one let me swoop them up in my arms and we giggled together for a few moments. That’ll break any rotten mood wide open and only leave room for a big smile. I also knew that getting the physical activity would help my mood so I quickly changed and set out. It’s amazing how I dread exercising and will talk myself out of doing it many times yet when I’m out there doing it, it feels so good to be moving my body. I realize this every time I run for the first time after a hiatus of a few weeks, despite my good intentions of sticking with it this time. Here there are a lot of factors that keep me from running and I hope that when I move back to a city, maybe I’ll be better about keeping it up but I know that there will always be something getting in my way, so I guess I just need to stop making excuses.

Anyway, I was running with a couple of the girls and we ended up behind these cows that were on their way home. We freaked them out and they started running as if we were coming after them with hot pokers or something. Lucky for them, we turned left and they turned right. I got such a kick out of this for some reason. It’s hard to explain why these little things bring me such joy but they do.

We finished the run, and even though Refiloe thought I was torturing her by running a bit longer than our usual route, I felt good. Another thing I can’t quite explain, just hanging out with these girls lightens my mood. We have nothing in common, they are 10+ years younger than me but I still call them my friends. They are who I seek out here in the village when I just need a break from thinking about work. I’m not sure they realize it but they are going to be what makes it hard to leave in September. How do I say goodbye to people that have had such a profound impact on my life? Hopefully it really won’t be goodbye, just see you later. For now I can’t worry about these things, I have to be here, enjoying the last few months that we have.