Tri-Lingual?

Thanks for all the great comments so far everyone. I will try and hit on all the questions.

I am doing well here in Kapsabet, actually currently in Eldoret enjoying a modern-esque internet connection speed. At this point I have not tried to upload any photos, due to the slow upload speeds of computers in town. Although I think I will try and put them on a CD and compress them and see if I can post some shots that way.

We have been slogging through daily rains here in Kapsabet. When it rains the roads become absolute muck for the next 12 hours. Which seems to cancel many evening run opportunities and just long enough to turn your shoes into earth encrusted moon boots. I literally almost slide down hills because I have an inch thick layer of reddish mud covering any tread on my shoes. Which brings me to tell you about our Saturday afternoon activities. Shoe washing! These guys take washing shoes to an elite level (compared to the lowly amateur ranks). Since we don't run on Sundays, shoes can have the opportunity to dry on the line . I'll break down the process: laces out, insoles out, shoes in bucket of water for a few hours, detergent added, vicious scrubbing commences for about 30-40min, rinsed in cleaner bucket of water, laces scrubbed and then hung with shoes on the line.

I kid you not. These shoes could pass off as brand spanking new. I was blown away when I was shown my shoes on Sunday. It's not all for vanity though, because the dust/mud cause quite a caked mess on your shoes in barely a week. The mud is a tenacious variety that hardens quickly on shoes, rendering them to the same flexibility of that old 3rd baseman's mitt you found in your parent's attic. So that is why we wash shoes almost weekly.

Exercising is not common here in Kenya, especially outside any main city. No one runs unless they have dreams of becoming an elite runner. There is no jogging boom here. The percentage of elite/jogger ratio is probably flipped here, in comparison to say the Cooper River Bridge run or any huge road race. So of all the runners here, 98% are elites. Still takes some getting used to seeing sub 14min or even sub 13 min 5k guys on every corner of town.

What do people do for work in Kapsabet? Various things really. The outlying region here is all farms of maize, and tea mostly. The Rift Valley region is one of the most fertile places in the world. There are a lot of cows, goats, sheep and donkeys roaming about town, many seemingly owner-less. We avoid routes for running that are dog infested, with good reason. Many people work at road side stands, selling various wares. Due to the infrastructure difficulties relating to road conditions, there aren't any big industries out here. I have noticed a size able amount of jobless folks (mostly men) who hang about petrol/market areas. Everyone walks pretty much every where here. You can pay 10 shillings to get a backseat bicycle ride, saving a 15min walk, but you get blasted by diesel smoke of passing vehicles as a treat.

Training today was what I dreamed running in Kenya would be like. About 50 guys met up this morning at 6:30am and headed off for about 60min planned run. It is in my best interest keep up because I never know where I am, every dirt road looks the same and twists without reason. The run started slow-ish for about 25 min then it really got going. Just like a cycling peleton the back of the group experiences the whiplash the worst. Every surge seems to coincide with a hill, and me having the maximum amount of mud caked to my shoes. I held on fine towards the back end and then the last paved hill back into town, was a blistering pace. I plan on hopping in a 10k race or two while I am over here, pretty sure I will be humbled beyond belief. I really do feel a lot better breathing and altitude adjustment-wise, which is a huge relief.

Hopefully I can make some headway on photos and possibly get them up. Thanks for all the comments, and don't worry about sending me anything. I am able to get most items in Eldoret, if necessary. Hope everyone is well.