Total travel: 34-35 hours? Final prize: 1 chilly Kilimanjaro beer.

Kili deigned to come out for my first run

I have heard that flying via Turkey instead of through Amsterdam you can arrive from Moshi to the US in one day. After who knows really how many hours travelling, I am thinking this is an option that should be explored. I did manage to sleep about 3 or 4 hours total in all that time--something only slightly better than nothing. Unfortunately for me, I had a skirmish with the flight security leaving JFK getting onto my Amsterdam bound plane during which they refused to allow me my carry one, forcing me to cough up an obscene amount of money to last minute check it. Of course, I had not planned on checking it, so it had many of the non-expendable items--ie documents to prove my existence, camera equipment, hard drives, drugs, and cold hard cash. A veritable goldmine for some thief with very low standards.

I imagine had I not been agonizing over the it's travel and appropriate off loading at JRO I might have slept a bit more on either said planes.

At least as I tried to distract myself from analyzing over and over how I might have negotiated the situation differently, I had pleasant seat mates on both legs of the journey.  Traveling to Amsterdam I sat with a formerly of South Africa woman and her husband who were off to visit her newly immigrated to Europe sister and her 90 year old father who had travelled from Africa as one lust huzzah.

And the next leg was satisfyingly empty that I was able to have a free seat next to me. The man across from that was kind enough to collect things for me on the rare occasions that I dozed off.

I am not doing a terribly good job recovering from the jet lag, but if I can make through without passing out in the mid afternoon I should hopefully readjus.

no more hashish!

no more hashish!

it is hard to believe that i have completed my very last hash.  well, moshi hash.  i love hashing. there are 5 hash clubs in manhattan, which i am very tempted to look into, esp as our moshi hash is the "child" of a manhattan hash. but greg, the moshi founder, warned me to stay away from the ny hashes.  they are crazy, he said.  in truth, they do look a little crazy. a lot of drinking and running in the pavement city-- a bit different from the beauty of tanzania followed by a good kilimanjaro beer. 

how cute is this? the dog i mean. :p  elliot and ngome are alright as well :)

this, my last hash, was set by greg from his parents' house.  unbelievably beautiful as usual, but also a great hashing finish.  elliot was much too fast, bounding ahead with his puppies.  i was very pole pole as usual. but at least this time i had the excuse of john and my run to kibosho yesterday which so kicked my ass i literally laid on the cement floor for a good ten minutes before i could move again. then i just moved to my bed- a bad choice as i was drenched in sweat.  but oh well.

greg's adorable son gave channa and i a tour of the whole grounds, including his secret fort.  we were very honored. then after everyone left, greg and terry (his wife) had the gardener call out to the bush babies.  yes, that is right.  bush babies. with a little "whoo  whooo"  the bush babies appeared.  they grabbed my fingers with their teeny paws and ate bananas.  fantastic.
the flash was very scary.