I took off early to run again Thursday morning, and it started to rain just long enough after I left that I didn't grab a jacket. I did the same route over to the "sports ground" I had found that was in toward town. I hoped things would be less crowded because of the rain, but the fact of the matter is people still need to go to work and I don't think the crowd walking along Outer Rim Road at 6 in the morning is just out to stretch their legs. One thing I saw Wednesday and Thursday morning is the passenger train that comes through the area and runs parallel to the main road. Both days it was packed like a cattle car with people hanging out the doors like a matatu. In a picture book Ross showed me later (if you don't look at picture books I have nothing to say to you) it showed a train that was similarly packed, except that the roof was also completely full. Apparently that is the standard for passenger trains in Kenya. They're certainly not the luxurious form of transportation that they are in the US. Ross told me that some people would hop on the back to get a free ride through town.
There was only one guy running at the sports ground which I guessed was because of the rain, only strengthening my idea that the runners here weren't too serious of runners (though in fairness Kemboi also canceled a run because of the rain so maybe that's not an accurate measure of running commitment). He was coming around, so I jumped in to run with him, which I think kind of surprised him. He was decidedly in the category of quiet Kenyan runners who just as soon wouldn't have said a word if I hadn't been peppering him with questions about who he was and what he was doing here. It occurred to me later that if someone came up to me on a run and started asking me questions about who I was and why I was running I might be a little weirded out myself. He was running at a pretty quick pace, and said he was running to get ready for a fitness test to be able to join none other than the US army. I vaguely knew that people from other countries would come serve in the US military but it seemed strange to me now to think of someone from over here going to serve in the US army. Since then, at least of people I've talked to, that's a fairly common way for people to get to the US, and one teenager has asked me how he would be able to do that.
On my way back I met another runner along the rim road, and we gave each other a high five and I gave a hoot. I wished I could have turned and ran with him, if for nothing else than to see where a serious runner runs in Nairobi, but I was already over an hour into my run and didn't want to go on some great excursion through the city. By the time I got home I was completely soaked as was looking forward to a cup of hot tea more than usual. Heather and Patrick made breakfast again, and then left after not too long, Heather to get her hair done in the African braids, and Patrick to deliver some things they brought with them for people over here. With them showing up there was definitely a huge change of pace. Until then everything had been pretty relaxed, a week here, two weeks there. But now with Heather and Patrick we were on a tight schedule to maximize the 10 or 11 days that had here to see as many relatives as possible, rather than spending time with all of them. I felt like someone who was walking along and just jumped on a speeding matatu, but today with them off it was as laid back of a day as I had had yet. I just spent the day at the house with Ross, mostly writing. Nicole and Lois were home, and a whole afternoon with them is usually about half an afternoon more than I'm up for. Luckily Ross has some amazing reserve of patience that I admire and marvel at that allowed him to keep them more preoccupied than I did.
That evening we headed over to Eddie's house to visit him and his mom. It felt good to be visiting people for the second time, to be greeting them and asking how they were doing rather than being introduced. Eddie and Patrick had a lot to catch up on and they chatted away in Swahili for most of the visit, and Ross and I sat and talked about Canada and the US and Kenya and East Coast bias (which it turns out is at least as alive and well in Canada as in the US, and we're talking about sports, so don't think this is some great geographical conspiracy). It was good to be part of a group, rather than an individual who was visiting. I would advise anyone doing a similar trip that I would recommend doing it with at least one other person. The best I can explain it is that there will be so many new things and new people that you meet that having someone who is going through the same experience is good to have. There have definitely been some times when I've felt pretty alone, even with a loving and accommodating family around. A funny thing that came out in the conversation (or maybe earlier but this was the first I heard of it) was that Eddie had actually gone to school and been pretty good friends with the Elijah who goes to Rainier Avenue Church, who we would be meeting with the next day. When we got home we ate a late dinner even by Kenyan standards. I'm pretty sure I haven't had dinner sooner than 8:00, and on this night it was after ten.
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