I know it's been a while since my last
post, but there really hasn't been much going on. However, I started
a new routine a couple weeks ago that has rendered a good story. I'm
registered to run a 10k this Sunday (which I realize now is Mother's
Day so Happy Mother's Day!!). I've never run a 10k distance in my
life, so my goal is to simply do the whole thing without walking.
We'll see how it goes. Anyway, the last few weeks I've been training
and got in the routine of running after work at the Oval (aka track).
I'll set the scene: the track is packed dirt with a few rocks here
and there and in the middle is a basketball court, volleyball court,
a small soccer field, and a tennis court (basketball and tennis court
at either end of the track with volleyball and soccer in between).
I'm actually very lucky to have this area – not many volunteers
have a site with a track.
So most days after work I've been
playing volleyball until dark (which is at 6-7 pm year-round) and
then I run. I've been doing this routine for just a few weeks now and
already everyone in the Oval knows my name (not because they
necessarily know me but because I'm the strange foreigner and one of
the few girls doing something athletic, so why wouldn't they be
curious as to what my name is?). When I enter the Oval many people
shout out greetings and it feels nice and welcoming. There's also a
group of about 10-15 kids (maybe ranging from 8-12 years old) who
hang out around the tennis court shagging balls for the players. My
story centers around these kids.
The first few times I ran, the kids
would just stare at me every time I went past the tennis court. After
a while they started shouting my name and waving at every passing,
and it continued this way for about a week. Then one evening they
started getting more enthusiastic with their waves and would even run
to the track for a close up view of me running past (after being in
this country for 10 months I'm very use to this
fishbowl-everyone-staring-all-the-time stuff). A couple laps later
they actually began spreading across the path and holding hands,
forcing me to charge them and break through their barrier with them
laughing and squealing at my snarling growl (and I tell you, after a
few laps of this it got exhausting having to muster up the energy to
do this every lap, but how can you refuse those hopeful looks and
squeals of laughter). Then one lap, instead of forming a line
across, they were all congregated in a blob right in the middle. As I
neared they opened a small opening for me to go through and as I got
in the middle of them they started running with me! I was swallowed
up by 15 kids running around the track! It actually felt to me like
having a swarm of gnats surrounding me, in a good way of course (if
that's possible). The little ones didn't even make it half way around
the track though; they decided to stop a quarter of the way, cut
through the middle, and wait for me on the other end to finish the
lap with me. The older ones made it the whole way and some of them
even tried to race me (although this was towards the end of my run so
I had very little steam left).
So for the last few laps of my run the
older kids (the younger ones were tired after that first lap) would
run with me for one lap, then rest, then run, then rest, and it was a
nice little pattern. I did my last lap with the older kids, finishing
on the opposite side of the tennis court. We walked my cool down lap
and picked up the younger kids as we walked past the tennis court and
headed over to the stands where I do my stretching and crunches after
every run. I figured the kids would go back to the tennis court once
they realized I was pretty much done with the exciting stuff, but
nope! They stuck with me and counted to twenty while we did
stretches, crunches, push ups, jumping jacks, more stretches, and
anything else I could think of to entertain them. At one point we
were even copying the moves of a Filipino exercising on the other
side of the stands (not sure if he realized a foreigner and a bunch
of kids were copying him, but it worked out okay).
Since that day there are still a few
kids who have joined me for my running and stretching, and one kid in
particular who seems particularly devoted. It's quite cute, really.
But I think this is one of the experiences I'll take with me and
think back on during the hard days because everything is so much more
fun and enjoyable where there's a laughing kid there with you!!
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